By: Chris Nosek

Round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs is officially in the books. Let’s take a look at the second round!

Florida Panthers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

As much as some of us want to believe this Toronto team is different, no one will believe it until they see it. Their test wasn’t getting past the Ottawa Senators. That was the bare minimum. Their true test comes this round against the Florida Panthers. In theory, they should have the high-end talent to compete with the defending cup champions, However during the regular season they were out scored 13-7 and has a 1-3 record. The Toronto offense was shut down by the Panthers who still hold the massive edge physically. This series is why the Maple Leafs needed to earn home ice advantage in the regular season. The Panthers will be heavily favored in this series, as they should. Craig Berube will need to use his advantage of last change to do everything he can to out-coach Paul Maurice. I don’t think it will be enough and Leafs fans will be left disappointed yet again. The question is whether Florida takes it in five or six games. Florida knows the importance of getting it done early, so look for them advance in five games.

Washington Capitals vs. Carolina Hurricanes

This could end up being a much closer series than many will give it credit. The biggest question will be who gets the net for Carolina. After his rough start in game five, Kochetkov settled in nicely. If he isn’t playing consistently, his game gets thrown off and he is much less effective. The wild card is whether or not Frederik Andersen will be healthy enough to play the entire series. Before he went down with an injury he was the best goaltender in the playoffs. If it were me, I’d start Kochetkov in game one, regardless, because he is the one who’s in rhythm right now and they can turn back to Andersen going forward. The extra practice time will help both teams work their rookies into the lineup. I can easily see these two teams trading blows in the series and having this go six or seven games. In the end though, I see the Hurricanes advancing. They have the advantage in coaching, experience, and their depth has a higher ceiling. To me, it’s an ever so slight edge to Carolina.

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Edmonton Oilers

I would be surprised it the Oilers are able to push back as strongly against the Golden Knights as they did against the Kings. Against LA, they caught numerous breaks from over played players to bad coaching decisions. The Kings were able to limit McDavid and Draisaitl as they combined for only 5 goals all series. Yes, they posted a lot of assists, but they weren’t able to score many goals. Vegas, on the other hand, played a solid game across the board in their series against the Wild and their scoring was spread out pretty evenly. Jack Eichel only had one goal in the series and I fully expect that to change against the almost non-existent goaltending of the Edmonton Oilers. Vegas should be able to work this series pretty quickly. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a sweep, but McDavid and Draisaitl should be able to push Edmonton into taking at least one game, regardless of poor goaltending.

Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets

After the way the Jets won game seven, they will have a massive boost in confidence. This should be one heck of a series to watch, especially if the round one win boosted Connor Hellebuyck’s confidence going forward. Both teams can create chances and score and both teams have goaltenders who can be elite. The Stars may get two key players back during this series in Miro Heiskenen and Jason Robertson, however the Jets should be able to add Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele back into theirs. The Jets have the advantage of home ice, and were victorious in three of the four games between them during the regular season. I fully expect this series to go the distance because both teams have the ability to win it. I think the Jets ride their confidence and are able to squeeze it out in the end, but at least two games will go to overtime.