Western Conference
The Blackhawks finish the season as the first seed in the Central for the second year in a row. The Wild, coming off a great season led by Ryan Suter, Zach Parise, and Joel Eriksson Ek, but the biggest hero is Devan Dubnyk. Dallas grabs the third seed narrowly, and ends up avoiding a first-round matchup against Edmonton. St. Louis gets the first wild-card spot and heads to Canada to face the Oilers in the first round. The Predators ride a late-season win streak into the second wild-card spot, with Patrik Laine and Mark Schiefle's Winnipeg Jets close behind. Nashville heads to Chicago for a first-round matchup for the second year in the row against Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks. Edmonton, led by Connor McDavid, wins the Pacific division narrowly over the Anaheim Ducks. Arizona squeaks into the playoffs, beating out the Sharks, Kings, and Flames for the third Pacific spot. Edmonton and Anaheim are the only teams that end up finishing ahead of Nashville, the Sharks, Kings, and Flames all have off years (The Sharks suffer from the loss of Patrick Marleau, Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick under perform, and Mike Smith is old.), while the Coyotes have an improvement year and Antti Raanta proves he can handle a starting job.
The Blackhawks bring the speed and physicality they were lacking in last year's playoffs and steamroll the Predators. P.K. Subban and Roman Josi have trouble containing Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews, and Richard Panik, and Patrick Kane has found a new playmate in Nick Schmaltz. While the Predators' top four defensemen are concentrating their efforts on the top two lines in overtime of Game 5, rookie of the year finalist Alex DeBrincat scores the overtime winner to send the Hawks to the next round.
Minnesota and Dallas proves to be a great matchup, with the teams splitting the first two games in Minnesota and then the Wild taking Game 3 in Dallas to take a 2-1 series lead. Tyler Seguin puts the team on his back, scores four goals in the next three games, and the Stars win the series in six. Seguin scores the overtime winner in Game 4 to keep the Stars from going down 3-1, and then Julius Honka adds three assists in a Game 5 rout-Stars 6, Wild 2. In Game 6, the Wild come out fast, and Parise scores within the first three minutes to give the Wild a lead. Ben Bishop doesn't let up another goal, and the Stars go on to win the game and the series.
Edmonton is heavily favored coming into the series but the Blues surprisingly put up a good fight. Vladmir Tarasenko is very difficult for the Oilers defensemen to contain, and he puts up six goals in seven games along with three assists for nine points. The Blues take the first two games on the road, and are winning late in the third period of Game 3 when Leon Draisaitl and Oscar Klefbom score in two minutes to give the Oilers the win. Tarasenko scores in overtime of Game 4, but McDavid scores in both games 5 and 6 with the same breakaway move to send the series to Game 7. Cam Talbot shines and Jake Allen chokes. Series over.
In the biggest surprise of the 2018 playoffs, the Arizona Coyotes beat the Anaheim Ducks in seven games. Max Domi and Clayton Keller shine throughout the series, and Niklas Hjalmarsson and Derek Stephan bringing the playoff experience, with Stephan scoring the game-winning goal in Game 5. Ryan Getzlaf wins Game 6 for the Ducks, scoring two goals and posting an assist to send the series back to Anaheim, but the Coyotes close out with help from Raanta, who makes 31 saves.
The Blackhawks prove once again to be too much for the Stars. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook shut down Seguin, Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov. Saad and Toews bring a physical element that goes unmatched even by Martin Hanzal, and Kane wins Game 6 off of a set-up by Schmaltz, who pulls of a Kane-esque move by drawing three defenders, spinning, and making a no-look backhand pass to Kane, who has a wide-open cage. Kane hasn't looked this happy since he won the Stanley Cup in overtime in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. The Blackhawks move on to the Western Conference Finals (again.)
