NHL Playoffs First Round Recap

The first round of the NHL Playoffs is officially over, which means we’re one step away from the Chicago Blackhawks winning another Stanley Cup. Wait, the Blackhawks and Kings have BOTH BEEN ELIMINATED?!?!? This shit is crazy. Let’s recap.

Tampa Bay Lightning defeated Detroit Red Wings 4-1

Storyline: The Lightning were too talented and too fast for an older Detroit team that had regressed from last year’s team.

MVP: Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, and Alex Killorn all have a case (that line scored 10 of the 12 goals in the series), but Ben Bishop was the best player on the ice every game. The Lightning goalie gave his team a chance to win every night and once again proved why he’s one of the best goalies in the league. For some reason, people think Bishop is the weak link on the team, but those people are dumb. Bishop is the strength of this team and without Steven Stamkos, they need him to play his size (big).

New York Islanders defeated Florida Panthers 4-2

Storyline: The Islanders won three of their four games in overtime.Poor Luongo.

MVP: Thomas Greiss was really good, far better than anyone expected him to be, but this series belonged to John Tavares. He took over game six, scoring both goals in the elimination game, and had five goals in the series. He led by example and the team follow suit. 

  

Washington Capitals defeated Philadelphia Flyers 4-1

Storyline: The Caps went up 3-0, gave fans a minor heart attack by losing the next two, but had too much talent not to win this series.

MVP: Braden Holtby. He gave up two goals or less in every game and posted two shutouts. Even in the two losses, he was really good, the scoring just let him down. Holtby was the best goalie in the league during the regular season and has continued his strong play in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh Penguins defeated New York Rangers 4-1

Storyline: Henrik Lundqvist, historically a great playoff goalie, really sucked.

MVP: Sidney Crosby. Really, the Penguins played well as a team and benefited a ton from Lundqvist’s poor performance. If anything, Lundqvist was the MVP of the Penguins. He gave his team no chance to win. The Rangers were facing inexperienced back-ups and could’ve done some damage if they were able to play with the lead. Lundqvist never gave them a chance to play with the lead.

Dallas Stars defeated Minnesota Wild 4-2

Storyline: The Stars top regular season offense continued to score while their defense and goaltending did just enough to get by.

MVP: Jamie Benn. With Tyler Seguin sidelined for all but one game, the Dallas captain stepped up and scored 10 points in the six games. Have you noticed that the teams that won all got stellar play for their captains? That’s not a coincidence.

St. Louis Blues defeated Chicago Blackhawks 4-3

Storyline: This series was awesome. It had everything a hockey fan could want. Every game was intense and exciting. If you want to get a friend into hockey, force them to watch this entire series from start to finish. And if they still don’t like hockey. Fuck them.

MVP: I’ll give it to St. Louis as a team. They got it done together. No player really stood out. Vladimir Tarasenko had four goals in seven games while Jaden Schwartz led the series with seven points and Brian Elliott played well, but this was a team effort. When they looked down, and they definitely looked down after failing to win game five and then blowing a 3-1 lead in game six, they rallied in game seven. HOCKEY!

San Jose Sharks defeated Los Angeles Kings 4-1

Storyline: The Sharks went up 3-1 in the series, nearly blew a 3-0 lead in game five, but managed to close out the Kings and erase that demon.

MVP: Joe Pavelski. Hey look, another captain. But really, like the Rangers vs. Penguins series, the MVP should go to the opposing goaltender. Jonathan Quick, another historically great playoff goalie, gave up three goals a game and simply didn’t play well enough for his team to win games.

Nashville Predators defeated Anaheim Ducks 4-3

Storyline: The Preds went up 2-0, then down 3-2, and eventually won 4-3. The Ducks lost another Game 7 at home. And by “another” I mean their fourth straight.

MVP: Shea Weber. I said he was the best, and most important, player in this series and he made me look like a genius. Not only did Weber lead his team in goals and points, but he shutdown the duo of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Once again, the captain was the MVP for a team. If you ever thought that being a captain was overrated or that “being a good guy in the locker room is more important than leading by example” then you’ve been wrong for a long time and these playoffs prove it.