The 7-4 result doesn’t say how close game 3 was.

A slow start by the Rangers–something that’s bitten the Rangers all season long–almost turned into a complete wipeout. The Penguins scored very early in the first period with a weird bounce of the puck but the Rangers quickly answered back with a goal by Lafreniere and Kakko. It was a strong showing that didn’t last long. The Penguins scored on two power plays and then a shot that should have been stopped to make it 4-1 at the end of the first. In a period that was dominated by the Penguins, it was a depressing sight to see. Igor was pulled for the second with Georgiev put between the pipes. The second period was a complete turnaround.

In a series where momentum doesn’t seem to carry for long, the Rangers stormed back. Goals by Vatrano, Panarin, and Copp made tied the game by the end of the second period. It was a stunning change of pace with the Rangers taking total control and the Penguins making one mistake after another. One of those goals was short-handed! That’s two for the series!

This game was decided on the power play, full stop. The Rangers had 3 consecutive power plays and did not score. They did everything but score on the second, which was non-stop aggression that Domingue had to do cartwheels to stop. The third power play was a complete dud. That was pretty much where the Penguins took back control. With a botched defense and an out of position (and probably surprised at the shot coming) Georgiev, the Penguins snuck their 5th goal in. Everything the Rangers tried to do after that was largely stuffed shut. Two empty-net goals and the final score is 7-4.

Tonight the game is back on home ice for Pittsburgh who is feeling really good about themselves. It’s important to not get down and realize it’s still anyone’s series. The first 3 games have been razor close and if anyone lets up it will make losing easier. Focus and determination are being tested and I’m expecting a bounce-back game from the Rangers tonight. We’ve seen it before and it will happen again.

1-1

With the first game of the round being played in Pittsburgh for the first time, emotions and the stakes are at a high point.

The first game was a marathon, going all the way to a third overtime. The game was dominated by the Rangers in the first period where they took the lead. The Penguins then pulled it together while the Rangers pulled back, allowing the Penguins to shoot wherever and whenever they wanted, closing the lead. Rangers go back up by one and Crosby leads the way to tie it up. At the very end of the 3rd period, the Rangers game winning goal was waved off for goalie interference. Apparently, a valid goal that would have been allowed in the regular season is no good. That pushed the game into another 45 minutes of playtime in a nonstop game of inches. The Penguins managed a deflection to get by Igor to win. The goaltending was fantastic on both sides, but DeSmith got hurt in overtime and Louis Domingue came in to replace him. He stopped all 17 shots the Rangers sent his way.

The Rangers shook that loss off and hit the ice for game 2 on a mission. The basics held true: the Sidney Crosby line is incredibly dangerous and penalties have to be kept to a minimum to keep the best odds in the Rangers’ favor. The Penguins are much better at staying outside of the box so far. The Rangers can’t score a goal and let up, the Penguins always find a way to bounce back quickly which stops the momentum. The Penguins have been able to lock Panarin up better than the Rangers have held Crosby back.

With Jarry and DeSmith both out, the Rangers have a massive goaltending advantage. Domingue wasn’t able to hold back the Rangers for a full game. After a terrible turnover from Panarin to Crosby that turned into a goal, Panarin became laser-focused to make up for it. He ended the game with multiple assists and a goal that came 8 minutes into the 3rd period, giving the home team a two-point lead. Igor gave them that chance to stay ahead by blocking 9 consecutive shots at the start of the period. Soon after Panarin scored, Frank Vatrano made a dazzling shot to take a 3 goal lead.

The Penguins pulled their goalie with more than 5 minutes left and it didn’t work. Jeff Carter being a scumbag and intentionally running into Igor to hurt him also didn’t work. 5-2 Rangers.

Now game 3. Both teams aren’t at full strength. Lindgren and Goodrow were out for the Rangers, and Goodrow is not coming back anytime soon. Lindgren might, which will be fantastic to pair him back up with his long-time linemate Adam Fox.

