It’s day fourteen of the 2022 National Hockey League playoffs. Today is the last day of the first round. Yesterday the Boston Bruins played the Carolina Hurricanes. The Tampa Bay Lightning played the Toronto Maple Leafs. The LA Kings played the Edmonton Oilers.
Boston Bruins vs Carolina Hurricanes. Round one. Game seven. In Carolina. Winner moves on to round two. The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead after the first period. They made it 2-0 before the Bruins scored. The Hurricanes would take a 3-1 lead going into the third period. The Bruins would get the only goal of the third period. They couldn’t tie the game. The final score was 3-2 Hurricanes. With that win the Hurricanes have won the series.
The Bruins put up a fight but in the end it didn’t really matter. The Bruins are out. The Hurricanes will now have to face the winner of the Penguins vs Rangers series.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs. Round one. Game seven. Winner moves on to round two. The Lightning took a 1-0 lead after the first period. The Maple Leafs tied the game in the second period. The Lightning would take the lead into the third period. No one scored in the third period. The final score was 2-1 Lightning. The Lightning won the series. They will be moving on to round two. The Maple Leafs have been eliminated from the playoffs.
It was a hard fought for series. It really could have gone either way. In a game where they were facing elimination I think that Austin Matthews should have been a difference maker in the game. Instead The Lightning did a good job of keeping him from scoring. The Lightning will now face the Panthers in what will be the latest edition of Miami Ice (Panthers/Lightning rivalry).
LA Kings vs Edmonton Oilers. Round one. Game seven. In Edmonton. Winner moves on to round two. No one scores in the first. The Oilers take the lead in the second period. Connor McDavid scored a beautiful goal off of an amazing solo effort to seal the Kings fate in the third. The final score was 2-0 Oilers. This was Mike Smiths second shutout of the series. This was the third shutout in the series. The Oilers will now face the Flames for a playoff edition of the battle of Alberta.
Oilers move on like I wanted. The Kings have a lot of older players. The Oilers are a young team with some of the top talent in the world. Jonatan Quick is not as good as he used to be. He played his best hockey when the Kings were cup contenders. They haven’t been cup contenders in a while. With a lot of older talent and not a lot of younger talent coming in I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Kings end up in the same place as the Blackhawks soon. With Dustin Brown retiring, Quick being 34, a lack of young talent, and a lack of solid depth. I think they might go for a rebuild.
Current Bracket:
The Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, St Louis, Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning have advanced to the second round.
The Colorado Avalanche will play the St Louis Blues. The Florida Panthers will play the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Edmonton Oilers are waiting on the winner of the Stars vs Flames series. The Carolina Hurricanes are waiting on the winner of the Rangers vs Penguins series.
The Boston Bruins, LA Kings, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Washington Capitals have been eliminated in the first round.
Here are the upcoming games:
Two more teams will be eliminated tonight. Two more teams will advance. The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will conclude tonight.
Zac Electrifly 