Stanley Cup Playoff Takeaways: Round 2

Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes from the Associated Press

In the East, someone will have a chance at their first Cup in 20 years or more.

In the West, we have two of the same four teams we’ve had in every single western conference final since 2020 (apart from the weird divisions in 2021).

Here’s what we learned from round 2.

Hurricanes defeat Flyers 4-0

This series was over so long ago I legitimately forgot it was a thing.

That, and the Hurricanes follow the early 2010s LA Kings mantra of “This is not going to be fun to watch, but it is going to be effective.”

They stifle and shut down their opponent defensively, and do just enough offensively to get the wins, which is now 8 in a row this postseason.

But they have relied on overtime quite a bit in those 8 games. 3 times, to be exact.

That luck may not last going forward.

Canadiens defeat Sabres 4-3

To win in the Stanley Cup playoffs, you need depth.

The Canadiens won this series due in large part to Alex Newhook having the series of his life, including the game 7 overtime winner, despite only having 25 points in the regular season.

But you also need your stars to show up.

Alex Tuch had 0 points in this series for the Sabres.

Both Sabres goalies, Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, struggled in crucial times this series.

Tage Thompson disappeared in big moments as well.

It was a great season for Buffalo, but when they needed their guys, they didn’t show up.

Avalanche defeat Wild 4-1

This series felt like a big brother playing video games with his little brother.

You don’t want to hurt his feelings, so you let him stick around. Maybe have him go up 5-4 in game 1 of the series.

Maybe you let him win game 3 at home to have a nice moment.

Maybe you let him go up 3-0 in game 5 with a chance to stave off elimination.

But he’s still your little brother, and you’re not going to let him beat you.

Every time it looked like the Avs were getting punched hard by the Wild, they didn’t budge.

Game 1, they turned it up another level and pulled away.

After the game 3 loss, they went into Minnesota and silenced the crowd in game 4.

And down 3-0 in game 5? No biggie. Just come on back and win the series in overtime later that night.

The Avs have been the best team all year, and they were dominant in this series.

They might walk their way to the Stanley Cup.

Golden Knights defeat Ducks 4-2

Maybe Mitch Marner was right.

This past offseason, there was tons of talk about how Marner, an Ontario boy, needed to leave the Maple Leafs.

The fans were too tough. The media was too tough. It was impossible to succeed under those circumstances.

Most people, myself included, thought that was nonsense.

The fans are too rough? The media asks hard questions? Get over it. You’re underperforming in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. You need to wear that.

Well, now he’s in Vegas.

And two series in, he leads the playoffs in points with 18.

Maybe he was right all along.