We like more sports than basketball, the NHL Playoffs are here!
- PC
- Apr 17, 2023
- 8 min read
Dude…
Playoff mode is in full swing for a ton of sports right now. We have been covering the NBA Playoffs but we are an all-sports page so, we will get back to the bball action soon but the NHL has incredible players and their playoffs are incredibly fast-paced and action-packed. I am no expert in this sport, nor do I claim to be. I’m just an average fan giving his opinion. It should definitely be worth a watch. So here is our non-biased, slightly misinformed predictions from your average fans here at Dudes and Sports.
The Boston Bruins KILLED everyone in the regular season with a record of 65-12-5 and completely dominated every team they faced. They have multiple strengths including their killer depth and rotation, a legendary coach in Jim Montgomery, and an absolute puck magnet in Linus Ullmark who didn’t allow 100 goals to go in the net all season. Their star, David Pastrnak, scored 61 goals and 52 assists on the season. The Bruins' penalty kills have been the best in the NHL all season. The only thing that could remove the Bruins is how badly they’ve been on the powerplay. The Florida Panthers started off pretty terribly at the beginning of the season. They didn’t acquire any new players and the team finally got into a rhythm. Since March 3rd, the Panthers have been 12-4-2. Their season relies on MVP candidate Matthew Tkachuk, who had 40 goals and 69 assists on the season. The prowling Panthers could also use Brandon Montour to continue his solid production if the Panthers want to have a shot at dethroning the regular season champs. I think this matchup is going to be interesting. The Panthers have been on fire lately, but the Bruins have been almost unbeatable the entire season. The biggest matchup is going to come down to who can execute more, and who can score on power plays. The Bruins haven’t been good on power plays this season, but Florida hasn’t had a very good power kill. Watch for David to light up the score and the depth of the Bruins to help the regular season champs in a barn burner of a series, trust me, I think this series is definitely going to be one to watch.
The Maple Leafs finally have all the pieces put together to have a legit shot at the title. They finished with an overall record of 50-21-11. Their offense was dynamite this season with contributions from Mitchell Marner with 30 goals and 69 assists, William Nylander with 40 goals and 47 assists, and Auston Matthews with 40 goals and 45 assists on the year. Like the Bruins, the Maple Leafs have great depth between their lines, and center John Tavares coming in with 36 goals and 44 assists. That makes 4 players on the Maple Leaves to have 80 points or more towards their team. That’s not even the Leaf's biggest strength. The man between the posts Ilya Samsonov has been electric for this team the whole season. Add veteran and Stanley Cup winner Ryan O'Reilly to the mix, and the Leafs could definitely make some noise in these playoffs. The Lightning have been a staple in the playoffs these past few seasons. Going back to back and then making it back to the finals last year, the Lightning are going to try to keep the magic going. Andrei Vasilevskiy continues to be good in the net and has kept the Lightning out of trouble for most of the season. With a 46-30-6 record, the Lightning have also been good on the offensive side with Brayden Point scoring 50 goals by himself. This Lightning knows how to win in the playoffs, they would hope to keep their run going in this playoff series. This matchup is going to have a lot of scoring. Both teams can really score and show consistency with scoring the puck. However, the biggest difference between these two teams is their defense. Vasilevskiy is an incredible goalie, but the Lightning's defense is just mediocre. The Lightning have stumbled in recent weeks losing 8 of 12 to close out the season. Their defense poses a huge problem and I think the Leafs will expose that flaw. As long as Samsonov can stay healthy, I think Toronto may run away with this one.
The number one seed coming out of the Metropolitan division is the Carolina Hurricanes. Sebastian Aho (one of my current favorite players to watch) has been an absolute stud for the Hurricanes all season. Aho scored 36 goals and had 31 assists. That may not be that high in points, but you can tell what impact he has on the ice. His partner in crime Martin Necas has also played incredibly this year scoring 28 goals and 43 assists. Brent Burns is a force on the defensive end and has been money from the blue line in setting up his teammates. The Canes took a hit with the ACL tear of Andrei Svechnikov but are still a team that other teams should be nervous about playing. The Islanders from The Big Apple has been a tough-nosed team all season. Known for their stifling defense lead by Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders like to wear teams down. They strive at clogging up passing lanes and laying the hammer down on opposing teams. They do struggle on the offensive end, but their defense has lead them to a playoff birth. I don’t know who will win this game. Although I love what Aho and the Canes do, losing Svechnikov was a huge hit. The Islanders struggle on offense would lead this matchup to be very low scoring. I still have the Canes moving on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if New York makes this a slugfest and takes down the #1 seed.
