It's kind of funny how many things can be brought to light during a seven-game Stanley Cup playoff series, isn't it?
The first round of the postseason has concluded. Here are a few of my takeaways, followed by my predictions for each second-round series.
FIRST-ROUND REFLECTIONS
• I don't use this term lightly, but what an utter choke job from the Bruins. That goes for the players and Jim Montgomery alike. Despite the absence of Patrice Begeron, one of the best regular-season teams of all-time took a 3-1 series lead into Game 5 and proceeded to lose three in a row to a team that merely squeaked into the postseason ... and that was with Bergeron back in the fold.
Regardless of everything else, I can't help but feel like the Bruins would've advanced anyway had they turned to Jeremy Swayman in goal sooner. According to Kevin Weekes, Linus Ullmark was dealing with "a debilitating and painful injury that limited his mobility and technique." Uh, really? That would explain him allowing a total of 10 goals in Games 5 & 6. It would've been one thing if their only other option in goal was Louis Domingue, but they quite literally had the best, or at least one of the best, backups in the entire league. Swayman should have been between the pipes the second Ullmark's injury reared its head in his performance. Maybe one day teams will understand there's nothing admirable about playing through injury, or the fact injured players almost always end up hurting the team more than they help.
Whatever the case, it'll be interesting to see how the Bruins pivot from here. They were as all-in as it gets, and now they're sure to take a considerable step back with nothing to show for it but a Presidents' Trophy banner that's sure to only serve as a reminder to what could've been.
• The Maple Leafs finally advancing after playing a worse series than they did a season ago is the ultimate testament to hockey's goofiness. This time around, they controlled only 49% of the expected goals and scored just 48.5% of the actual goals during full-strength action, yet they managed to emerge victorious. They did keep their heads above water in goals during all situations, but their share of expected goals actually decreased from the mark they were at during 5-on-5 play.
In the end, though, does anyone really need to look further than Andrei Vasilevskiy faltering as to why things shook out the way they did? No, the Bolts weren't great in front of him, but even accounting for that, he allowed 3.7 more goals than expected while posting an .875 save percentage. The only other time he had a worse postseason showing was when he allowed 7.2 more goals than expected to the Blue Jackets in 2019.
If you had Ilya Samsonov outperforming Vasilevskiy on your bingo card, hats off to you.
• I vastly underestimated how much it would hurt the Avalanche not to have Gabriel Landeskog. A lot is being made of the Avalanche's lack of depth scoring in that series, but the truth is that their good depth forwards were thrust into more prominent roles because of Landeskog's injury and Valeri Nichushkin being away from the team after Game 2.
• Not to poke fun, but I'll be curious to see if Jack Johnson plays another NHL game. He appeared in three games during the first round and the Avs were crushed in terms of shot attempts (34.7%) and expected goals (22.9%) during his 39 minutes at full-strength. He isn't under contract next season and will be 37 by the time next postseason rolls around.
• Is this Kraken team a blast to watch or what? No team scored more frequently than them at 5-on-5 during the regular season and they continued to fill the net during the first round, scoring three or more goals five times. One of the games they didn't score three was Game 7, when Phillip Grubauer shut the door en route to a 2-1 victory. It'll continue to be an all-hands-on-deck approach for them in the second round.
• Blow up that Jets core. Blow it to smithereens. And then start utilizing Nikolaj Elhers like the first-line forward that he's been for several years.
• John Marino made his mark on the Devils' Game 7 victory over the Rangers with a magnificent cut to the slot off the rush before making a slick pass out front for a goal. It looked exactly like the play many had been waiting several seasons for him to make. Has he ascended to an all-around elite level? Well, not so fast. I'll have more on the current state of his game (and why his rookie season remains his best to date) in a column later this week.
• I don't see how Gerard Gallant can keep his job with the Rangers. That's now two consecutive seasons in which he failed to get his team to play with any semblance of structure. The entirety of their game plan during that time was relying on Igor Shesterkin, hoping he could bail them out long enough until one of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider or Artemi Panarin could score a quick counterattack goal. Newsflash: That ain't a winning recipe. Let's not forget the Penguins were a Casey DeSmith away from bouncing them in the first round a year ago.
• Playoff Leon Draisaitl is just a different beast. What a treat it was to see him score at will during the first round. Dating back to last postseason, he has an absurd 43 points ... in 22 games. That Connor McDavid guy's not too bad, either.
I'm still rocking with my preseason Cup pick, the Oilers.
SECOND-ROUND PREDICTIONS
Maple Leafs vs. Panthers
Maple Leafs in six.
Hurricanes vs. Devils
Devils in seven.
Stars vs. Kraken
Stars in seven.
Golden Knights vs. Oilers
Oilers in six.
