NHL playoffs

USA TODAY Sports' NHL experts break down their first-round selections and make their cases for who will win the Stanley Cup.

N.Y. Rangers vs. Carolina vs. N.Y. Rangers vs. Calgary vs. Edmonton vs. Toronto vs. N.Y. Rangers vs. Champion: Lightning in six. They won't romp like they did in a recent 8-1 win vs. Pittsburgh: Rangers in six. Pittsburgh: Rangers in six. Nashville: Avalanche in five.

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs by former NHL coaches and assistants who will turn their critical gaze to the ...

One of the important things in this series will be making the Panthers play in their defensive zone. They're expected to win, and a loss in the first round would make a very good season feel wasted. Washington is four years out from winning the Stanley Cup and has a lot of players remaining from that team. The Capitals are a little different. Sergei Bobrovsky is the Panthers' guy and he's more than capable of providing a good performance in net. That will definitely play a part in this series against the Penguins. The consistency of that is necessary. There should be emphasis on controlling the puck, taking care of it, making it hard on them. The Pittsburgh Penguins are not worried about how they played against the New York Rangers in the regular season. This is all being guided by two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Sullivan, who knows what it takes to get through a grueling NHL playoffs. Thompson's focus will be on the Western Conference, Barr will handle the Eastern Conference. It has a good blend of skill, speed and forwards who will get dirty to get the job done.

The other wild card team takes on the other division winner. The second and third place teams from the divisions battle it out in the other playoff matchups. In ...

I do think the Avalanche will be able to get out of the Western Conference, but maybe not without a scare from the Calgary Flames. Colorado is just too talented at every position, and the team will be on a mission after last season's early exit. If that continues in the postseason, the Bruins are well-equipped to deal with that and keep the Hurricanes off the scoreboard. Chris: Similar to the Hurricanes/Bruins series, a goaltender injury is one of the biggest storylines to watch. Ovechkin is likely going to play in Game 1, but he's going to need to be superhuman for the Capitals to have a chance. Will the third time be the charm for Carolina or will it just be more of the same? To put it briefly, Auston Matthews. The Toronto superstar is on another level than everyone else this season and may very well be the MVP, and he doesn't have a bunch of slouches around him. That is what will make the difference in this series. I do think Darryl Sutter devises a plan to put a lid on Dallas' top line, and Calgary is the much deeper team in this series. Hart Trophy candidate Johnny Gaudreau had the best season of his career for a team that had the second-most points in the Western Conference. In addition, goaltender Jacob Markstrom was a brick wall at times and will be a huge asset throughout the postseason. For a team that didn't make a marquee addition in the offseason, Calgary relied on the star power that they already had in place to build a Stanley Cup contender. The Preds have shown an ability to be a scrappy bunch this season, but grit and sandpaper won't be enough to pull off the upset against this Avalanche squad. For Minnesota, Kaprizov is the engine that powers a deep forward group that includes a nice balance of skill and defensive ability.

The matchups are set. Half the league is headed for vacation. The other half is set to embark on a path that could take two months and will end with one ...

This series between the sixth-ranked Wild and eighth-ranked Blues certainly qualifies. We’ve been mostly wrong all year, we might as well go out with the opportunity to be super wrong. Speaking with five active NHL executives from across the league, we asked them to separate the 16 playoff teams into tiers from 1 to 5. If you like chaos, drama and unexpected twists and turns then your wishes were granted on the final full night of the NHL regular season. Nurse is dealing with a lower-body ailment. That’s the most challenging part of any playoff pool strategy as you need to determine which teams go how far and whether it’s worth it to take one player over another depending on that factor. As the Canadian rightsholder, Sportsnet and its people will carry through until the Stanley Cup is presented. As Canada prepares for the start of the NHL playoffs next week, Sportsnet’s hockey hosts, analysts and play-by-play voices are preparing to punch in for a shift that will last for two months. Wild fans yearn for a long playoff run. But on April 28, prior to the Bruins’ final home game of the regular season, the Walpole native learned he was needed the following night in Toronto. Wagner saw several of his teammates while taking a pre-flight COVID-19 test. That’s a thought few would have had a couple months ago as two injuries and subsequent struggles to regain his form nearly derailed the Oilers’ season. For this year anyway, the Kings are leaving them all behind.

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The Bruins no longer have playoff mainstays in goalie Tuukka Rask (who retired) and center David Krejci (who left to play in the Czech Republic). But they still have a core of Patrice Bergeron (a pending free agent), Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, supported by a cast that includes Taylor Hall and Hampus Lindholm. The Bruins have eliminated the Hurricanes in two of the past three postseasons. One point of concern: Goalie Tristan Jarry, outstanding in the regular season, has a broken foot, and his availability for this series could be impacted. The Kings were one of the surprises of the NHL, making the playoffs for the first time since 2018. The Leafs haven't won a playoff series since 2004 -- including last season's stunning first-round loss to Montreal -- and are searching for their first Stanley Cup win since 1967. This is the most compelling playoff series of the first round, full stop. Los Angeles Kings (No. 3, Pacific Division). The Connor and Leon show was in full effect, as McDavid (123 points) and Draisaitl (110) carried the Oilers to the postseason. The Lightning, meanwhile, are trying to become the NHL's first team to win three straight Stanley Cup championships since 1982. St. Louis Blues (No. 3, Central Division). The Wild had their best offensive season in franchise history, powered by a 47-goal season from star winger Kirill Kaprizov. The Blues had their best offensive season since the 1990-91 season, powered by star winger Vladimir Tarasenko (82 points), who went from requesting a trade last offseason to leading the Blues in scoring. It was a full 82-game season in the NHL for the first time since 2018-19. They also had one of the league's top goalies in Jacob Markstrom. The Stars could be a considered a one-line team, but it was an extraordinary line: Joe Pavelski (81 points), Roope Hintz (37 goals) and 22-year-old breakout star Jason Robertson, who had 41 goals. It had no home in the East. For the first time in NHL history, all eight teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs cracked 100 points in the standings. Nashville did too, but fell to the last seed in the West after blowing a lead in its final game at the Arizona Coyotes.

