We have four games on the schedule as we enter the first days of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Rangers drew first blood on Sunday against the Washington Capitals with Matt Rempe scoring in the victory. He’s become quite a story since he was called up to the Blueshirts. Rempe now has as many goals in the playoffs as he did in the regular season. But will Game 2 see him score again? Or will he fight? Rangers fans only care if his actions contribute to the destruction of the Capitals. The Capitals haven’t received much love from our tipsters heading into the playoffs and another loss won’t do them any favors, even if they play Games 3 and 4 at home.
RempeMania is about to reach a whole new level that we are not ready for.
–Julien McKenzie (@jkamckenzie) April 21, 2024
To the south, we await part two of the Battle of the Sunshine State between Tampa Bay and Florida. Carter Verhaeghe and the Panthers won Game 1, but if this game was any indication, there is too much talent on either side to think this series will end in four or five games. But stranger things have happened, including the Lightning sweeping the Panthers in an extremely close series in 2022.
On the subject of Verhaeghe, our own Shayna Goldman wasted no time in backing him over Kyle Connor. If you listen to The Athletic Hockey Show, you may remember that Shayna and I went back and forth about who was the better player between the two. I tried to argue that Connor’s stats still look good in fewer games.
But, to quote Adrien Broner: “I’m not going to lie, I’m getting cooked!” »
Hey @jkamckenzie pic.twitter.com/JQtjCtxTPf
– Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 21, 2024
Finally, the Avalanche need help at goaltending. Alexandar Georgiev allowed seven goals on 23 shots in a 7-6 loss. That means Connor Hellebuyck wasn’t all that perfect in that first game of the series either. But the Jets will definitely take a 1-0 series lead playing from behind.
And we’re still in awe of Dakota Joshua’s emergence in a Game 1 win over the Nashville Predators and the aftershocks that followed. The Canucks Twitter even lost it when their owner, Francesco Aquilini, roasted himself recalling a tweet that made him the laughing stock of his own fan base. Emotions tend to run high when you host playoff games for the first time in nine years.
The chances are PariMGM and live update. Buy tickets to see your favorite team on StubHub.
Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers – Game 2
How to watch: 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, SN
Rangers lead series 1-0
Series odds: Rangers -1000, Capitals +650
Key takeaways
- Alex Ovechkin was a non-factor in the series opener. It was the fourth time in his playoff career that he was held without a shot on goal and the second time it happened against the Rangers. The Capitals are 0-4 in these games.
- Since June 2022, Chris Kreider has scored in his last three Game 1s. In his previous two Game 2s in the playoffs, Kreider has recorded two-point games in both games. Yes, that’s a ton of two.
- If Igor Shesterkin is in goal during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s a good chance he’ll be in his game. In his last 24 playoff appearances, Shesterkin has only played one game where he had a save percentage below .900. He also hasn’t allowed more than three goals in a playoff game since May 9, 2022, when he allowed six goals in a 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
- John Carlson’s next playoff goal will be his 20th all-time, placing him eighth among Capitals playoff scorers. It would also be his first playoff goal since May 7, 2022, against the Florida Panthers.
- You know the Capitals’ minus-37 goal differential is the worst for a playoff team since the 1990-91 season, when the Hartford Whalers (minus-38) and Vancouver Canucks (minus-72) participated in the playoffs. How did these two teams perform that spring? Hartford and Vancouver each won two games in their first-round series before losing to a team that lost in their respective conference finals.
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Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers – Game 2
How to watch: 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, SN360
The Panthers lead the series 1-0
Series odds: Panthers -400, Lightning +310
Key takeaways
- Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy hasn’t allowed more than two goals in each of his last three playoff appearances. He has one victory in these three matches.
- Nikita Kucherov must be at his level to give the Lightning a chance in this series. But he hasn’t scored a goal in his last six playoff games. He has four assists in that span.
- Carter Verhaeghe scored in Florida’s Game 1 win over the Lightning, his third goal scored against his former team in 11 career playoff games against them.
- Aleksander Barkov had two assists in Game 1 against the Lightning, but he still hasn’t scored a goal in his last eight playoff games. He hasn’t scored a playoff goal since May 20, 2023 against the Carolina Panthers.
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Colorado Avalanche vs. Winnipeg Jets — Game 2
How to watch: 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, CBC
The Jets lead the series 1-0
Series odds: Jets -165, Avalanche +140
Key takeaways
- Connor Hellebuyck was responsible for six goals allowed in his team’s Game 1 win over Colorado, the second time he has allowed six in a playoff game since April 15, 2018, when the Minnesota Wild scored the same amount in a 6-2 victory. Hellebuyck has allowed fewer than three goals in a playoff game just twice in his last 12 playoff appearances dating back to May 2021.
- Mikko Rantanen has 30 goals and 89 points in 71 career playoff games. He is four goals away from tying Milan Hejduk for fourth all-time in Avalanche playoff goals.
- Kyle Connor’s two-goal performance against Colorado was the third two-goal game he’s ever had in the postseason. This is the first time he has scored twice in a playoff game since April 14, 2019 against the St. Louis Blues.
- Cale Makar scored three points in Sunday’s loss to the Jets, but he also went on a strange streak. Since last spring against Seattle, Makar played his fourth straight playoff game in which he made exactly four shots on goal. The feat has occurred in five of its last six playoff games.
- In the last 13 years, the Jets have scored seven goals twice in a playoff game. That’s more than the NFL’s New York Jets, who haven’t reached the playoffs since the 2010 season.
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Nashville Predators vs. Vancouver Canucks – Game 2
How to watch: 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2, SN
The Canucks lead the series 1-0
Series odds: Canucks -275, Predators +220
Key takeaways
- Dakota Joshua’s two goals and an assist in Vancouver’s Game 1 win were his first-ever playoff points. It’s also the second time he’s recorded a three-point game, in the playoffs or regular season. He scored a goal and added two assists in a 4-2 win over Chicago earlier this season on February 13, 2024.
- Nashville is the fourth different franchise that Ryan O’Reilly has scored a goal for in the playoffs, including Colorado, St. Louis and Toronto. O’Reilly is two goals away from matching his playoff goal total for Toronto and Colorado (3).
- Elias Lindholm scored the Canucks’ first goal of the playoffs in Sunday’s victory. It’s the third straight time he’s scored his team’s first goal in a playoff series dating back to 2022, when he was still a member of the Calgary Flames and they played against Dallas and Edmonton.
- Sunday’s loss to Vancouver was the fourth straight time Juuse Saros allowed four goals in a game, including his final three games of the regular season. Sunday’s loss is also Saros’ third straight playoff loss. Saros has just three Stanley Cup Playoff wins and hasn’t won in the playoffs since May 2021 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
- The Predators made headlines for playing their best hockey once their planned trip to the Las Vegas Sphere to see U2 was canceled. It was February, after a tough loss to the Dallas Stars in a regular season game. But if you want to feel old, none of the Predators players were born when U2’s most successful album, The Joshua Tree, was released in 1987. Predators head coach Andrew Brunette was 13 at the time. years.
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(Photo by Nathan MacKinnon: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)