The 2022 college football season doesn't kick off until August 27, but it's never too soon to look at possible College Football Playoff matchups. The Rangers are playing with house money. The Lightning have great depth down the middle of the ice with Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli, electric scoring potential in Nikita Kucherov and an excellent defenseman who leads by example in Victor Hedman. With the 2023 All-Star Game and skills competition approaching on Feb. 3-4, we turn our focus to the collective bold predictions from our ESPN hockey family. How they got here: Defeated Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3, defeated Carolina Hurricanes 4-3. That's not great news for a Rangers team whose power-play prowess (fourth in the NHL) far outpaced its even-strength offense (18th). Minnesota has been scorching hot since mid-March, going 19-2-3 since March 16, entering the playoffs with a hard-earned swagger. McDonough: Flames in seven And it's not just the Avs' marquee names -- Nazem Kadri, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar to name a few -- who are having an impact. Player to watch: Tom Wilson managed not to get suspended during the regular season, to his credit. A limited if intense calendar, combined with the reality of losing players every round, and a simpler scoring system set . The Wild's penalty kill is bottom 10 in the league, and their power play sits somewhere in the middle. Leah Hextall: Panthers in seven ESPN revealed its top five most likely playoff . Against Carolina, Shesterkin gave up two or fewer goals in six of the seven games in the series and won another Game 7, this time on the road. Special teams will play a pivotal role. That's by far the fewest among any goalie left in these playoffs. His .925 career playoff save percentage ties him for third all time (minimum 60 games) with Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek, among others. Heiskanen missed time this season with illness but is an invaluable asset to Dallas' overall success. It's part of what has made Husso so invaluable; he covers for all manner of ills in the Blues' own end. We crunch the numbers, analyze the data, and provide the best free NHL expert picks each and every day. But the catalyst for their first playoff berth since 2018 wasn't the kids, but rather the established veterans. 2022 NHL Playoffs: B/R Staff 1st-Round Predictions 0 of 8 Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images Let the fun begin. With the SLING Orange Sports Extra package, get $10 off your first month now with access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, TNT and NBATV. The answer should be clear early on against Edmonton. Campbell-Pascall: Hurricanes in five On paper, they're winning this series. We've graded all 32 teams -- including one A+ and two F's -- and announced the winners of our own batch of awards. Obviously not. 26, 2022, at 10:51 PM. These simulcasts typically involve ESPN's linear television channels and internet streaming platforms, and may . Ferraro: Avalanche in six Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has been, and continues to be, Tampa's MVP. Some of those came on odd-man rushes, a few on chances on the doorstep. They had three 40-goal forwards in Johnny Gaudreau, who posted a remarkable 115-point season, Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm, with Andrew Mangiapane (35 goals) not far off the pace. by NHL Public Relations @PR_NHL April 29, 2022 NEW YORK - The National Hockey League today announced the dates, starting times and national television coverage for the 2022 Stanley Cup. Edmonton really performed well against Calgary on the penalty kill too, coming up with critical stops that frustrated the Flames' attack. The Big Cat's run since 2020 in elimination games is the stuff of legend: 10-0, six of the wins by shutout. If New York wants to trade chances like they did against the Hurricanes at MSG, the Lightning have finishers that make them pay in ways the Hurricanes could not. Wischusen: Avalanche in six Their top defensive pairings of Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson along with Chris Tanev and Oliver Kylington have been outstanding. But the Rangers star has only had two signature games in the playoffs: a three-point night in Game 2 against the Penguins and an overtime power-play goal in Game 7 of that series. He worked through his emotions during the Rangers' first two games in Pittsburgh, where he was pulled twice. Levy: Flames in seven The Lightning had some bumpier stretches in the season's second half. They were third in expected goals against and fourth in expected goals for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 this season. He had four points in seven games before that. Boucher: Hurricanes in six That killer instinct has been a hallmark of Boston's play in the past and hasn't always been at the forefront of late. It's easy to talk about Minnesota's goaltending and offensive prowess, but Brodin has been helping facilitate all that with locked-in defensive play (and he's no slouch with the puck either, registering a career high in points this season). Now they also have some strong depth, and the versatility to play the Islanders' style if needed. Maintaining that intensity each night in the playoffs will be a task in itself. Player to watch: There was a time, not too long ago, when Jonathan Quick was considered one of the best big-game goaltenders in the NHL. 2022 NHL playoff fantasy hockey pool guide: Favorites, sleepers and busts. That's a killer combination. "I've kind of referred to us as cockroaches. DiPietro: Avalanche in seven Ferraro: Hurricanes in six Obviously, the Lightning would like to see Point back on the ice. Player to watch: Vasilevskiy. Player to watch: McAvoy. Then again, Kuemper hasn't been facing a ton of shots. The addition of Hampus Lindholm on the back end has really