Did Auston Matthews put on a show, or what? The Canadian media hasn't stopped buzzing about his 13 points in round 1, including a hatty in the Game 7 clincher over Philly. The Flyers were red-hot at the end of the regular season, overtaking the Capitals to win the Metro. Carter Hart was probably overworked down the stretch; give him a couple years and he'll win a series like this.
While everyone was watching the 52nd Caps-Pens series (or Tiger King or The Last Dance) I was enjoying the first ever playoff series between Tampa and Florida. The Lightning have far too much talent not to win a Cup; I wasn't surprised that they beat the Panthers but I would have been happy either way. Jonathan Huberdeau now has back-to-back 90-point seasons and kept the Cats in this series.
Speaking of Caps-Pens.. let's not. There's always at least one short series, I just didn't expect it to be this one. Washington led the Metro in mid-March, faded down the stretch, and laid an egg against the Penguins in the first round. I'm still in disbelief that Alex Galchenyuk scored more goals in this series than Alex Ovechkin - but at least Ovi won another Richard trophy, right?
Out West, the Avalanche got Mikko Rantanen back just in time to win the Central division by a point over the Blues. Winnipeg really could have used Dustin Byfuglien, as Colorado's forwards were flying past the Jets' pedestrian defense. I still feel like the Avs are one player away from being a legit cup contender (Taylor Hall?) but there's no real powerhouse team in the West so perhaps they are good enough as-is.
Earlier this season the Golden Knights were in a dogfight with Vancouver and Arizona for the third seed in the Pacific. Vegas righted ship after hiring Peter DeBoer as head coach and won their second division title in three years. Marc-Andre Fleury is on track to win his 500th regular-season game next year. Nashville's Pekka Rinne may have reached the end of his stellar career after being benched for Juuse Saros in another first-round loss.
The defending champion Blues had no trouble dispatching Dallas in round one. Vladimir Tarasenko is expected to be ready for round 2, which will make St. Louis even tougher to beat. The Stars might be in need of a reset. Jamie Benn had one assist in this series and Tyler Seguin was a minus-6. I feel bad for Joe Pavelski; he is not going to get his name on the Cup with this group.
The first-round series that made me fall in love with hockey again was the Battle of Alberta. Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk is Claude Lemieux, Sean Avery, and Todd Bertuzzi all rolled into one - a talented top-six forward who absolutely relishes the role of villain. Edmonton nearly got thrown off their game trying to knock him out but the Flames couldn't stop the NHL's two leading scorers. Leon Draisaitl won the Art Ross trophy with 124 points while Connor McDavid posted his fourth straight 100-point season.
As the second round gets underway I'm most excited about the Leafs-Lightning series and the Knights-Oilers match-up, but I'm keeping an eye on the top-seeded Bruins. They've been the class of the league all year. Do they have one more Cup run in them?
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Obviously this is just a projection of what might have happened had the NHL season continued uninterrupted. I might do another one of these for the NBA playoffs a little later, but I've got a Vegas-themed post planned for this week (and possibly more All-Time Teams updates.)
What player or team performances would have made headlines if the NHL/NBA seasons had continued? What surprises would you have liked to see in round one of the playoffs?
Thanks for reading!
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Personally I'm already here in offseason mode since they've announced the salary cap for 2020-21 and how it has a lot of teams who were banking on it going up scrambling.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, happy to see you showing some love for the Jackets. IF - big “if - we snuck in with the second wild card, I really think we could have made some noise.
ReplyDeleteOther potential headlines on the ice: I think Tampa Bay still has a huge chip on their shoulder, I think the Blues have the pieces to repeat, and I wouldn’t sleep on the Flyers.
In the NBA, I’m super bummed that we’re getting robbed of the Giannis in the finals, and probably LeBron too. Both the Rockets and the Thunder could have upset the higher seed in the first round.
The headline for me would have been my beloved Sharks missing the playoffs and finishing in last place for the first time in nearly two decades.
ReplyDeleteThe battle of Florida and the battle of Alberta? Cool!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think your idea to send Taylor Hall to Colorado is a good one.