Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs isn't quite over, but we're nearly there. Five teams have already punched their tickets to Round 2 and one series – Islanders vs. Bruins – is locked in.
Your bracket may be busted already and your opinion on certain teams may have changed after a few post-season games. So how do we feel about the favourites now?
That's what this week's Power Rankings will try and sort out.
Here is our ranking of each team still alive in the playoffs and how we view them through the lens of a Stanley Cup contender.
1. Colorado Avalanche
The Avs don't have much in the way of a weakness and how they rolled over St. Louis in Round 1 confirmed it. Colorado wrapped up Round 1 the NHL leaders in Corsi for (58.29 per cent), shots for percentage (58.45), expected goals for percentage (61.71) and outscored their opponent 10-4 at 5-on-5. Nathan MacKinnon is a cheat code who leads the NHL with six goals scored in just four games.
Honestly, the Avs perhaps would have preferred their opening series to go on for another game or two so that Nazem Kadri's suspension didn't bleed too much into Round 2 (he's appealing it and will be heard Thursday). But in his absence, J.T. Compher centred between Joonas Donskoi and Andre Burakovsky, and when Compher was on the ice the Avs outscored the competition 2-0 and outshot them 18-9 in Games 3 and 4. Tyson Jost also centred a line that controlled play.
They got through the Blues without much push back and Colorado's depth wasn't challenged too much, but the difficulty setting will be moved up a notch in Round 2.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs
It sure feels like the Leafs could have swept the Montreal Canadiens. Toronto handed the Habs a series of opportunities in Game 1 and had to deal with the emotional fallout after seeing their captain go down with a concerning injury – and they still only lost 2-1.
The Leafs have outmatched the Canadiens in every area you'd expect them to, and in some you might not. Jack Campbell has met the bar set by Carey Price in this series and Toronto's team defence has also played a key role in limiting Montreal's offence to just four goals in four games. Two key areas that held the Leafs back in the past are now strengths: depth and a "killer instinct" to bury an opponent and not let them off the mat.
The Leafs still have to actually, officially, close out this series of course, and every team they face from here on out, starting with Winnipeg, would be a stiffer challenge. But it's a great start for the Leafs, who have only had positive takeaways early on.
3. Boston Bruins
The Bruins had a really tight start to the series against Washington, and even lost Game 1. The first three games, in fact, went to overtime. Then the Bruins outscored the Capitals 7-2 in Games 4 and 5 and got past a pretty tough team in a relatively short series. That's always a huge win through the grind of the playoffs.
Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron each had 5-on-5 Corsi for percentages over 60 and absolutely dominated the Caps. The David Krejci-Taylor Hall combo continued to be effective, with Hall scoring a couple of tying goals. And how about Tuukka Rask? The Bruins didn't have him through the bubble playoffs and this year he's stopped 94.1 per cent of the shots he's faced so far. Both of Boston's special teams were solid, too.
Maybe we're getting a little Boston fatigue because they've been a contender so long, or maybe last summer's 4-1 second-round exit at the hands of Tampa is in the back of our minds, but don't sleep on the Bruins. They'll be a tough out.
4. Carolina Hurricanes
After jumping out to a 2-0 series lead and a seemingly easy Round 1 win, Carolina suddenly had to deal with major pushback from the Predators, who have forced overtime the past three games in a row and won two of them. Still, the Hurricanes are largely controlling the run of play, with a 57.51 shots for percentage at 5-on-5 that ranks only behind Colorado at the moment.
For the most part, Nashville's comeback attempt has largely been on the back of Juuse Saros, who has had such a heavy workload that his series save percentage is .928 even after allowing 16 goals against. The games have been close, the underlying numbers not. As long as the Canes can keep scoring and Alex Nedeljkovic's goaltending stands up (a key development for the team in its step up this season) we should still view them as a top-tier contender. Getting past Nashville in a competitive series should only serve to make the Canes stronger.
5. Tampa Bay Lightning
The first Battle of Florida has come to an end and we're already looking forward to the next one. The Lightning survived the Panthers in one of the most exciting first-round series.
Basically, the Lightning are back relatively healthy and in as good or better shape as they were last season when they won the Stanley Cup. Nikita Kucherov came back after missing the regular season and led the Lightning with 11 points in six games. Alex Killorn and Brayden Point lead in goals. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished the series with a shutout.
