2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Notebook: It Is All About Game 7

The first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs has brought excitement to the hockey world. Outside of the Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators series, every other series has gone at least six or seven games. And that is good for the NHL. In fact, the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs featured five Game 7s. That is second-most in most ever for a single round, trailing only the 1992 Division Semifinals which featured six according to NHL stats.

There were three Game 7s on Saturday, May 14th and two more Sunday, May 15th. While scoring was up all playoffs long, you knew in Game 7, the offence would come at a premium. Four of the five Game 7s played over the weekend were decided by one goal. The only game to be decided by two goals was the Edmonton-Los Angeles game.

With Carolina, Tampa Bay and Edmonton advancing, they have joined Colorado, St. Louis, and the Florida Panthers as the only teams to reach the second round. The second round of participants was finally secured with the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames winning their respective Game 7 in overtime.

Time to dive into this edition Stanley Cup Playoffs notebook.

2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Notebook

Defending Champs Still Defending

The quest for a three-peat is still alive for the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay defeated Toronto 2-1 in Game 7 of their first-round matchup. This was a hard-fought series for the champs as finally in Game 7, they showed what makes them so dangerous. Andrei Vasilevskiy played outstanding as he improves to 6-0 in his last six close-out games in the playoffs. Toronto gave the Lightning a free game in this series and you can’t do that. Though Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander made Vasilevskiy look human, he shut the door in the biggest moments in Games 6 and 7.

The champs will now face the Florida Panthers, more on them later, in the battle of the Sunshine. These two teams met a year ago in the playoffs with Tampa Bay winning in six games. The Lightning knew they can play better and if Game 7 was an indication, they can three-peat for sure. It will not be easy, but the Lightning are a confident group. Having been there before they know what it takes. This team has not lost a playoff series since 2019 and after their win against Toronto, they have won nine straight playoff series.

As for Toronto, another loss in Game 7. Questions are going to be asked about if this group can get the job done. You have to wonder where the killer instinct is for these players. Matthews had a great series. Tavares showed up later in the series. But in the big moments, in the biggest games, these players have not come up with the goods. Marner in the final five games zero goals. Matthews in his Game 7 appearances just two assists. Not gonna get it done against a team like Tampa.

Around Full Press Hockey

NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs Marred By Inconsistent Goaltender Interference Calls

NHL Rumors: NHL Rumors: New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Vegas Golden Knights

NHL:  Patrice Bergeron Not Ready To Discuss Future Following Game Seven Loss

NFL: Los Angeles Chargers Defense Starting to Look Formidable

MLB:  Feast or Famine: Tigers Seek Offensive Consistency

PODCAST: Full Press Hockey Weekly: Ep 28: NHL Draft Lottery; Stanley Cup; Islanders Coaching Situation

Home Ice Reigns Supreme

Another great Game 7 was the Hurricanes vs the Bruins. This was a weird series as the home team won every game. The Hurricanes held serve on their home ice and the Bruins did the same. Max Domi came up with the goods for the Hurricanes in Game 7 scoring his first two career playoff goals. Similar to Nick Paul in the Lightning series, who scored his first two career playoff goals.

Game 7 was the first time it was not a dominating victory by the home team. In the prior six games, five of the six games, the home team won by three or more goals. You knew Game 7 was going to be a duel with so much on the line. Especially for the Hurricanes, who many thought were going to steamroll Boston based on the regular-season record. That was not the case especially on the road, as Boston got in the Hurricanes’ head. However, in the end, the Hurricanes depth scoring was just too much for Boston.

Now the Hurricanes will play the Rangers, in the second round. They are the favourites to make it to the Conference Final from this part of the bracket. Though Carolina relied on home ice, they need to play road games, especially in round two when things get harder. The question will be can the Hurricanes rely on Antti Raanta or will Frederik Andersen finally make an appearance. As for the Bruins, there are a lot of questions to be asked following this game. Mainly about Patrice Bergeron and his future with the team. Keep an eye on that because that will determine what the Bruins do in the off-season.

The first round of the #StanleyCupPlayoffs is in the books.

Who will move on in round 2?#NHL #HockeyTwitter #StanleyCup #FPC pic.twitter.com/utrvjXGZnJ

— Full Press Hockey (@FullPressNHL) May 16, 2022

Big Time Players Step Up in Big Time Moments

When the lights shine the brightest big-time players step up and make big-time plays. Look no further than Connor McDavid. McDavid was on a mission all playoffs long to get his team out of the first round or else the whispers were going to continue about how this team can’t make it out of the first round. He put the Oilers on his back in Game 7 against the Kings recording two more points including icing the game with his goal late in the third period. McDavid recorded 14 points in the series, the third-most in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs trailing Mario Lemieux (17) and Wayne Gretzky (15). He averaged two points a game and willed his team to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

The New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in Game 7. Artemi Panarin scored the winner in overtime. Mika Zibanejad recorded seven points in the final two games of the series, including three points in Game 7. Zibanejad was MIA or Witness Protection for most of the series, but he has an ability to step up in the big moments. Going all the way back to when he played for Sweden at the World Juniors, he scored the game-winner in overtime to give Sweden its first gold medal in a long time at that tournament. It just carried over to the Ottawa Senators and now the Rangers.

The Calgary Flames got a big-time performance in Game 7 as well. Matthew Tkachuk scored his first of these playoffs, welcome to the playoffs and Johnny Gaudreau was a man possessed. Gaudreau recorded two points, including the winner in overtime to propel the Flames past the Stars. Gaudreau led the Flames in points with eight in the seven-game series. Jacob Markstrom played outstanding as he leads all goalies with the best GAA at 1.54 and is tied for the best save percentage at .943 of goalies remaining in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Other Observations

• Party Like it is 1996. The Florida Panthers win a playoff series for the first time since 1996 when they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. Carter Verhaeghe recorded 12 points in the six-game victory for the Panthers. This includes two game-winning overtime goals. Verhaeghe had nine points in the final three games of the series.
• Sticking with the Panthers, Claude Giroux was a big factor in their six-game series victory over the Capitals. Giroux had seven points including five in the final two games of the series. He has been everything and more for the Panthers since being acquired at the deadline.
• Colorado and St. Louis will meet in a rematch of their 2021 first-round matchup when the Avalanche swept the Blues out of the playoffs. This will be a different series for sure.
• Minnesota’s season is over, outside of Kirill Kaprizov, who recorded eight points (seven goals, one assist), the Wild offence was non-existent. Kevin Fiala, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Matt Boldy combined for five goals and 13 assists. That is not good enough to win a series.
• Jake Guentzel in the seven-game series loss was the first Penguins player since Sidney Crosby in 2009 to record eight goals or more in a series.
• Tampa Bay shows why they are the champs. The Lightning are now 17-0 following a loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs dating back to the 2020 playoffs as the Lightning won Game 6 against Toronto.

That does it for this edition of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Notebook. Stay tuned for another one in the coming days.