By: Chris Nosek

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers

Clearly the Panthers didn’t start the game the way they wanted to needed to. They did, however, settle down and find their game to fight there way back. Even though the Maple Leafs were up 2-0 in the series the idea of a sweep was far-fetched and once Florida tied this one up we knew their biggest push was coming. Toronto did a great job to ties the game and send it to overtime, which is just another way this team is showing how they’re different from Leaf teams of the past. At worst the Leafs win this series because of their home ice advantage, but given how close this game was I think Toronto makes some adjustments and is able to take the series in 5 games.

Washington Capitals vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Despite their loss in game two, the Canes still played very well and so far over the three games they’ve only allowed the Caps to score 4 goals. The defense of the Canes is suffocating the Caps offense while their offense is throwing just about everything they can at the Washington net. In this game, Ovechkin put 4 shots on goal, which doubled his total for the series, and despite this the Canes held them scoreless. The home ice advantage Carolina has can’t be underestimated, especially since they will have it as they try to get up in the series 3-1. I had the Canes winning the series, but now I think they can take it when they come back home for game 6.

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Edmonton Oilers

Stuart Skinner got the net back due to an injury that kept Calvin Pickard out for this game. Skinner seemed to have found his game and had his best game of this post season. Last season Skinner had a similar path to finding his game in that he only found his game after sitting for a bit. This game was less than one second from heading to overtime, and the Golden Knights got extremely lucky to see Reilly Smith tie up the game. For some reason, this Oilers team is able to outscore their biggest deficiencies constantly. I’ve already come around to the Oilers winning this series, but at this point I’m leaning toward a shorter series of only 5 games. They should be able to take their next game at home and head back to Vegas up 3-1 in the series.

Winnipeg Jets vs. Dallas Stars

Game 3 get’s played on Sunday at 4:30p edt and will air on TBS, TruTV, and MAX.