There are all kinds of intriguing story lines going into the Stanley Cup playoffs that begin this week. Tampa Bay could become the first squad to win three straight championships since the New York Islanders were dominating the sport in the early 1980s. The Toronto Maple Leafs have not won a Stanley Cup since 1966-67, when there were only a handful of teams in the league. The Florida Panthers could turn that top seed into the first Cup in franchise history. Take a look at our NHL betting predictions for the Western Conference first-round series.
NHL News: Playoff Predictions
Calgary-Dallas
The Flames had three different forwards score at least 40 goals, led by 115 points from Johnny Gaudreau. Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman are both elite two-way forwards. On the blue line, Chris Tanev and Oliver Kylington make one stout pairing, while Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin also patrol the line quite ably. Jacob Markstrom might win the Vezina Trophy in net.
Dallas has one elite scoring line: Joe Pavelski, Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn spent a lot of this season, once again, underperforming. The defense has been decent, but the defensemen have not contributed much to the scoring. Much like the surprise run to the Cup Final in the bubble two years ago, if the Stars are going to make a run, it will come from their netminder. Anton Khudobin stood on his head for three rounds but could not stop enough shots against Tampa Bay to get a Cup. This time around, it’s Jake Oettinger, the youngster who has come on after Braden Holtby, Khudobin and Ben BIshop have come and gone. However, not even Oettinger can stop this offense to get four wins.
Calgary in six
Colorado-Nashville
The Predators had the best record from the middle of October through early January (23-7-2). Before that and after that, things fell off the table. This is a team that thrives on intangibles, and Roman Josi is an elite defenseman. However, the rest of the blueliners are largely hit and miss. Juuse Saros suffered a lower-body injury that kept him out of the last two games of the regular season, and so while Nashville can score, they won’t be able to keep Colorado off the board.
Colorado is top three in the NHL in scoring and top six in goals permitted. Their power play is in the top five, and Darcy Kuemper has played terrific hockey in net the second half of the season. They have three lines that can score in bunches. The problems come on defense; on the penalty kill, Colorado is just 79%, about average in the league. They will need some grit on defense to get past the Predators, but they should be able to bounce back from an iffy last couple of weeks to do that.
Colorado in six
Minnesota-St. Louis
The Wild feature Marc-Andre Fleury in net, and he has turned back the clock and played at an elite level since the Blackhawks shipped him north. Thanks to the likes of Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, the Wild have gone 19-2-3 since March 16. Problems come on the penalty kill, where the Wild rank in the bottom 10, and the power play, which is average.
The Blues flipped a switch in January of 2019, going from a dreadful record to a terrific record and a Stanley Cup win over Boston. Since the calendar turned to April, the Blues have been hot; the power play has been in the top three, and both Ville Husso and Jordan Binnington have stood tall in net. Even though the Wild have home ice, the Blues are hotter right now.
St. Louis in six
Edmonton-Los Angeles
When Jay Woodcroft took over as interim coach on February 10, Edmonton jumped from 13th in expected goals per 60 minutes at even strength to fourth, and 27th in goals permitted per 60 minutes at even strength to ninth. The wins piled up, and Connor McDavid tallied 123 points, with Leon Draisaitl adding 110. Scoring depth is an issue, as is the goaltending situation. Mike Smith posted a .948 save percentage at even strength in April, but that’s way above his average, and Mikko Koskinen is the only other choice.
A combination of veteran savvy and a youth movement in Hollywood has the Kings fifth in expected aosl per 60 minutes. It helped that while other teams in the Pacific Division fell off the table with a chance to clinch a playoff berth, the Kings won four in a row when things counted most. Jonathan Quick turned back the clock in net to get his best season since 2017-18, and at 36, can he pull off another elite run?
Oilers in seven
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