2021-2022 Regular Season Recap
Eastern Division
Western Division
Was competitive on a daily basis into the final week of the season. All playoff teams have an average record of 49-25-8 and 106 points. The two wildcard teams weren’t determined until the last regular season game on 4/29/22. Intriguing matchups with five teams advancing from the Central Division and three teams from the Pacific Division.
Eastern Conference Round 1 Playoff Series
Florida Panthers (Atlantic Division #1) vs. Washington Capitals (Metropolitan Division Wildcard #2)
Regular Season records: Florida 58-18-6, 122 points; Washington 44-26-12, 100 points
Head-to-Head matchups for 2021-2022: Florida won two out of three games and outscored Washington 13-12 in total goals.
Panthers had to make a head coaching change seven games into the season with the resignation of Joel Quenneville, and elevating Andrew Brunette. Florida has the NHL’s top scoring offense this season statistically. Jonathan Huberdeau, trade acquisition Claude Giroux, and a gimpy Aaron Ekblad will need to carry the load until Sergei Bubrovsky can get comfortable in the crease.
Feels like a lifetime since the Capitals won the Stanly Cup in 2018. That squad bought into a team first defensive philosophy that fermented throughout the playoffs. Found another gear after beating Pittsburgh in the second round and then rolled to the Cup. Exact opposite story in 2019, 2020 and 2021 with first round exits and a serious lack of team effort. Capitals have been good but not great since head coach Barry Trotz moved onto the New York Islanders. Alex Ovechkin had 50 goals this season, but his teammates need to step up to support him in the playoffs.
Prediction: Florida wins the series easily in five games and the Capitals realize Peter Laviolette is not the right head coach in DC.
Toronto Maple Leafs (Atlantic Division #2) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic Division #3)
Regular Season records: Toronto 54-21-7, 115 points; Tampa Bay 51-23-8, 110 points
Head-to-Head matchups in 2021-2022: Teams split four games (2-2) and Tampa Bay outscored Toronto 16-12 in total goals
Maple Leafs are led by Auston Matthews (60 goals) and the grinding Mitchell Marner (97 points), who has a tendency to fall off the scoring sheet in the playoffs. Trade deadline acquisition Mark Giordano, should bring a calming influence to the blue line tandems during stressful penalty kills. Jack Campbell needs to be solid in net to give the Leafs a chance to upset the two time defending Stanley Cup champions. Hopefully the Toronto fan base wears seatbelts for what should be an epic series.
Tampa Bay is shooting for a Stanley Cup three peat that hasn’t been accomplished since the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980-1983. Edmonton failed to three peat in 1986 and 1989, Pittsburgh failed in 1993 and 2018, and Detroit failed in 1999. Hard to climb the NHL mountain for three consecutive seasons and the short off-seasons can wear on very skilled teams. The best head coach in the NHL, Jon Cooper, and the steadiest goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy, have to tendency to magically solve a myriad of problems that happen in the playoffs. Lightning are very comfortable playing in tight games and seem to relax even more in OT elimination games.
Prediction: Really want to pick Toronto for their fan base to experience some joy instead of playoff pain, but Tampa Bay will advance in an instant classic seven game series.
Carolina Hurricanes (Metropolitan Division #1) vs. Boston Bruins (Atlantic Division Wildcard #1)
Regular Season records: Carolina 54-20-8, 116 points; Boston 51-26-5
Head-to-Head Matchups in 2021-2022: Carolina won all three games and outscored Boston 16-1 in total goals
Time for a steel cage wrestling match with the Hurricanes playing the Bruins. Carolina is currently flying below the radar of most NHL experts with a deep roster and a players first head coach in Rob Brind’Amour. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov will continue to light the goal lamp, but the Hurricanes will miss goalie Frederick Andersen early in the series due to injury. Hopefully rookie Seth Jarvis (40 points) continues to grow up quickly in the playoffs spotlight.