It’s really important that the Rangers tighten up their play. Way too many turnovers are the biggest problem in my view. The Penguins can turn around so fast it often leads to breakaway chances. It’s too dangerous to rely on Igor to bail them out like that too many times. The Penguins love to shoot at any opening they see and the fewer that get on the net, the better. Can’t give them the room they need. The Rangers’ powerplay has been a huge advantage for them, pushing the Penguins’ PK % further down every game. They had a fantastic 86.4% PK in the regular season and in the last six games they’ve played (including the last 4 regulation games) something has happened to the point where huge holes have been ripped open in their efforts. If they weren’t so disciplined to stay out of the penalty box (and the refs treating Crosby with Tom Brady like favoritism) this series wouldn’t be close with the way it’s going. Reaves has had a fantastic series so far, cleanly laying out anyone who leaves themselves open and curbing any foolish ideas from players who may try something sketchy. There’s no one on the Penguins Reaves can’t handle.

Pittsburgh fans are going to throw all their energy at their team tonight and it’s going to be another huge test of will again. If the Rangers can keep playing better, it’ll be another win tonight for the first lead in the series. Every game in the playoffs matter. Another edge of your seat night starts soon!

52-24-6

Three weeks ago the Rangers clinched a playoff spot.

Last night, by beating Washington 3-2, the Rangers officially ended the season with 110 points and landed the Penguins as the first-round opponent. The Rangers finished second in the Metropolitan division, Carolina in first, Pittsburgh 3rd, Washington 4th.

In the regular season, the Rangers won the series 3-1. The momentum, series-wise and season wise are I think on the Rangers’ side. But that doesn’t mean the Penguins are a gimme. Tons of playoff experience (this will be the first round for many NY players) and the Crosby, Malkin, Letang wave will be in full effect. They have a lot to prove in these playoffs. They got bounced in the first round in the last three seasons. They had a rockier season than expected. And this could be their last go together, many think the team could be restructured over the coming off-season.

I’m obviously leaning toward a Rangers win here. I think they could do it in 5 games if the trend of the regular season continues. The Penguins have to address more issues than the Rangers do. But the Rangers have to play with as few mistakes as possible to keep the Penguins off their game. I wouldn’t be surprised if this went 7 games out of the sheer passion for the rivalry. These teams have played against each other in the playoffs 7 times with Pittsburgh winning 5 of them. Are these Rangers the true superior team? That’s what we will find out next week.

These playoffs are stacked. Odds are the teams that truly don’t belong will get bounced in the first round (I could see LA being the dark horse but St. Louis is probably the sleeper) and round two will be all killers that could have every series go the distance. The front runners are Florida and Carolina. I see Calgary going very far. Tampa Bay is going for Cup number 3 and while they didn’t dominate like this season, it’s hard to believe they won’t go far (which has happened a few times).

There are so many variables at play in every series that it’s hard to make accurate decisions, but from start to finish this should be the best playoffs in years.

47-20-6

The goal for this season has been achieved: make the playoffs. Not only did the Rangers make it, but they also accomplished clinching a playoff spot with 9 games remaining in the season. They didn’t have to rely on another team losing to squeak into a wildcard spot. They’ll likely finish in second place in the Metro Division, with a real possibility of coming first. No one thought this would happen.

The trades at the deadline have paid off. It’s actually nuts how well the team has gelled. Copp, Vatrano, Braun, Motte (who just got injured) have fit in well and made a big difference. Copp and Vatrano especially. Drury basically figured out how to win the lotto with pocket change. I don’t know if there has been a better trade deadline for the Rangers in the last decade. Usually, it’s paying a fortune for a rental that doesn’t work out.

There’s been panic about this team if they lose more than 2 games in a row. The impending doom that’s never actually happened. Used to bad skids, it’s not shocking to read this from the fan base. Sure they’ve lost to bad teams they shouldn’t have, but the bounce back has been quick. Maybe two 3 game losses in a row? Losing to the Islanders and Flyers was horrible but the way the team has been playing is nothing short of strong.

Igor was unbalanced for a few games, letting in way more goals than he normally does. But he’s back to form now. Georgiev has won 5 in a row and while they weren’t all pretty, he’s back in the black. There’s a level of confidence from every player on the ice that hasn’t been around since…2014? It’s tangible, you can feel it while you watch. Steamrolling Pittsburg is an absolute treat! When they’re down they don’t give up. They lead the league in comeback games. Kreider is 2 goals away from hitting 50 goals! Panarin is heating up, Mika is always a presence on every shift. Rooney and Kakko are back and with 9 games before the playoffs, they should have enough time to get back into the swing. Kakko hasn’t played in around 3 months so it is a concern about how fast he can get back up to speed.

