3 Teams To Watch In The 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs

In the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, the league’s top teams will once again compete for the title. The playoff format will remain the same, with 16 teams in each division. The top three teams in each division play the last wild card team, while the other division winner faces the first wild card team. In the first round of the playoffs, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will play each other. In the second round, the highest seed will play the lowest seed, until only two teams remain.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have not made the playoffs in five straight seasons. However, they have lived up to the historic expectations and are loaded with talented players to make a deep playoff run. For starters, Auston Matthews is expected to win the Hart Trophy as the League’s MVP, which would make him the first player born in the U.S. to win the award. This would be a huge boost for the team’s playoff hopes.

The Leafs’ playoff success could be determined by many factors. Last year, they blew a three-goal lead to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. This year, they will need to rebound and play the Stanley Cup Champions. The Leafs’ record in regular season games is already exceptional, so they should be a strong favorite to win the series. However, it would be a mistake to look too far ahead for the playoffs.

With an elite top line led by Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, the Leafs will have trouble stopping Tampa Bay’s red-hot lineup. However, the Leafs’ depth will be key in the playoffs. Tampa Bay’s defense, meanwhile, will provide a big difference between the teams. While Toronto has an excellent top line and plenty of star power, their defense is not as strong as their offense.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have spent most of the season in the top three spots of the Atlantic Division. The team’s offense has been fueled by the play of Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, and William Nylander. Matthews recently set a franchise record for goals in a season with 56. His 41 assists make for 97 points in 66 games. Matthews is on pace to win his first Rocket Richard Trophy.

After the offseason, the team’s roster was revamped to include several new pieces, including a star forward and a talented defenseman. In addition, a veteran core was added to the roster, including Trevor Moore, Alex Iafallo, and Adrian Kempe. A team like this can beat any playoff team, but it will have to prove that they are the best when it matters.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will likely face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the playoffs. They have a high-end roster including Auston Matthews, the Hart Trophy favorite, and Mitchell Marner, who just posted a 97-point season. However, these dynamic duo could go quiet in the playoff series. The Tampa Bay Lightning have plenty of horses to make life difficult for Toronto’s top players.

The first round of the playoffs will begin Monday with the winners of the first two rounds in each conference. If no team wins in the first round, they will face the winner of the Lightning-Panthers series. If that doesn’t happen, the Lightning-St. Louis Blues series will be played on Tuesday. The series will go to six games before the Cup is awarded to the winner.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning have won the Stanley Cup twice in the past two seasons. They’ve remained calm and collected even in the worst of circumstances, proving that their core can handle adversity and still win. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been the MVP of the Lightning’s two playoff runs and has shown the ability to flip a switch when needed. If he can continue to play like that, they have a chance to go far this season.

The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs are underway and the last team standing in the postseason will hoist the trophy in late June. The Tampa Bay Lightning look to make history as the first team to win the Cup three consecutive seasons since the New York Islanders in 1980-83. They’ll face the Toronto Maple Leafs, who’ll be looking for their first Cup since 1966-67. And if the Lightning win the first round, they’ll face the winner of the Florida-Washington series.

The Lightning are in search of a three-peat, a third consecutive title. They finished third in the Atlantic Division this season and have 115 points in 82 games. They’ve locked up a first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and this year’s team is playing their best hockey. Tampa Bay has multiple future Hall-of-Famers and two Stanley Cup winners, including Andrei Vasilevskiy and Matt Nikita Kucherov. Their forwards are more capable of scoring goals than any other team, and they have a pair of elite defensemen in Steven Stamkos and Alex Tuch.

The first-round winners in each conference will play each other in the second round. If the Lightning wins the first round, they’ll face the winner of the Capitals-Panthers series. If they lose in the first round, they’ll face the winner of the Lightning-Maple Leafs series. Lastly, Tampa Bay will win the series in six games. With this depth and talent, Tampa Bay should win a third straight Stanley Cup. It’s a great time for hockey.

As the home team, the Lightning will have an edge in experience. They’ve won the Cup twice and traded Tyler Johnson, the team’s best player in the third line. In their absence, Tampa Bay will need to replace him with young players such as Blake Coleman, Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. But the Lightning still have some young, veteran talent to help them win.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a good team to watch in the playoffs, but the Lightning aren’t the only team to do it. Toronto has a stacked top line. But Tampa Bay has a shutdown center, defensive stalwarts, and the best goalie in the world. That’s why they have an edge over the Toronto Leafs. There’s no denying that they have the talent and the chemistry to win the Stanley Cup.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes will be in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, and the team has a strong chance to make it there. The team has a great balance of offense and defense, and won the Metropolitan Division this year. The team was a surprise to many in the regular season, but they aren’t likely to repeat their playoff run, primarily because the Eastern Conference does not reward regular season success. But they may still have a chance to surprise with a strong playoff performance.

The Hurricanes are stacked offensively, but they will also need a strong goalie to stay in the series. With Andersen out, they will need to get some help from backup goaltenders. The Boston Bruins are a tough team to play against, and they have a lot of offensive talent. However, they may not have much of an edge, and they are a dangerous team.

Despite their home ice advantage, the Carolina Hurricanes will face the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Hurricanes have defeated the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals twice in the past four years, and they are the slight underdogs in this series. However, the Bruins would be the favorite if the game were played at a neutral venue, and they finished nine points ahead of the Hurricanes and scored 41 goals.

The first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs begins Thursday. The Carolina Hurricanes will face the Boston Bruins on Thursday, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. EDT at PNC Arena. The series will be broadcast on ESPN, TBS, and ABC. The top three teams in each NHL division, plus four wild card teams, qualified for the playoffs. The playoffs will go through June, with games televised on ABC, ESPN, TNT, and ABC.

With the young players and steady veterans, the Carolina Hurricanes have a chance to make a deep run in the playoffs. They have a star center in Phillip Danault, while the other two teams have a veteran centre in Trevor Moore. Andersen has proven himself over the years and has a good record as a starter. While the Toronto Maple Leafs are in the playoffs, they have an established veteran on their roster, and a good coach in Darryl Sutter.

As of this writing, the eight teams locked into the current playoff seeds are the Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers. However, a few seeds in the East and the West will change. The two teams with the most points in the regular season will play in the first round, and the team with the most points will play in the conference finals. The top two seeds will meet in the conference finals. And the winners will face the Los Angeles Kings or New York Rangers.