2022 NHL Playoff Predictions: Semifinals
The second round of the NHL Playoffs begins tonight in Florida with one of the most exciting series in recent memories about to be relived. I’d like to continue this series of writings on the sport I love so deeply with some thoughts on the series that are about to kick off. I don’t plan on looking in the rearview at how some of these teams made it to the second round as, with all sports and games of chance, there were things that seemed tilted in one club’s favor, whether through the involvement of manmade decisions/observations or through hexed results of improbable odds.
In the first round, while some of the lengths of the series were wrong, I did go seven of eight in my predictions, only missing the fact that the Blues were going to get past a Minnesota team who ended up lacking the life and vigor they needed to get past St. Louis. I made a bracket on NHL.com’s Bracket Challenge and after the first round is through there is only one decision I’m changing (I’ll mention it in the series description!). Otherwise, let’s take a look at what kind of hockey we’re going to watch for the next couple of weeks.
The West
Colorado Avalanche v. St. Louis Blues
Prediction: Avalanche in 6
Nate and his boys are coming off of a clean sweep of the Predators and are rested and still as committed as they’ve ever been, having been knocked out of the second round for the last few years. I don’t think their run stops here, as they have been a team absolutely possessed since the first puck drop in October, and I think if nothing else, they are here to prove that they are not destined to be locked and limited to just the semifinals. That being said, I think the Blues are just the type of gritty team that revels in being counted out. It was exactly that doubt that they used to get their hands on the Cup several years ago, and I think their instincts and barbaric fever which they just began to whet in their series against the Wild did not get fully sated in the first round and they’ll provide some deep push for the Colorado team. I think the Blues’ goalie tandem is far more of a worthy adversary than what the Predators leaked out onto the ice and that’s going to test the Avs whose starting goalie Darcy Kuemper isn’t exactly the proven guy to be able to steal a series when it gets to a point of deepest adversity. I think Colorado’s firepower proves their mettle, after an absolute war.
Calgary Flames v. Edmonton Oilers
Prediction: Flames In 6
Initially, I had the Oilers taking this one in the second round, but seeing as they were pushed around by a Kings team who were unproven and really pressing the most out of their youth, I think the tables have turned for me. Both of these teams struggled with their opponents who, on paper, were several tiers below them. Each team is coming off of a Game 7 that truly could have gone either way. The Oilers’ Connor McDavid actually showed some human emotion when he put the Kings away with the goal late in the game and I think he’s carrying the entire squad on his back the entire way, but with Leon Draisaitl playing through an injury that seems like it’s more than he’s letting on, I think the weight may be too much to bear. The Flames were capable of lighting up the league for a great deal of the year when their scorers are showing up, and now that Johnny Hockey got his big clutch performance after being a relative stinker in the post-season, I think he’ll be jumping along with Matt Tkachuk and the boys. I believe there’s just a bit too much in Calgary’s favor, especially considering that Markstrom still hasn’t found his game (I think he will this series) while Mike Smith’s luck will conversely run out sometime around Game 3. The series’ length will rely entirely on how long Smith can stretch his experience into victories. The biggest wild card for me will be Evander Kane who I think McDavid will try to rely on the same way he relies on Draisaitl, but I just don’t think their chemistry is there yet. Kane’s grit and goal-scoring is sick at times, but I just think he’ll be on a bit of an island through some of this series, and the Flames will continue to sever the ties of that very crucial connection. Connor simply can’t do it on his own.
The East
Florida Panthers v. Tampa Bay Lightning
Prediction: Panthers in 6
This is such a classic matchup. Every time we’ve seen these teams get together this year and last, we’ve been in for a treat, and I think getting to watch these guys go at each other again is such a gift. The story of this postseason, these teams were both brought deep into their series by their opponents, but while the Lightning were up against a very formidable Maple Leafs team, the Panthers were facing a Washington Capitals team composed of mostly the same old war dogs they put out on the ice when they themselves won the championship almost five years ago. The Lightning have been on an incredible run for years, and I think that will be primarily what gets the best of them in a series that will demand every ounce of potential to be squeezed from each of their players. Brayden Point’s injury is going to be a big storyline in this series and even if he does end up playing, I think he’ll be anchored by the nagging pain of it and not be able to get to the level of playoff clutch that has brought the Lightning their dominance. Kucherov is getting a little banged up as well, and while some of his LTIR injury stuff became the talk of cap circumvention talks, he continues to come up lame after some plays and I think it’s taken its toll. Let’s not forget the Panthers are the President’s Trophy-winning team after all, and their brand of high-scoring hockey is what made them the most exciting team I’ve watched all year. I think Vasilevsky will have a lot of answers for their scoring prowess, but I don’t think he’ll have them all. I just think the tank is empty for Tampa after playing so much hockey, and while it’s just in their DNA to bring it every game, I think the torch will be passed to a Panthers team who has line after line of incredible players. Plus, Bobrovsky has the ability to steal a series on his very own. He definitely hasn’t forgotten about the way he stole the series from the Lightning back in 2019.
Carolina Hurricanes v. New York Rangers
Prediction: Rangers in 7
Sadly, I think this is going to be the most boring series of all. While I think it comes from the strongest division, the Metro is just not a division with teams that play exciting and dynamic hockey. The Hurricanes certainly brought some unbelievable fire at the beginning of the season, but they cooled off a bit towards the end of the year as the Rangers nearly took over the top spot in the division in the final weeks of the regular season. Carolina was brought to the brink by a Bruins team who has a very similar level of depth that the Rangers have, but the New York squad is younger and placed more firmly in its prime than Boston, plus the Rangers have Shesterkin who was the answer for many of the teams’ shortcomings during the regular season. I think that’s the biggest question, though, for the Rangers as Igor looked to be the needle by which the Rangers could gauge themselves. While Shesterkin looked like he was going to be the trump card in this series, he was mostly a liability through the series with Pittsburgh as they continued to put pucks past him again and again up until a Game 7 that, debatably, was won by a few questionable calls and the absence of the legendary Sidney Crosby. Looking at that series and what made each of these teams successful, I think they are very evenly matched, but I think the holes that Carolina showed in this post-season were more glaring than what the Rangers were up against. I think these games are mostly going to be 3 or 4 goal affairs (if you don’t include empty-net goals) and New York ends up proving they’re more than a team who struggled to beat a third-string goalie without their best players. I think this is when the Rangers become who they said they were. Awesome coaching matchup between Gallant and Rod the Bod as well.
