The second round of the is full of enticing matchups even with the bracket not quite filled out.
In the Eastern Conference, Carolina and Philadelphia and will face each other beginning with Game 1 on Saturday. In the West, Colorado will play Minnesota in a must-watch showdown of division rivals.
Going into the three Game 6 games Friday night, there were three matchups needed to be settled: Anaheim’s opponent (Vegas or Utah) and the other East semifinal. with the winners of Boston-Buffalo and Montreal-Tampa Bay.
and no three-peat after were derailed by injuries following three consecutive trips to the final. Both finalists will be new after Edmonton got .
What’s happened so far
The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche , the Wild in six games and the Oilers, also in six. Vegas and Utah have gone back and forth in a surprisingly competitive and eventful series.
Ottawa, and archrival Pittsburgh in six. Boston-Buffalo and Montreal-Tampa Bay have had many memorable games.
The matchups
The top three teams in each of the four divisions make the playoffs. The other four spots go to the next two highest-placed teams in each conference, regardless of division.
The teams with the best record in each conference open against the wild-card team with the worst record; the other wild card plays the other division winner. Teams that finish second and third in their division play each other in the bracket headed by their respective division winner, so had some rivalry-style games. The second round thus carries an even higher prospect of division opponents matching up ahead of the conference finals.
All four rounds of the playoffs are best-of-seven; the first team to 16 victories wins the Stanley Cup.
East
鈥� vs. , Game 1 on Saturday.
鈥� Boston-Buffalo winner vs. Montreal-Tampa winner.
West
鈥� vs. Minnesota.
鈥� vs. Utah-Vegas winner.
The favorites
Colorado is the favorite to win the Stanley Cup at just over 2-1, followed by Carolina at just under 3-1 and Vegas at 13-2.
How to watch
Every playoff game will be nationally televised in the U.S on an ESPN or Turner network. The NHL schedule is and a streaming guide Much of TNT鈥檚 coverage, which includes the Stanley Cup Final, will be simulcast on truTV and available on Max鈥檚 B/R Sports Add-On. In Canada, games will be showcased on Sportsnet and CBC.
After three rounds of seven-game series, the final starts in early June. If the final goes the distance, Game 7 could go as late as June 21.
What to know
WEST: The West is loaded, even after Connor McDavid’s early exit. Colorado leads the way with MVP candidate Nathan MacKinnon and star defenseman Cale Makar. If you don’t know Minnesota standouts Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, you will when you see them take on the Avalanche.
The Pacific Division side of the bracket is weaker and the Golden Knights may have the clearest path to the final if they survive Utah and deal with the Ducks, who have an intriguing mix of under one of the all-time great coaches in Joel Quenneville.
EAST: The feel-good stories reside here in Buffalo and Philadelphia.
Buffalo snapped the NHL’s longest postseason drought at 14 years and did it in style, winning the Atlantic Division behind leading scorer Tage Thompson (a big part of the and raising hopes that the city could finally, maybe, win its first Stanley Cup. The , sending Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang home.
All these teams are underdogs to the powerhouse Carolina Hurricanes, who have another chance to show they can break through after early-playoff success and some disappointing losses.
With the losses by Ottawa and Edmonton, Canada’s hopes of ending a 33-year Cup drought rests with the Canadiens. Montreal was the last team north of the border to win it back in 1993.
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