Here is TV information for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Monday, May 2. Eastern Conference. Boston Bruins at Carolina Hurricanes, 7 p.m. ET; ...

Eastern Conference Western Conference Eastern Conference

CBC Sports' daily newsletter looks at the three teams with a chance to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993.

A national funeral will be held Tuesday morning at a church in downtown Montreal. Read more about the final tributes to Lafleur here. Gaudreau is coming off a superstar-level regular season in which he racked up career highs in goals (40) and points (115) to finish second to McDavid in the scoring race. If the 23-year-old Toronto-based tutor extends her Canadian-record winning streak to 20 on tonight's airing of the show, she'll move into a tie with Julia Collins for the fifth-longest streak ever. Led by two-way stalwart Anze Kopitar, the Kings have the physicality to make things tough on McDavid. But they're lacking in firepower, and the bettings odds imply Edmonton has about a 70 per cent chance of beating them. See the full schedule and TV info for every series here. A year after missing the playoffs, the Pacific Division champion Flames have the look of a legit Cup contender. In 21 career playoff games, McDavid has 22 points — pretty solid considering the higher quality of competition and defensive intensity in the playoffs, but not exactly up to McDavid standards. To be clear, it's not McDavid's fault that Edmonton keeps flopping in the post-season. The team that hasn't captured a Stanley Cup since 1967 and hasn't won a playoff series in the salary cap era ought to be feeling pretty good about its chances of ending those embarrassing droughts right now. Last year's brief playoff appearance was a microcosm of the McDavid/Oilers playoff struggles: he averaged an incredible 1.88 points per game in the regular season before managing only four in a humbling four-game sweep at the hands of Winnipeg. Read more about the Leafs-Lightning series here. So, once again, the pressure is on the most talked-about team in hockey.

The NHL is full of title contenders that turn out to be pretenders and plenty of success stories about teams that figure it out and get the job done.

Among recent Cup champs, Tampa Bay has made the playoffs eight of the past nine years, St. Louis 10 of 11, Washington nine of 10 and Pittsburgh 16 in a row. That style of game does not have to be the same. “You’re going to get punched in the nose. I think it’s having the right mindset and knowing how to win and not getting rattled if you don’t, but being able to bounce back immediately and win the next one.” Five of the past six champions have finished top five on the power play or penalty kill in the playoffs. You have to stay even keeled but play your game.” Now with the Colorado Avalanche, he’s well-aware that’s just one part of what it takes for a playoff team to get over the hump and win it all. Ken Daneyko, who won the Cup with New Jersey three times, pointed to a penalty by Sam Bennett that cost the Panthers last year. “It’s so hard to win the Stanley Cup,” Burakovsky said. The Tampa Bay Lightning certainly had all that when they won back to back the past two years. You’ve got to be healthy when you hit playoffs,” Brind’Amour said. Sometimes it’s the direction a puck takes when it banks off the post and in – or out.

Eight teams from each conference have fought for 82 games to make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs. It takes 16 total wins for a team to hoist the Cup and ...

- For ESPN and ABC games, use the ESPN app. Most live TV streaming services offer a free trial or discounts during the first month, allow you to cancel anytime and all require a solid internet connection. If you have a live TV streaming service (like Sling TV, YouTube TV or one of the ones below), you can use its app. - For TNT games, you will need the Watch TNT app. Calgary Flames, Game 1, 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on ESPN 2 Edmonton Oilers, Game 1, 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on ESPN 2 Carolina Hurricanes, Game 1, 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) on ESPN See NHL.com for the full schedule. Superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers look to finally make some noise in the playoffs and will be taking on the Los Angeles Kings, who finished one spot below them in the Pacific. Here's everything you need to know about how to watch or stream the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Florida Panthers captured the best record in the NHL, as well as the Eastern Conference, and will face off against Alexander Ovechkin and the eighth seed Washington Capitals. Eight teams from each conference have fought for 82 games to make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are one of the most exciting postseason formats that the sports world has to offer. For the first time in three years, each NHL ...

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After the first full 82-game regular season in three years, it's finally time for the NHL's 16 best teams to compete for the Stanley Cup.

The current NHL Playoffs standings have the Panthers, the Hurricanes, the Avalanche, and the Flames leading each division. Head to NHL.com to see the full, updated Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule. With hockey livestreams on ESPN, TNT, and TBS, DirecTV Stream is one of the best ways to watch the NHL Playoffs online without cable. ESPN+ will come in especially handy when you need to watch the NHL Finals on ESPN. Below are a few streaming services that will let you watch the NHL Playoffs live online, with streams of every game. Of course, you’ll need a way to catch all the action live.