NHL Playoffs: Round 1 Recap

May 2

Vegas Golden Knights defeat Winnipeg Jets 4-1

The series started the opposite of how everyone expected the series to go, and that ended up being the lone blemish for the West’s top seed in round one. Despite not having Logan Thompson, Vegas still found a way to match up with the best netminder in the West, Connor Hellebuyck.

After a 5-1 win for the Jets in game one, the Golden Knights put up five goals the next two games and four goals in games four and five to close the series. Bruce Cassidy’s club received a ton of criticism for their performance in game one, and no one was more scrutinized than captain Mark Stone. It was his first game in months, but the captain responded by leading his team with eight points in round one.

It’s Laurent Brossoit who earned the crease for Vegas, and he ended up paying dividends. Brossoit made timely saves and posted favorable numbers despite a tough first game.

Rick Bowness had choice words for his Winnipeg team, calling out his team’s response to adversity not only in this series, but throughout the regular season. Obviously not something players will like, but he isn’t wrong. The Jets were in the running for the Central division title, but they struggled down the stretch and fell to the bottom wild card.

Carolina Hurricanes defeat New York Islanders 4-2

Almost all of us picked against the top seed out of the Metropolitan, and they proved us wrong. Well, one of the Sebastian Ahos did. The Carolina Hurricanes were able to dispel “those pesky Isles” in six games and the man to thank for that is Sebastian Aho. He scored four goals and two assists to power Carolina’s offense while Rod Brind’Amour’s system continued to prove successful.

As for the Islanders, they really had a lot against them. Personally, I feel like they were the better team in most of these games and they had the better goalie, but the Hurricanes were the more opportunistic team. We knew the Islanders didn’t have the primary or depth scoring for a playoff run, but their tough style is built for the playoffs and a banged up Hurricanes team felt like a good matchup. But it wasn’t, the Islanders were out coached and the injuries for Carolina were irrelevant.

Dallas Stars defeat Minnesota Wild 4-2

The Dallas Stars are the most complete team in the Central division. I’ve said it throughout this first round and they are now the only team remaining from that division heading into round 2. The offense was on display, even though the Wild were able to hold them off for a couple games, the group led by Roope Hintz (5-7–12), Jason Robertson (2-5–7) and aging-star Tyler Seguin (4-2–6) in round one. But being the most complete team also means being good on the back-end and the Stars are. The defenseman are capable, but Jake Oettinger is Dallas’ rock. He held the Wild to just one goal over the final two games of the series, letting his team settle in before round two.

For Minnesota, they just didn’t get enough scoring from the big guns. Kirill Kaprizov scored just once, the first goal scored in the series. Outside of the three goals from Frederick Gaudreau, the Wild didn’t have any consistent scoring in this series.

Toronto Maple Leafs defeat Tampa Bay Lighting 4-2

Where were you when the Maple Leafs finally won a playoff series in 2023? That’s how it felt when Toronto finally got that elusive fourth win over the Lightning in game six, winning all three games they played on the road this series.

It really was a little bit of everything in this one for Toronto. After game one, they were smoked 7-3 on home ice and everyone thought “here we go again.” But the Leafs answered in game two winning 7-2. The biggest statements from Toronto came on the road, with a pair of dramatic comeback wins before another overtime win in game six. Auston Matthews (5-4–9) and Jon Tavares (4-3–7) stepped up in big ways for them, whether it was scoring game-winners or fueling comebacks.

My biggest doubt for the Maple Leafs was Ilya Samsonov, and even though he was shaky, he ended up having his moments and building confidence throughout the series.

Edmonton Oilers defeat Los Angeles Kings 4-2

Connor McDavid is Connor McDavid. Usually that's more than enough to handle, but in steps Leon Draisaitl. The pair was dynamic as usual, with Draisaitl (7-4–11) and McDavid (3-7–10) leading the way towards a dominant showing.

The biggest concern for Edmonton is actually about its dominance. Credit the Kings for winning two games and earning those wins, but Edmonton had control of both of those games. What it shows is that even when this team is dominant, they have lapses and even when things are great, they can also come crashing down.

For Los Angeles, they really just drew a tough matchup. This is a good team that needed every ounce to push the Oilers to six games. Anze Kopitar (2-5–7) channeled some of his old magic to help spark moments for the Kings, but ultimately they just didn’t have the fire power to matchup with the Oilers.

Florida Panthers defeat Boston Bruins 4-3

From the get-go, the Panthers took it to the Bruins. They let things slip a bit in games three and four, but with their backs against the wall they pulled out three straight wins against the best team in NHL regular-season history. Matthew Tkachuk (5-6–11) was a dominant force for this team, willing his team back into the series and ultimately past Boston. Brandon Montour (3-5–8) also had a big impact on the series, especially in game seven with a pair of goals and Carter Verhaeghe (6-2–8) was consistent the entire series that he ended with his overtime winner.

Boston had to play the first four games without Patrice Bergeron, but they held a 3-1 series lead at that point. At the end of the day, the Bruins were outplayed and outworked.

Seattle Kraken defeat Colorado Avalanche 4-3

Seattle might’ve looked like the best team in the first round. They played great playoff hockey, used their speed and Phillipp Grubauer was spectacular. The scoring came from all over for the Kraken, with 15 different players scoring one, but three players tied for the team lead in goals with two.

The Avalanche just had too many injuries to overcome. Seattle was clearly the better team in the series, but the combination of star power and Jared Bednar pushed this series to seven games.

New Jersey Devils defeat New York Rangers 4-3

It really was a tale of two series in this one, with the Devils flashing their speed and the Rangers showing their strength and experience. For the Devils, it took them a couple of games to calm down and settle in. After games one and two, we saw a more accurate representation of what this matchup looks like.

The Rangers offense really dipped after game 2, scoring just two goals in four of the last five games of the series. It was Chris Kreider (6-3–9) who led the way early, scoring all five power play goals in the series for the Rangers, including four in the first two games. Adam Fox (0-8–8) drove the Rangers offense, which is telling, considering he had six assists through the first two games and just two the last five games.

After the series, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant was asked about the missed opportunity with all of the talent the team had, and he responded with “talent doesn’t mean anything” and he went on to point out the lack of offense in the losses this series.

Jack Hughes (3-1–4) led the charge for the Devils who didn’t light up the scoreboard the way they did in the regular season. While it wasn’t expected, it isn’t alarming due to the way they played. They didn’t score much in losses, they played a tighter style of play protecting their own net and not to mention playing Igor Shesterkin.

Still, New Jersey found a way to win games with depth scoring, Ondrej Palat having his best game as a Devil in game seven, the legend of Akira Schmid is growing with two shutouts and a 4-1 record in round one and the New Jersey is moving on despite not getting a single point from Timo Meier.

Ben Mandell