The Devils have finally broken through, and their gonna be a tough team to beat. With a record of 52-22-8, the Devils are top 10 in scoring and defense. Their offensive weapons include Jack Hughes (43 goals and 56 assists), Jesper Bratt (32 goals and 41 assists), and Nico Hischier (31 goals and 49 assists) which look to be a huge problem for any defense in this postseason. Their defense has a great goaltender in Vitek Vanecek to help the Devils stay in front. The Devils are giving up less than 3 goals a game. They also added Timo Meier who gives them good production in their lineup. The biggest flaw is that they have little to no playoff experience which is always a factor in the postseason. The other team from The Big Apple, the New York Rangers have made vast improvements at the trade deadline adding Vladamir Tarasanko, a legend in St. Louis, and Patrick Kane, another legend but from the Blackhawks to add that veteran leadership each team will need in the playoffs. Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider also add to this offense, each scoring over 30 goals this season. The Rangers also have Igor Shetsterkin who is a big-name goalie who has proven to be good but can be inconsistent at times. The Devils just look too good to lose to the Rangers. The Rangers have a lot of big-name skill players but have lacked in the physicality to win in the postseason. It’s due or die time for both these teams and Vanekcek has looks good all season. It’s all going to come down to which factor will become a downfall for one of these teams, not having playoff experience for the Devils, and not being physical for the Rangers.
The next matchup has the best chance for a #4 to beat a #1. Colorado is a phenomenal team with a ton of talent. That is, if they can stay healthy. Only FOUR players on their team has played more than 45 games this year and its been a disaster for them with battling injuries. Now, they are the #1 out of the Central Division for a reason. The Avalanche went 51-24-7 on the year cruising to the one seed. They have guys that can score and got a great goalkeeper in Alexander Georgiev that should be a star for many seasons for the Avs. The Seattle Kraken, only in it’s second season as a franchise, finds themselves in the playoffs. This team isn’t just a one man show. 13 players scored and has at least 16 points of contribution to their team. This is a team, and they play like it. They share the puck very well and are tough on the defensive end and Jared McCann and his 40 goals leads the team. Their biggest flaw? Goalkeeping. They finished 2nd worst in the league for 5 v 5 hockey and that may be an issue in trying to stop the explosion of an offense the Avs can produce. Even though the Avs have more experience, a better goal keeper, and probably a better rotation, I think the Kraken may sneak this one out. Hockey is a game of chemistry and the Kraken continue to show they have that. I think this series will go seven games, with the Kraken shocking the whole sport.
In this matchup, it’s all about scoring. The Dallas Stars showed why they deserve to be in the playoffs with their defense and their nightmare of a goaltender Jake Oettinger can stop pretty much anything that gets in their zone. The Stars took a first round exit last year because they couldn’t score enough to compete. Now, the Stars are better on offense and look to move on to the next round. The Minnesota Wild also have a monster of their own in the net of Marc-Andre Fluery which has been stopping the puck like a madman. The Wild lost top scorer Kirill Kapizov for the last month but honestly didn’t miss much a beat posting a 8-3-2 record in his absence. With Kapizov coming back into the lineup, will it benefit the Wild or haunt them due to the lack of chemistry. Again, this matchup is going to come down to who can score. Both teams have dominant forces protecting the net but whose offense will hold up? I think Kapizov and company go right back to their winning ways and send the Stars packing in the first round for a second season in a row.
The Golden Knights are back in the playoffs after missing it last year. The team for Vegas was a better version of the Seattle Kraken as they had multiple people contributing this this year for them. They had 12 players with more than 10 goals and have a ton of talent at the goalie position. The Knights lost Mark Stone for the majority of the season but it seems like he’s going to play this postseason which is a massive W for any Golden Knights fans. Look for him to be the leader to this squad and the supporting cast to get their time in the spotlight as well. The Winnipeg Jets looks like they were going to be the top dog in the West. Until they had a catastrophic meltdown towards the back end of the season and barley found themselves in the playoffs. Their goalie, Connor Hellebuyck has been the Jets saving grace, they just need some offensive output to help him out. This is another great goalie matchup and should be a fun watch. However, if the Knights have Stone and the rest of the team can contribute like they have all season, it’s going to be tough for the Jets to compete.
These Edmonton Oilers vs LA Kings may be the matchup of the first round. The Oilers are my dark horse favorites to win the cup. Lead by probably the best forward in the game right now, Connor McDavid, the Oilers have exploded since the deadline going 18-2-1. The likes of Connor are supported by a dynamic duo of Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to be the driving force for the Oilers. They also have a lot of depth on the other lines and can score frequently. They have really stepped it up on the defensive end this season, but will it hold up in the playoffs? The Kings also have one of the stingiest goaltenders in Pheonix Copley. The Kings are another well-balanced attacking team with multiple contributions for a vast amount of players including Anze Kopitar who scored 28 goals and 46 assists and Adrian Kempe who score 40 goals with 26 assists. The biggest factor for this game is the experience in between the two teams especially with Pheonix Copley and with the offensive prowess of Connor McDavid and company may be too much for the Kings to handle.
So that’s my no-bias, not really informed opinions. I can’t wait to watch the playoffs and see how it all unfolds.
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