Boston always seems to get healthy and play stingy defense in the NHL playoffs. Head coach Bruce Cassidy is underrated as a shift by shift tactician during playoff series momentum swings. The big three scorers (Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak) will spend significant time in the offensive zone. Will the Bruins have the horsepower and discipline to play sound defense against the fast skating Hurricanes? Should be another classic series.
Prediction: Carolina advances in a tight and physical seven game series.
New York Rangers (Metropolitan Division #2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Metropolitan Division #3)
Regular Season records: New York Rangers 52-24-6, 110 points; Pittsburgh 46-25-11, 103 points
Head-to-Head matchups in 2021-2022: Rangers won three of the four games played and outscored the Penguins 11-4 in total goals
Three players had statistical career seasons for the Rangers in 2021-2022 (Chris Kreider with 52 goals, Artemi Panarin with 96 points, Igor Shesterkin with 1.01 goals against average). 2021 Norris Trophy winner, Adam Fox, had a steady sophomore campaign with 74 points. Mika Zibanejad’s all-around offensive game finally clicked by feeding assists to Kreider on a nightly basis. Statistically the Rangers have the lowest scoring 5 on 5 offense of all teams in the 2022 NFL playoffs. Time will tell if they adjust to the smaller open spaces and tight man-to-man coverage that ramp up in the playoffs.
Penguins will try for another Stanley Cup run with their three core players that won the Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017 (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang). The entire Pittsburgh roster will have to elevate their skills to cover for the broken foot injury of their sublime goalie, Tristan Jarry. Jarry may return in Game 3 or 4, but head coach Mike Sullivan will have to coax a big effort out of his squad yet again in the playoffs. At first glance this series appears to be a door opening for the Rangers, and the door closing on the Penguins playoff dominance over the last fourteen seasons.
Prediction: New York Rangers win in six games due to stellar goaltending and timely special teams.
Western Conference Round 1 Playoff Series
Calgary Flames (Pacific Division #1) vs. Dallas Stars (Central Division Wildcard #1)
Regular Season records: Calgary 50-21-11, 111 points; Dallas 46-30-6, 98 points
Head-to-Head matchups in 2021-2022: Calgary won two of the three games played and outscored Dallas 11-9 in total goals
Flames have a balanced and high scoring offense, highlighted by four forwards: Johnny Gaudreau (40 goals), Matthew Tkachuk (42 goals), Elias Lindholm (42 goals) and Andrew Mangiapane (35 goals). Underrated defensemen corps are led by youngsters Noah Hanifin (48 points) and Rasmus Andersson (50 points). Goalie Jacob Markstrom had a solid season with 38 wins and 9 shutouts. Head coach Darryl Sutter always seems to push the right buttons during the playoffs, especially with the #8 seed Los Angeles Kings winning the Cup in 2012.
Stars snuck into the playoffs on 4/28/22 and are loaded with veteran players from the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals squad that lost to Tampa Bay. Offense is led by the trifecta of Joe Pavelski, Roope Hintz and the budding superstar, Jason Robertson. Defense employs a bend but don’t break mentality with John Klingberg and Miro Hesskanen. Injuries and illness have ravaged Dallas’ starting lineup for most of the regular season. Forwards Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn have had quiet seasons, which means they are due to breakout in the playoffs.
Prediction: Calgary will wheel and deal in this series on offense and advance in five games.
Edmonton Oilers (Pacific Division #2) vs. Los Angeles Kings (Pacific Division #3)
Regular Season records: Edmonton 49-27-6, 104 points; Los Angeles 44-27-11, 99 points
Head-to-Head matchups in 2021-2022: Edmonton won three of the four games played and outscored Los Angeles 13-12 in total goals
Oilers started the regular season with a 15-4 record and then went ice cold in December 2021-January 2022, going 7-11-3. Squad righted the ship after the All-Star break and head into the playoffs with a ton of momentum, finishing 11-2-1 in April 2022. Interim head coach Jay Woodcroft has motivated his two offensive stars, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to a new level. Unfortunately the Oilers don’t have much depth in their offensive forwards. Defenseman Duncan Keith will try to share playoff wisdom with his new teammates. Edmonton also struggles with consistent goaltending from Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen.
