By any measure, making it to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is an achievement. To be one of the final eight teams in the Cup chase is nothing to sneeze at, especially when — if you’re the Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders — you’ve already notched two series wins just to be here.
That said, every squad’s goal is going all the way and that requires three more best-of-seven victories. For whatever has gone right so far, some teams still need a few dominoes to fall the right way. That’s already happening on some clubs, as a couple snipers are starting to find a groove that previously proved elusive.
With that in mind, here’s a list of players who — should they take it up a notch — have the power to really improve teams’ fortunes through the next phase of the post-season.
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Philadelphia’s big boy scorers
The Flyers’ top five goal-scorers in the regular season were Travis Konecny, Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk, and they combined for a single goal (courtesy of Hayes) in Philly’s six-game victory over the Montreal Canadiens. JVR even found himself healthy-scratched for a couple games.
Philly’s depth is a big reason the club has high aspirations, but the Bullies are going to need their lead horses to get going against the Islanders — especially on a power play operating at 10.3 per cent in the post-season.
Tampa’s new guys
Nobody is expecting third- and fourth-liners to replace the offence lost with the absence of Steven Stamkos, but it would be a huge boost to the Bolts if three guys in their first playoff with the club — Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow and Patrick Maroon — could pitch in some net-crashing goals.
So far, Coleman and Goodrow each have a goal, while ‘Big Rig’ is stuck on goose egg. The latter two players were certainly added more for muscle than touch, but Coleman is a dependable 20-goal guy who has found the net just once in 18 total outings with Tampa.
If those guys can stir up an ugly goal or two, it will go a long way toward helping the Lightning’s chances against the don’t-give-an-inch Bruins.
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Pavel Francouz
The Czech stopper was called upon in tough circumstances on Saturday night, entering Game 1 of Colorado’s series with Dallas after Philipp Grubauer tweaked something in the lower half of his body very early in the second period of a 5-3 loss.
While we don’t know how long Grubauer will be out, we do know he’s not starting Game 2. Francouz proved to be very capable for Colorado this season, posting a .923 save percentage in 34 games. If he really wants to make a name for himself, now’s the time.
Brock Boeser
As Vegas’s resounding 5-0 Game 1 victory underscored, it’s going to take everything the Canucks have to give the West’s No. 1 seed a real series. Boeser has found the net just once in his past eight outings and has only nine shots on goal during that span, which stretches over the final contest versus Minnesota, the entire St. Louis series and the opener against Vegas.
So many important pieces have shone for Vancouver so far and it would mean the world to get this one rolling, too.
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Max Pacioretty
The Golden Knights’ leading scorer in the regular season was late arriving to the bubble due to an injury, did not skate in a qualifier contest and missed Game 1 versus the Blackhawks. Pacioretty was held off the scoresheet in his first three outings, but posted one-and-one in the Game 5 victory that clinched the series win over Chicago and notched the fifth goal in Vegas’s 5-0 dismantling of the Canucks in Game 1 of Round 2.
No. 67’s underlying numbers were good throughout the Chicago series, so maybe we’re witnessing the start of a serious breakout.
Tyler Seguin
The struggles of Dallas’s top line have been an issue all season. And while top-unit wingers Alexander Radulov (two) and Jaime Benn (one) both found the net versus the Calgary Flames, Seguin failed to register a five-on-five point in six outings. The Stars basically surrendered as many high-danger scoring chances as they created against Calgary when Seguin was on the ice, and that’s just not good enough for a 28-year-old who is supposed to be leading this goal-challenged club.
Game 1 versus the Avalanche, however, could not have gone better for Seguin. Not only did he find the net for his first NHL bubble tally, he drew the first assist on a marker by Radulov.
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