Edmonton and Arizona go head-to-head. Edmonton isn't caught off-guard by being favored highly and come out and win Game 1. Connor McDavid is the game's first star. Arizona surprises again and wins the next two games. Antti Raanta stands on his head. Niklas Hjalmarsson blocks a shot at the horn of Game 2 and limps off the ice. He doesn't play the next game, but returns for Game 4. His shot from the point in overtime ends up getting tipped by Keller in front, and the Coyotes tie up the series. The Oilers win Game 5 7-3. They take their foot off the gas, a recurring problem for Edmonton throughout the playoffs and the Coyotes win Game 6. McDavid, disgusted with his team's efforts, scores a hat trick in Game 7 and the Oilers win 3-1. They move on to face the Blackhawks.
The Western Conference Final is highly anticipated. The Blackhawks, who were told at the beginning of the season that they were too old and their run was over. Brandon Saad, Jan Rutta, and Alex DeBrincat proved them wrong, and Toews and Kane enjoyed great seasons. On the other hand, the Edmonton Oilers were told they were the next wave of young stars, and they went out and earned the first Pacific seed. In Game 1, Patrick Kane opened the scoring, Corey Crawford posted a shutout, and Saad added an empty-net goal to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 win and a 1-0 series lead. The Oilers won Games 2 and 3 to take the lead, and McDavid scored twice over the two games. The Oilers then had a drop-off. The Blackhawks scored early and often in Games 4 and 5, and by Game 6 it was Brandon Saad's wrister that found the twine and sent the Blackhawks back to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Eastern Conference
The Capitals win the Metropolitan division yet again, closely followed by the Penguins. The Rangers beat out the Blue Jackets for the third Metro spot, giving Columbus a first-round matchup against the first Atlantic seed, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Hurricanes surprisingly sneak in to the final wild-card spot and face the Capitals in the first round. Tampa Bay gets the second Atlantic seed, and that sets up a first-round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens.
I may have been premature saying Arizona was going to be the biggest surprise of the playoffs. The President's Trophy-winning Washington Capitals (again) meet the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. The Capitals come out flying, firing shot after shot on Scott Darling. More shots come, but the funny thing is, nothing's going in. Same result in the second. In the third, the Hurricanes get some offense going, and the Capitals are starting to look worn-down. Then the first overtime passes. In the second overtime, Jacob Slaavin fires a shot from the point that squeaks past an exhausted Capitals defense and goaltender Brayden Holtby. The Hurricanes employ a tactic similar to that of last year's Ottawa Senators. They eventually come out on top, as Alex Ovechkin fires loads of shots but only scores two goals in the seven-game series. Carolina still has no fans.
The defending champion Penguins come into the playoffs looking for the three-peat, and begin the first-round series against the New York Rangers. The Penguin's starpower (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Jake Guentzel) proves to be too much for the Rangers. If you look at the Rangers' roster, it strikes me at how thin they really are. Mika Zbenejad, Chris Kreider, and Mats Zuccarello are okay but none of them are true stars. The Rangers win Game 2 after the Penguins take Game 1 5-1, due to Henrik Lundqvist and the dynamic duo of Ryan McDougnah and Kevin Shattenkirk. The Penguins then go on to win the next three games in the series by a combined score of 15-6.
A young Toronto team, led by Auston Matthews, faces a Columbus team that is looking for its first Cup. Artemi Panarin, who has scored 50 points this season, takes the first game for the Jackets in OT. Toronto mostly dominates the series from that point onward. Sergei Bobrovsky keeps the Jackets in the series, but the starpower is too much for Columbus and the Leafs win the next three. Columbus wins Game 5, again in OT, but Toronto takes the series in Nationwide Arena to win it 3-1.
A rolling Tampa Bay team comes into Montreal, who is limping into the playoffs. Jonathan Drouin and Max Pacioretty have been slow throughout the year, and Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov have been stellar together.
Carolina continues on their surprise trip to the playoffs by defeating the defending champion Penguins in the second round, setting up an Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
They play the Lightning well, but end up losing in seven.
Blackhawks over Lightning in the 2015 Finals rematch.
Blackhawks over Lightning in the 2015 Finals rematch.
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