strengthened the B's blue line and gives them more options to mix and match pairings throughout the playoffs as needed. Player to watch: Miro Heiskanen. The clichs exist for a reason: There's no space out there anymore, no time to make plays or dangle or show off. Calgary got burned off a couple clean looks for that unit that turned into almost series-defining mistakes. How they choose to defend Kucherov's line is going to be a key for the series. Colorado has to frustrate the Oilers' top skaters, make it difficult for them to find space or get in a rhythm early. To help get you up to speed before the puck drops on Game 1 of the West matchup Tuesday night, we're bringing you a mega-preview, breaking down each team in five different categories and offering our predictions on which clubs will head to the Stanley Cup Final. Wyshynski: Flames in seven. Player to watch: Under different circumstances, 22-year-old defenseman Evan Bouchard might have been a Calder Trophy finalist with his 43 points in 81 games. There's a real calmness that the Lightning have in the toughest moments, a constant belief in their ability to weather any storm. Sachin Chandan: Panthers in seven While Dallas has every reason to feel good about its top point-getters, in a tight playoff series the secondary scoring often puts teams over the top. Florida has three 30-plus goal scorers, six players with 50-plus points and a Hart Trophy contender in Jonathan Huberdeau, who can go toe-to-toe with any offensive threat in the league. PIT | BOS Shilton: Flames in six The goaltending from Ville Husso has been exceptional, and Jordan Binnington is finally rebounding to become a more reliable backup. The Bruins' top blueliner hasn't garnered the same attention as some of the league's flashiest defenders this season, but he has been excellent in his own right. Goals project to be at a premium for Dallas, so look for the team's top defender to step up in keeping pucks out of the Stars' end -- and out of their net. Watching all of it from the crease is Vezina contender Jacob Markstrom. Knight: Flames in six NBA Playoff Picture: Eastern Conference. Unlike the other two teams on this list, the Portland Trail Blazers are currently on the outside looking in. It doesn't help that in front of Bobrovsky, Florida got a little too comfortable late in the season as the Cardiac Cats. Portland Trail Blazers. Biggest flaw(s): Fatigue. Case for a Stanley Cup run: What if a team had its best regular season in franchise history and no one noticed? The next highest scorer, Zach Hyman, had 54 points. 3 in . Its defense has been a little better than Edmonton's (giving up a playoff-low 27 shots against per game versus the Oilers' 37.5) and its depth is impressive. They've spent time with fellow deadline pickup Nick Paul, formerly of the Ottawa Senators, but really clicked with veteran winger Corey Perry in the Florida series. Washington lives and dies on the performance of its franchise star, especially on the power play. Some nights, the Bruins look impenetrable; the next, they're floundering in their own end. Pittsburgh Penguins 4. It nearly did not happen, as both teams were pushed to the brink in the first round. Colorado is every bit as good as we thought it was, and could be. Case for a Stanley Cup run: Colorado is a beast. How they got here: Defeated Los Angeles Kings 4-3, defeated Calgary Flames 4-1. Center Ross Colton, who scored the only goal in their Cup-clinching game last summer against the Canadiens, has played the majority of his minutes with Brandon Hagel, whom the Lightning acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline. Biggest flaw(s): Power plays don't always come easy in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But even he was upstaged this postseason by his adorable infant daughter, Maisie. All things being equal, Colorado boasts the deeper team. Kreider had two goals, after scoring 52 during the regular season. Mleczko: Hurricanes in seven You could put Nurse here, and say he hasn't been an obvious difference-maker for the Oilers (to the degree a top-pairing defender usually is). The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs begin Monday night on the networks of ESPN, . Patrice Bergeron is still Patrice Bergeron. Before I reveal every series winner in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs and the exact number of games in which the series will be won, I'd like to just offer a small reminder to establish a baseline . The All-Star break is over, and we are almost three-quarters of the way through the 2022-23 season. Calgary vs. Dallas: Flames in five. If Edmonton can do that again in the conference finals, Colorado's march to the Cup finals will be severely impeded -- and perhaps derailed. They're the NHL's top-scoring team for a reason, having been consistently outstanding offensively since Game 1. Again, a criticism of Calgary this season is like using one of those eyepieces to search for a flaw on a gorgeously cut diamond. Bold prediction: Brandon Hagel comes alive at last. All we know for sure is that the real winners here are those of us watching the action unfold. It starts with Bruins-Canes (7 p.m. NHL odds, picks, and predictions for the Calgary Flames at Vegas Golden Knights on February 23. John Buccigross: Panthers in seven ET Venue: Moda Center -- Portland, Oregon Coverage: ESPN, ROOT Sports NW, and BSNO The 2022-23 NBA season continues on Wednesday with nine more games, including a battle between the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers. The Footballers (7-9) have the worst record of any playoff team they tied the 2010 Seattle Seahawks for the worst record for a playoff team in N.F.L. Bolden: Flames in seven What he's done this year has been insanely impressive. Another matchup against the Dallas Stars, who are a mess right now and Domi just recently torched, could be another interesting game for him. Bold prediction: The Oilers win their first playoff series since 2017 before bowing out to Calgary. Offseason keys for eliminated teams, Sean Allen: Panthers in six The 2022-23 NHL regular season is currently at its midpoint, but it's never too early to start thinking about playoffs. