Day one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books but there are still a number of series getting ready to kick off around the NHL.
Before we dive in let’s recap last night’s scores.
Carolina Hurricanes 5 – Boston Bruins 1
Toronto Maple Leafs 5 – Tampa Bay Lightning 0
St. Louis Blues 4 – Minnesota Wild 0
Los Angeles Kings 4 – Edmonton Oilers 3
So I was one for four on the prediction for the night.
Four different series are set to kick off tonight and while there are a few teams that some have counted out going into tonight’s games, everyone does have to remember it was just a few seasons ago that all four wild card teams upset their opponent in round one.
Out of all the games tonight, I am most excited about the first series on the schedule.
Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers – 6 PM ET
This is the series I am most excited to see. Igor Shesterkin taking on Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel is going to provide for some great television that I hope goes seven games.
There is a lot of star talent on both teams with Panarin and Kreider facing off against Crosby and Guentzel. Hopefully, it is a high-scoring game.
As puck drop approaches I think it is hard to ignore the fact that this could be the quote-on-quote last dance for this Penguins roster with Letang, Malkin and Crosby. Hopefully, they can go out with a bang compared to their previous first-round exits as of late.
My Prediction: Pittsburgh wins game one.
Washington Capitals at Florida Panthers – 6:30 PM ET
This is another interesting series. The Panthers are the Presidents’ Trophy winners and if there is one group that knows about falling short with the Presidents’ Trophy it has to be Ovechkin and the Capitals. This is a matchup of Ovi against Florida and it is going to be interesting to watch it all play out.
The Panthers are the better team on paper but they need their goaltending, specifically Sergei Bobrovsky. If the Panthers can get good goaltending there is no doubt they can walk away from this series with a win.
Considering how the postseason ended for the Panthers last season, there is no doubt Florida is going to come out strong tonight.
My Prediction: Florida wins game one.
Nashville Predators at Colorado Avalanche – 8:30 PM ET
Juuse Saros being out really hurts the Predators in this game. Before the injury, it seemed like Nashville was going to lose this series but send it to maybe six games, but without Saros, that likelihood decreased dramatically.
Like some of the high offensive showings from teams like Carolina, Toronto and St. Louis yesterday, it will be fun to see what Colorado does tonight.
My Prediction: Colorado wins game one.
Dallas Stars at Calgary Flames – 9 PM ET
Joe Pavelski continues to be an amazing hockey player. If you want to talk about being the most valuable player in the locker room it has to be Pavelski the way he played this season putting up 81 points including 54 assists.
Now he has another chance to push his team to new limits. Pavelski has some playoff success with his former team the Sharks and his current team in Dallas, and now he can lean on that experience against a good Flames team that just has not gotten it done recently.
On the flip side watching Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau and the rest of the Flames is going to be a lot of fun this postseason.
My Predictions: Calgary wins game one.