Iced Out: Hot takes for the final weeks on the ice
As spring break passes by and the final month of classes is upon us, there is no better time to start tuning into the NHL.
The regular season will wrap up about two weeks into the month, and half of the 32 teams in the NHL will officially close the door on the 2022-23 season after a packed regular season.
The other half of the league will turn their attention to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the same goal: being the last team standing and getting their names etched in history.
Fans won’t have to wait long for playoff hockey, as the puck will drop in the postseason just a few days after the regular season’s final games on April 17.
Though the postseason is drawing near, there’s a lot of unfinished business as multiple teams in both conferences are in tight contention for a wild-card spot. There’s also important seeding up for grabs, as many teams sitting comfortably in the playoff picture are desperately trying to secure home ice.
That said, let’s jump into a couple of predictions for the coming weeks, one hotter than the other.
Warm: Toronto conquers their inner demons and downs Tampa Bay.
The Boston Bruins finally did the inevitable and claimed the President’s’ Trophy, securing the best record in the NHL with their 2-1 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets last Thursday night. Due to Boston’s sheer dominance this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning have virtually known they’ll be facing off in the first round of the playoffs for months.
The two squads entered last year’s postseason in the same position in the Atlantic Conference, the Maple Leafs as the second-best team and the Lightning the third. Tampa Bay prevailed in seven games last year, but the Maple Leafs will get revenge this time.
How could this be considered any bit “hot” if Toronto has the better record? Well, because the Maple Leafs are cursed. In the last nine seasons, they’ve made the playoffs six times. They have only won a single playoff series during that period. One.
The Maple Leafs and Lightning have the same average goals scored per game, while Toronto has allowed slightly fewer goals per game. However, the Maple Leafs’ goal differential is 16 points higher than Tampa’s; Toronto either plays tight games or wins comfortably — so you can bet these Leafs are putting up a tough fight every time they take the ice in the playoffs.
The Leafs still have bonafide star power with centers Auston Matthews and John Tavares. Former Dallas Star and 2019 Stanley Cup champion center Ryan O’Reilly’s midseason acquisition gives Toronto one more offensive weapon with championship experience.
Plus, goalie Ilya Samsonov has proven to be a reliable netminder and a guy you can trust to hold it down come playoff time. He boasts the fifth-best goals-against average in the NHL with 2.40, and the Maple Leafs will need him if they are going to go toe-to-toe with an experienced playoff goalie in the Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy is both a former Vezina and Conn Smythe winner and led Tampa to back-to-back Stanley Cup runs in 2020 and 2021.
The city of Toronto breathes hockey, and their fans will be rabid during this series — another card that plays in the Maple Leafs’ favor if they lock up home ice.
Because of their offensive firepower and new dependable presence in between the pipes, Toronto will knock Tampa out of the first round.
Hot: New Jersey and New York tag-team Carolina.
Now, what exactly do I mean by “tag-team?” Currently, Carolina sits atop the Metropolitan Division, setting up a matchup for them with the first wild-card team and a series between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. However, the Devils are only one point behind the Hurricanes at the time of writing and will overtake them by the time the final whistle blows in the regular season.
That’s not all though. Carolina, the second-best team in the Eastern Conference for most of the season, will fall in the first round to the Rangers.
Carolina is on a cold streak right now, riding a three-game slide and one win heading into the weekend. Meanwhile, New Jersey is heating up, winning two of their last three, the latest being a 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday.
In addition, the Devils’ remaining schedule is primarily made up of teams who will have nothing to play for, either because they’ll have been eliminated from playoff contention or they’re the Bruins who have already clinched the top seed. Carolina, on the other hand, has to play teams such as the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers, who will be battling tooth and nail for a spot in the postseason.
This season, I trust the offensive leaders of New Jersey more than I do Carolina’s. The Devils rank among the top four in the league in goals per game with 3.5, while the Hurricanes find themselves in the middle of the pack.
When New Jersey passes Carolina, the first round will feature a marquee rematch between the Rangers and the Hurricanes. A year ago, New York knocked out the No. 1 seeded Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
New York also has an extremely high-powered offense, outranking the Canes in both goals per game and goal differential. Their already stellar attack became lethal at the trade deadline when they added wingers Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane, two star players with Stanley Cups in their trophy cases.
Though Carolina has a slightly better defense in terms of goals against average, the Rangers have an absolute game changer in their net: the reigning Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin.
It’s hard to poke many holes in the Hurricanes, but I’ll take the Rangers’ plethora of postseason experience and elite netminder to emerge victorious for the second year in a row.
Kyle Frankel is a sophomore writing about the unique elements and storylines of ice hockey, while passing along some puck knowledge in his column “Iced Out,” which runs every other Monday.