2022 Stanley Cup playoffs thread

... and I'm thinking, if nothing else, that because Tuukka Rask isn't between the pipes that Carolina has an advantage. Problem is, the Hurricanes don't have Andersen for Game 1 and probably Game 2, at least. And one of the reasons for the goalie overhaul last offseason was that Ned and Mrazek weren't considered the sorts to ride through the playoffs.

Boston is certainly a psychological barrier if nothing else until Carolina crashes through it. Thinking Tampa, Florida and Carolina are the three best teams ... and, regardless of regular-season record, the Lightning are still the standard in the East. If the last two postseasons didn't do it, then watch Vasilevskiy shut down your team for a series and watch a coach during postgame maintain his calm because he knew what the "X" factor was ... and, IMO, still is.

Yes, the Rangers have Shesterkin. But Tampa's skaters have shown to be better ... to date, anyway. Therefore ...

In the West, to date, everyone is lining up behind Colorado and Calgary. Will be watching Calgary as Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin were shipped out of Raleigh ... would have been nice to hang on to Adam Fox and Dougie Hamilton, but them's the breaks ... or something like that.

 

Toronto and Carolina have all the juice tonight
Tampa is really good, but great teams with a track record of success reach a point when they reach down and there’s nothing left
Too early to say if that’s Tampa but the Bolts are susceptible

 

Fox was never signing in Calgary and Lindholm has been great in Calgary.

 

The fact that a team with Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin on it hasn't won a playoff series in four years seems aberrant, even if age and stuff makes that more likely than, say, five years ago.

 

Tampa Bay has looked tired for long stretches this year. Back-to-back seasons stretching to late September and July 7 tend to do that.

 

And now the gloves are off and blood is on the ice in Toronto

 

It’s one game.

 

Interesting stat: LA and Edmonton met in the playoffs seven times in 11 seasons between 1982 and 1992 but this series is their first since.

I wonder if 30 years is the longest time between playoff series for teams in the same conference.

The Oilers won five of the seven series, but the two the Kings have won were historic — 1982 when Edmonton was a huge favorite and 1989, Gretzky’s first season in LA, when Edmonton blew a 3-1 lead.

 

The Bruins didn't play the Islanders for almost 40 years it appears.

 

The Kings and Ducks have only played one playoff series in 29 seasons in the same division. Without doing research, I believe they have both made the playoffs in the same season just a handful of times.

 

This analyst doing the LA-Edmonton game has an accent straight out of Strange Brew.