Florida perhaps should have won Game 1 if not for a costly penalty to Sam Bennett and that was the door left open for the Lightning – and they barrelled right through it. On to the next round now, where Carolina or underdog Nashville will meet them and face a slightly more rested Tampa squad.
6. New York Islanders
We should have already learned this, but here we go again: Never. Doubt. The. Islanders.
Sure, maybe they benefitted from a bout of shaky goaltending on Pittsburgh's side of things, but New York deserves all the credit in the world for the countless comebacks they put on in their opening-round series. In Game 1, it was a one-goal third-period deficit they overcame. In Game 5, with the series even 2-2, they overcame a second one-goal third-period deficit to win in OT. In the Game 6 clincher the Isles trailed three different times, came back on each one and eventually won by a couple goals.
Kyle Palmieri finally woke up with three goals in the series, which tied for the team lead with Anthony Beauvillier, Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey. They got through this series with Mathew Barzal being held to three assists. Whether the offence can keep it up is to be determined, but New York's strength continues to be its goaltending and everyone buying into a system that has worked for quite a while for Barry Trotz.
7. Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights have carried the flow of play for most of the series with Minnesota, which isn't a totally surprising development. They just haven't been able to score.
Maybe it's Cam Talbot's play, or maybe there's something deeper going on with Vegas here. Sure, Max Pacioretty hasn't played a game in the series after leading the team with 24 goals this season, but Vegas's offensive woes date back to last playoffs as well. In their Round 3 elimination to Dallas, Vegas scored eight goals in five games. In their second-round series against Vancouver, "Bubble Demko" made a name for himself as Vegas managed 19 goals in seven games – scoring just four times in the final three games.
Vegas is a high event team with a lot of weapons on paper and shouldn't be having this much of an issue. Marc-Andre Fleury has been the story of their season, but after allowing three goals against in back-to-back losses it's now going to be interesting to see what Peter DeBoer does in Game 7: stick with Fleury or switch to Robin Lehner?
8. Winnipeg Jets
They got through the Oilers in a sweep, but three of those games went to overtime and Winnipeg could easily have been on the either side of this result, or at least still be playing.
It was a close series and, in some ways, the Oilers were the better team. But when Connor Hellebuyck is at his peak the Jets are a tough out and he was at that level against the Oilers. As long as he's there, the Jets have every hope of getting back to Round 3 again.
Winnipeg's scoring depth is also a huge plus for them, especially in the playoffs. Ten different Winnipeg players scored a goal in the four-game series. Nikolaj Ehlers missed the first two games and still managed to be a hero. We haven't seen the best of Pierre-Luc Dubois here yet and if he gets going again, look out.
9. Minnesota Wild
If Vegas was just shooting better than 5.96 per cent at 5-on-5 this series may already be over. Is that happening because the Golden Knights have a post-season scoring issue dating back to 2020, or does Cam Talbot deserve a ton of credit here? The Wild starter has a .937 save percentage in six games and has faced more shots than any goalie other than Vasilevskiy and Saros.
The Wild have controlled just over 46 per cent of the shots at 5-on-5 and regular-season sensation Kirill Kaprizov has just a single goal in the series, but they're finding a way through.
10. Nashville Predators
Only the Blues have been outshot more decisively than the Predators in this round. They've been staying alive due to some timely goal scoring, steady play in net from Saros, and because they're keeping up to Carolina in a fast-paced series.
Nashville's power play has carried over its regular-season struggles and converted on just 9.1 per cent of its opportunities. By any metric, the Preds are outmatched in this series and now that they're behind 3-2 an opportunity for an upset may have passed. But we've seen goalies steal series before, and though Saros's isn't a name you'd think of first on a list of those who might be able to lead that sort of charge, he is playing at that level right now.
11. Montreal Canadiens
Montreal's offence has completely dried up. It's squandered a 1-0 series lead and been the biggest contributing factor to their current 3-1 deficit. Carey Price has done what the Habs needed him to if they had a shot to win this series, but the team around him isn't following up with enough support.
There was hope Montreal could grind a few games out of Toronto and Price could steal a couple more to lead an upset, but those hopes are evaporating. The Leafs are pushing back, scoring timely goals and showing how improved they are on the defensive side of the puck. It's become apparent in this series that these Canadiens are simply outclassed.
In order to have a shot at extending their season tonight, the Canadiens will need everyone working together — especially in creating offence, where they haven’t been able to be threatening, let alone effective.
: @EricEngelshttps://t.co/Z3E0uMX2Tp— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 27, 2021