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are one of the NHL's most dynamic offensive duos. Player to watch: Forsberg. At every juncture where past Oilers' teams have misstepped, this group has stepped up. Steve Levy: Panthers in seven Tim Kavanagh: Lightning in six What will he bring to the table to help make it happen? No disrespect intended to Sebastian Aho, but the Rangers didn't have to face an elite offensive player like Kucherov in their series against the Hurricanes. All that winning is great at the time, but it cuts into recovery. Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Lightning in six Top 100 NHL players for the 2022-2023 season Fantasy Hockey Predictions Rob Ellis - September 17, 2022 0 For those who do not subscribe to The Athletic, they have put out their annual top 100 NHL players for the 2022-2023 season and. Bold prediction: Shesterkin pitches two shutouts in the opening round as the Rangers advance. FiveThirtyEight's 2021-22 NHL forecast predicts the winner of each hockey game and calculates each team's chances of advancing to the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup. From there, things started falling apart for the Predators; they didn't perform as well at the top of the standings. Chandan: Flames in six 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game; North Carolina (17-11, 9-8 ACC) vs. No. Picks for Rangers-Lightning, Avalanche-Oilers, 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs: Highlights and analysis from the entire postseason, Free-agency, draft plans for Avs, Lightning, every other NHL team, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Mleczko: Avalanche in six New York Islanders (MP) 7. He's the club's leading scorer, averaging more than a point a game, and eats important minutes. The 2021-22 NHL season is winding down towards the final . Pacific: CGY | EDM Wyshynski: Hurricanes in five, The Stanley Cup playoffs are back on ESPN and ABC! cal: Oilers in seven That must be what the Hurricanes felt like in 2021-22, as they set a new standard for points in a season, won the Metropolitan Division for the first time and led the league in goals-against average. Biggest flaw(s): Beyond McDavid and Draisaitl, the Oilers don't necessarily have the depth that other contenders in the Western Conference can boast in their forward group or on the blue line. Hosts Linda Cohn and Emily Kaplan bring their hockey expertise and passion for the sport, discussing the latest news around the league as well as interviewing the biggest names both on and off the ice. Toronto is no longer the one-dimensional wonder of its past, capable of putting pucks in the net but incapable of keeping them out. While Florida's offensive talent is its best asset, if the overall team defense can't hold up (especially if Aaron Ekblad isn't able to return to form due to his knee injury), it could make for a shorter run than the Panthers are aiming for. Bold prediction: Kopitar and Danault do what they can against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but the loss of Doughty proves too much and the Kings fall to the Oilers in six games. Until he does, it's Casey DeSmith's crease. Never let them have the puck. His playoff struggles are a bit overblown -- his numbers aren't that bad overall -- but the doubts linger. Alas, he's ineligible, having played more than six games in his first two NHL seasons. But breaks are only breaks if one capitalizes on them, and the Rangers have shown an impressive resiliency. Unlikely contenders emerge year after year. reactions, leaving Crosby's incredible season a bit underappreciated. Yes, but that doesn't mean he can't flip the switch when it's time. We're down to the final four teams of the 2021-22 NHL season. The NHL playoffs get underway Monday, with all four games on ESPN networks. Could the Florida Panthers, who raced to the top seed in the Eastern Conference, win their first Cup? Case for a Stanley Cup run: Nashville is a great underdog -- back the Predators into a corner and wait to see some of their best hockey. The edge, though, probably belongs to Edmonton. Kevin Weekes: Lightning in seven The Oilers played a wide-open, goal-scoring bonanza of a five-game spread against Calgary versus the Avalanche's more bruising, defensive-conscious, six-game affair against St. Louis. Kavanagh: Oilers in seven He's an integral part of their success. He's both their last line of defense and their catalyst, as the Rangers feed off his performances when opponents tip the ice. As Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said: Their problem offensively was not having elite goal-scorers. Buccigross: Avalanche in seven NHL trade grades: Kings make smart additions in Gavrikov, Korpisalo, NHL trade tracker: Latest deals, rumors and grades, Capitals send Eller to Avs for second-round pick, Kings deal Cup-winning G Quick to Blue Jackets, Rangers clear hurdles, get Kane from Blackhawks, Oilers bulk up defense, secure Predators' Ekholm, Leafs win Schenn sweepstakes, trade for veteran, Leafs deal Sandin to Capitals for Gustafsson, pick, Wild add depth, acquire Johansson from Capitals, Chasing history in Boston: The numbers behind the Bruins' wild 2022-23 season, McDavid, then who? Did he skid at the end of this season? Listen here . And there's the Leafs' excellent special teams, including the NHL's best power play and a penalty kill that is nearly as likely to score short-handed as to get scored on. But teams win with depth in the playoffs, and there's been some falloff here for the Flames. The opponents are very favourable. 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