NHL Playoff Preview – Round 3

Image by Perry Nelson of USA Today Sports

We’re officially half way through this year’s NHL playoffs. Just like in the first round, there were very few disappointments in the series so far.  In the East, Tampa Bay looks every bit ready to complete the three-peat, yet the Rangers are looking far more resilient and complete than most people had expected. In the West, perennial playoff chokers Edmonton and Colorado are finally playing up to their potential, with one of them about to book their ticket to the Finals. Edmonton’s series win against Calgary was especially impressive, given that Calgary had better goaltending, physical play, and scoring depth; all things that usually win out in a 7 game series. 

Looking Back:

Overall, our series predictions didn’t hold up quite as well this round. Three of the four of us had Calgary and Carolina winning their series, but most of us also had Colorado and Tampa Bay advancing to the next round. As for our bold predictions, we had some hits there. Vasilevskiy and Shesterkin were both the best players in their series by a wide margin. Bob played poorly enough to be benched (even though he wasn’t for some reason), and Evander Kane was the highest scoring player in the series. We’ll sharpen our pencils to hit the next set of bold predictions once again.

Looking Forward:

Bold Predictions:

Colorado vs. Edmonton – A player in this series will break the single series points record of 19 points. Draisaitl had 17 points in 5 games against Calgary. If this series goes to 7 games, it is not only possible, but almost likely. – Ermando 

Tampa Bay vs. NY Rangers – Shesterkin lets in fewer goals than  Vas in the series, but it’s not enough as the Bolts still take care of business against the Rangers. -Jon 

NY Rangers- Despite being a defenseman , Adam Fox leads all Rangers in scoring for the series. It isn’t enough though, as the Bolts keep on rolling, finishing off the Blueshirts in 6. – Ryan 

Tampa Bay – Sergachev’s ho-hum playoff play continues and is the only defender on the Bolts to finish the series as a minus player. His ice time will continue to decrease as Tampa makes up for his play on the way to beating the Rangers. – Derek

Colorado – The coming out party for 2019 first rounder Bowen Byram continues , as he averages a point per game in the series. The Avs continue to coast, winning in 5. – Ryan

Edmonton – Despite the very high scoring expected in the western conference finals, the Oilers only receive two goals from their defencemen throughout the entire series. Basically all of the scoring will come down to Edmonton’s top two lines, but it’s not enough as they fall to the Avs in 5 games. – Derek