We are now sixteen days into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In the Eastern Conference the Toronto Maple Leafs played the Florida Panthers. In the Western Conference the Dallas Stars played the Seattle Kraken.
The playoffs continue tonight with two more games.
It was the first game in the round two series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. The Panthers scored the first goal of the series. Nick Cousins goal gave them the lead in this game. The score was 1-0 Panthers after the first period.
Sam Bannett scored to add to the Panthers lead. Matthew Knies scored to get the Maple Leafs back within one goal. Michael Bunting scored to tie the game. Carter Verharghe scored to get the Panthers the lead. The score was 3-2 Panthers heading into the third period.
Brandon Montour scored the only goal of the third period to give the Panthers a two goal lead. The Final score was 4-2 Panthers. The Panthers now have a 1-0 series lead.
I wouldn’t say that this is the Maple Leafs falling apart. The Maple Leafs fans are already acting their season is over. It’s just game one. The Panthers are coming off beating a very difficult team in the Bruins. I don’t know if the Maple Leafs were ready for what the Panthers brought to the game. The Panthers have built up a lot of momentum coming into this series and have all of the momentum early on in this series. It’s not like the Maple Leafs did nothing in this game. After game one I would not be surprised if this series went six or seven games. Will the Maple Leafs respond in game two? Will the Panthers continue to play at this level?
Game two will be on Thursday, May 4th 2023. Puck drop is set for 4:00pm PST.
Last night also saw game one of the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken. Dallas got off to an early lea with a goal from Joe Pavelski. Jaden Schwartz tied the game foe the Kraken with his goal. Joe Pavelski scored his second of the night to put the Stars back on top. Justin Schultz scored to tie the game again. 10 seconds lated the Kraken took the lead off of a goal from Oilver Bjorkstrand. Jordan Eberle then scored for the Kraken to give the Kraken three goals in 52 seconds. After the first period the score was 4-2 Kraken.
Neither team scored in the second period. The score remained 4-2 Kraken heading into the third period.
Joe Pavelski scored his third goal of the night to complete the hat trick while bringing the Stars within one goal of tying the game. Joe Pavelski scored a fourth goal to tie the game. The score was tied at 3-3 after the third period. The game would go into overtime.
A couple of minutes past the half way point of the overtime period Yanni Gourde scored to give the Kraken the win. The Kraken now lead the series 1-0.
In this game Joe Pavelski became the oldest player to scored four goals in a game. The Seattle Kraken also set a record for scoring three goals in 52 seconds. It is not the fastest time for three goals to be scored but I believe it is in the top five. Will the Stars respond in game two?Will the Kraken prove to be too hot to handle?
Game two will be on Thursday, May 4th 2023. Puck drop is set for 6:30pm PST.
The number two seed Carolina Hurricanes will play the number three seed NEw Jersey devils in round two. The Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders to reach round two. The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers to get to round two. The Hurricanes has a win percentage of .689 in the regular season. The Devils finished the regular season with a .683 win percentage. The regular season series was tied at 2-2. Their last game was on March 12th. The Devils won that game 3-0.
The Devils had a hard time against the Rangers. The Hurricanes didn’t have an easy time with the Islanders either. Neither team played too aggressively or scored a ton of goals. I think this series will be close games with lower score lines.
2023 regular season head to head record:
| GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 13 | -2 |
| New Jersey | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 2 |
2023 regular season record:
| GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina | 82 | 52 | 21 | 9 | 113 | 266 | 213 | 53 |
| New Jersey | 82 | 52 | 22 | 8 | 112 | 291 | 226 | 65 |
2023 playoff season record after round one:
| GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 12 | 1 |
| New Jersey | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 17 | -2 |
Game one of this series will be on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023. Game one will be in Carolina. Puck drop is set for 4:00pm PST. The winner of this series will play the winner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers series.
The number one seed Vegas Golden Knights will play the number two seed Edmonton Oilers. The Vegas Golden Knight eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in round one to advance to round two. The Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings to make it to round two. The Golden Knights finished the regular season with a .677 win percentage. The Oilers finished the regular season with a .665 win percentage. The Oilers were 3-0-1 versus the Golden Knights in the regular season. Their last meeting was on March 28th. The Oilers won that game 7-4.
This series should be about scoring goals. I think it will be a lot of scoring with both teams trying their best to outscore each other. I think that does favor the Oilers. They have a lot of goal scoring talent. I don’t think the Golden Knights are on that same level. They do not have the same kind of scoring power. The Golden Knights are also having goaltending issues. I think those two things combined give the Oilers the advantage in this series.
2023 regular season head to head record:
| GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegas | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 18 | -4 |
| Edmonton | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 14 | 4 |
2023 regular season record:
| GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegas | 82 | 51 | 22 | 9 | 111 | 272 | 229 | 43 |
| Edmonton | 82 | 50 | 23 | 9 | 109 | 325 | 260 | 65 |
2023 playoff season record after round one:
| GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegas | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 10 | 9 |
| Edmonton | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 20 | 5 |
Game one of this series will be on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023. Game one will be in Vegas. Puck drop is set for 6:30pm PST. The winner of this series will play the winner of the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken series.
Round one opening games finish up tonight. Will the Hurricanes beat the Devils? Do the Devils have what it takes to beat the Hurricanes? Do the Golden Knights have the defense to stop the Oilers? Will the Oilers be able to gold onto a lead?
The Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Seattle Kraken, and New Jersey Devils have advanced to round two. The Winnipeg Jets, New York Islanders, Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, and New York Rangers have been eliminated.
The Vegas Golden Knights will play the Edmonton Oilers in round two. The Carolina Hurricanes will play the New Jersey Devils in round two. The Dallas Stars will play the Seattle Kraken in round two. The Toronto Maple Leafs will play the Florida Panthers in round two.
Zac Electrifly 