2023 NHL Playoffs

[mellongraig]

It's that time of year again where the NHL Playoffs happen, and the 2023 edition is no exception. Can the Boston Bruins continue their huge regular season success into the postseason? Will the Toronto Maple Leafs finally break the playoff series drought and win the first round? How will the Seattle Kraken do in their first playoff appearance as the newest franchise, and what will the playoffs be like without Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin at the helm? All that and more as the first round matchups are set.

Eastern Conference:
(A1) Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers (WC2)
(A2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (A3)
(M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Islanders (WC1)
(M2) New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers (M3)

Western Conference:
(C1) Colorado Avalanche vs. Seattle Kraken (WC1)
(C2) Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild (C3)
(P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. Winnipeg Jets (WC2)
(P2) Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings (P3)

Playoffs begin Monday, April 17th and will be split among the ESPN/Turner networks, as well as being on local regional sports networks for the first round. In Canada it will be on the Sportsnet networks, CBC, City, and TVA Sports.

[TPIR_rules]

Here are my first round & Stanley Cup Final predictions:

Boston over Florida in 6
Carolina over NY Islanders in 6
New Jersey over NY Rangers in 6
Tampa Bay over Toronto in 7
Vegas over Winnipeg in 7
Colorado over Seattle in 5
Edmonton over Los Angeles in 6
Dallas over Minnesota in 6


Stanley Cup Final:  New Jersey over Edmonton

[FieldsFan336]

I hope and pray that Toronto FINALLY gets out of the first round of the playoffs!

[wink87]

I hope and pray that Toronto FINALLY gets out of the first round of the playoffs!

Same here. I've got a good feeling about it.

Also, I'm picking Florida to eliminate Boston, possibly in 6 games.

[FieldsFan336]

After getting crushed on Tuesday, the Leafs crush the Lightning right back with a 7-2 victory in game 2 to even their series at 1 apiece heading back to Tampa on Saturday.  John Tavares picked up a hat trick

[mellongraig]

Meanwhile for the other Canadian teams, the Oilers after a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in Game 1, rebounded in Game 2 with a 4-2 win over the Kings, while the Jets after a 5-1 win in Game 1, fell 5-2 to the Golden Knights in Game 2. Those series like the Leafs-Lightning, are also tied at 1 game apiece as the Oilers head to Los Angeles while the Jets will come home to Winnipeg.

[FieldsFan336]

Canadian teams update on Game 3, all in overtime:

*Winnipeg lost a heartbreaker to Vegas 5-4
*Edmonton lost to LA 3-2 on Friday

Morgan Rielly was the hero of Game 3 in Tampa, scoring the overtime winner to help the Leafs win 4-3 over the Lightning and take a 2-1 series lead

[mellongraig]

And for a moment I thought the Winnipeg Jets were going to complete the comeback in Game 3 after tying it up at 4-4 with three goals in the third period including one with 21.9 seconds left... the crowd certainly was very loud both inside the arena and outside at various whiteout parties. Despite the heartbreaking double OT loss, hopefully the loudness will carry on to Game 4 on Monday and that they can have a better start to tie the series up at 2 apiece.

[ooboh]

I find it unnecessarily confusing that Winnipeg had the white-out, but Vegas wore the white jerseys.

[FieldsFan336]

LEAFS DO IT AGAIN!!!!  After being down 4-1, they score 3 goals in the 3rd period and score another in overtime for a 5-4 victory in Game 4!  They take a 3-1 series lead headed back to Toronto for a chance to FINALLY get out of the first round for the first time in a long time

[mellongraig]

I don't know how the Toronto Maple Leafs pull off a miracle once again but winning two games in a row in Tampa let alone on the road and in overtime is huge.

The Winnipeg Jets are however on the brink of elimination after falling 4-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights last night and without Josh Morrissey who is out for the series after a Game 3 injury.

And the Edmonton Oilers-Los Angeles Kings series is tied at 2 apiece after an Oilers rally of their own on Sunday to win it in overtime by a 5-4 score. Game 5 goes tonight.

[FieldsFan336]

Tampa stays alive with a 4-2 win, but at least it was a close game.  Leafs still lead the series 3-2 heading back to Tampa where they are 2-0 at Amalie Arena (both games won in overtime)

[mellongraig]

Meanwhile we have our first advancement to the second round - the Vegas Golden Knights eliminate the Winnipeg Jets in 5 games with a 4-1 win in Game 5 and will face the winner of the Edmonton-Los Angeles series, in which Edmonton is leading the series 3-2.

[FieldsFan336]

Boston and Florida are going the distance after a 7-5 Panthers victory

[mellongraig]

So are Colorado and Seattle after the Avalanche won Game 6, 4-1 to force a Game 7. The Hurricanes and Stars won Game 6 on the road, and the series 4-2.

Question for tonight is will Toronto finally close it out in Game 6 against Tampa Bay in Tampa and will Edmonton close it out in Los Angeles? We shall see, but if Toronto does and Boston loses on Sunday, Toronto would host Florida in the second round.