Every year 16 National Hockey League teams face off for the title of a lifetime. The NHL playoffs draw in millions of viewers over the course of weeks as the best 16 teams in the National Hockey League face down in a series of tournaments where two teams will go head-to-head to determine who moves forward.
The winners get to claim the Stanley Cup which is the most prestigious award that any team in the NHL can achieve.
This year, the games began on April 17 and are projected to last until the end of June. Who will win? What names are bound to be mentioned often? Only time can tell us these answers, but we can speculate.
The first round of the games is currently ongoing as 16 teams face off in eight a best-of-seven series which will showcase four teams from the eastern conference and four teams from the western conference.
The current lineup for these games is the Boston Bruins vs the Florida Panthers in which the Bruins are leading with a score of 4-1 games so far.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are facing the Tampa Bay Lightning with the Maple Leafs leading with a score of 2-1.
The Carolina Hurricanes are playing against the New York Islanders which the Hurricanes are leading with a score of 3-1. The New York Rangers are up with a score of 2-1 against the New Jersey Devils.
The Colorado Avalanche is in a similar situation with a score of 2-1 against the Seattle Kraken. The Dallas Stars have been going head-to-head with the Minnesota Wild who are currently tied with scores of 2-2.
The Vegas Golden Knights are playing against the Winnipeg Jets with the Golden Knights leading with a score of 2-1.
The final two teams facing off are the Edmonton Oilers vs the Los Angeles Kings who are tied with scores of 2-2.
The question of who will win is in many peoples’ minds during these showdowns.
Many are looking towards last year’s winners, the Colorado Avalanche, to see if they can pull out consecutive wins.
During last year’s Stanley Cup, the Colorado Avalanche beat out the Tampa Bay Lightning with a nail-biting score of 2-1.
After the Avalanche finished playing some of the best hockey they have ever played in the regular season, many are wondering if they will be able to keep up the momentum in the playoff games. One of the names that seems to stand out for them this season is Alexander Georgiev.
Another team who many are looking at is the Boston Bruins who just recently won the Presidents’ trophy. The team set new records with a total of 64 wins and 135 points in the regular season.
The team has a stacked roster will excellent goaltenders Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, an award-winning coach. Jim Montgomery, and David Pastrnak who scored 60 goals this season alone making him the second in franchise history to ever do so. All of these factors have landed them with the No. 1 overall seed.