Kings have spent several seasons in the Pacific Division cellar, but are on a reboot with a solid 2021-2022 regular season. Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault lead a sneaky scoring offense that doesn’t turn the puck over. When star defenseman Drew Doughtry is on the ice, the Kings are a top tier squad. Doughtry has been out of the lineup since 3/7/22. The rest of the defenseman corps are above average. Goalie Jonathan Quick has had a bounce back year due to having a better supporting cast than the last three to four seasons. Head coach Todd McLellan has the Kings headed in the right direction, but can they match the speed of the Oilers?
Prediction: Connor and Draisaitl play relaxed and technically sound, to finally get Edmonton past the first round in six games.
Colorado Avalanche (Central Division #1) vs. Nashville Predators (Central Division Wildcard #2)
Regular Season records: Colorado 56-19-7, 119 points; Nashville 45-30-7, 97 points
Head-to-Head matchups in 2021-2022: Nashville won three of the four games played and outscored Colorado 17-16 in total goals
Avalanche played and looked like the best team in the NHL for the first 72 games of the regular season. Finished with a 4-6 record for the last ten games. Goalie Darcy Kuemper looked pedestrian and out of position during that stretch of games. Colorado dealt with significant injuries during the entire season and constantly shuffled lines, which produced great team statistics. Still waiting on a definitive timeline for Gabriel Landeskog to return from knee surgery to the first line on offense. Nathan MacKinnon, Nazem Kadri and Cale Makar need to show quickly in this series that the Avalanche are a deep playoff team and not just a good regular season squad.
Predators are a streaky team due to going 23-7-2 from October 2021 to January 2022. Defenseman Roman Josi has had a monster season with 23 goals and 73 assists. Start engraving his name on the 2022 Norris Trophy now. Offense is led by Matt Duchene (86 points) and Filip Forsberg (84 points), and both are incredibly dangerous with the puck when playing as underdogs. All-world goalie Juuse Saros was injured late in the regular season and his playing status is up in the air for this series. Nashville beat the Avalanche in the first round of the 2018 playoffs in six games.
Prediction: Colorado figures out their defensemen pairings and grind out a six game series win.
Minnesota Wild (Central Division #2) vs. St. Louis Blues (Central Division #3)
Regular Season records: Minnesota 53-22-7, 113 points; St. Louis 49-22-11, 109 points
Head-to-Head matchups in 2021-2022: St. Louis won all three games played and outscored Minnesota 16-12 in total goals
Wild are a mirror image of the Carolina Hurricanes in terms of roster depth and playing the game the right way. Interesting trade deadline acquisition of Marc-Andre Fleury as the go-to goalie, but it wasn’t that long ago his gaffe in the 2021 Western Conference Finals turned that series upside down. Cam Talbot may or may not see playing time depending if a platoon system is used. Wild are the hottest team in the NHL since 3/16/22 with a record of 19-2-3. Can play with any team in the NHL due to offensive depth with Kirill Kaprizov, Kevin Fiala and Mats Zuccarello. Only crutch is Minnesota’s special teams that rank near the bottom of the NHL in both scoring and allowing goals. Head coach Dean Evason will be a household name after Round 1 of the playoffs.
St. Louis was the last team to win the Stanley Cup in 2019 before the Tampa Bay dynasty started in 2020. Blues won that Cup in a pre-Covid 19 environment, by being road warriors and riding the MVP hot hands of Ryan O’Reilly. Head coach Craig Berube likes the pressure of the playoffs, but simply needs more consistent play from goalie Jordan Binnington. If Binnington continues to regress in the crease, Villie Husso may get the call and could be the difference maker in this series. Blues offense needs to take advantage of power plays and ease the load on their over worked defensemen.
Prediction: This evenly matched series will have more momentum swings than a teeter-totter on a kindergarten playground. Minnesota advances in seven up and down games.
Same bat time, same bat channel in two weeks. I’ll review the results of the NHL Stanley Cup Round 1 Playoff series and try again for Round 2.