But all the pieces are there to go on a long playoff run. If the first round is versus Pittsburg, I think the Rangers have a big advantage. The playoffs will be stacked this year so nothing is a given. The overall health and skill level of the Rangers make them dangerous. No team can underestimate them and that’s a major achievement.

37-17-5

Off a four game road trip the Rangers went 2-2. First winning against Winnipeg and then two losses against Minnesota and St. Louis. The losses were terrible, some of the worst games they’ve played. With the team giving up a lot in these past few seasons, it’s easy to overreact and say the sky is falling. To date, the Rangers have not lost more than two games in a row this season. After getting laid out by St. Louis (due to horrific defense), the Rangers rallied to beat Dallas in dramatic fashion.

This team is truly different from immediate seasons. They are better, but the flaws are obvious as they have been. Igor is world-class levels of talent in net. Alexander is good as well, but he’s not Igor. There are like 3 goalies in the NHL who can match him. Alex’s big problem is that he plays so infrequently, he can’t find his game. He’s very momentum-based. It takes him time to find his groove and he’s rough when in that process. When he stabilizes, he can achieve his true potential. He doesn’t want to be a backup. It’s likely this is his last season as a Ranger. I don’t think he’ll be moved at the trade deadline because right now there’s no one out there to take his place that would be a marked improvement.

The other problem is scoring depth. The top 2 lines are the only ones scoring goals and that doesn’t win in the playoffs. Too much weight is being put on the top 6 and it’s showing. They’re getting worn out playing 25+ minutes a night. They’ll be burned out when the playoffs start. 5-on-5 goals are too infrequent which then shifts the onus on the power play to pick up the slack. It’s worked a lot so far (2nd in the league!), but you can’t rely on special teams to win games in the long run. It needs to be part of the game plan, not the pillar. Coach Gallant recognizes this and he’s trying to get more bodies on the ice to spread out the load. You want these guys to suddenly find their games but that’s not realistic. The mixture of rookies who are learning and journeyman players who are just good enough to play in the NHL won’t get far in the playoffs. The entire team turned it around in Dallas and that’s the team that has to show up every night to keep up this train on the tracks. Every team lays an egg multiple times in a season, they’re just brutal to watch and only a real problem if the same mistakes keep being made. That’s how losing streaks happen.

We also need to appreciate the team. Their record is fantastic, the best in years. Having an all-star goalie isn’t a problem, he just needs to be able to rest. Yes, Igor bails them out of bad spots, but that’s his job. The goalie is the last line of defense. This season was all about making it to the playoffs for the first time in 5 seasons and that is going to happen bar any disasters. That’s a huge accomplishment. Everyone’s known there were holes in the roster starting this season and they’ve still done remarkably well. No one wants to be bounced in the first round and it’s possible that could happen depending on what the match-up ends up being. The East is full of killers, but the Rangers have shown they can compete.

I don’t think major trade moves are coming in the next week. I think Drury will put things in a holding pattern to see how it goes and then assets will be moved to plug the holes in the roster for next season. When Rooney and Kakko come back, he’ll get a full picture of where the team is and take it from there. Renting players for a fortune at the end of the season hasn’t worked at all for the Rangers and there is no reason to believe it will move the needle enough today. The team needs more than one very good center and defenseman. The pickings and price to pick those up this week will likely be too narrow and expensive.

This season is nuts. The current top 10 teams are all killers. Washington has slid down the rankings because they’ve hit a slump while Pittsburgh and Boston (who are just outside the top 10) are on ridiculous runs.

The Rangers are holding strong at 28-11-4. The last 10 game record is 7-3-0. The best record they’ve had in a long time. A lot of people are hating them, expecting a collapse to happen every single game. Much of their record is due to Igor Shesterkin being one of the best goalies on earth but how can you hate a guy for doing his job? When the team has been down he’s been able to keep the score close to give his team a chance. Many times they’ve responded in kind, turning bad starts into victories. In the past few years, those wins never happened. The team is way better than they’ve been but there are still problems.

Not enough 5 on 5 goals for and not enough scoring depth. More players need to be making goals, many guys have strange, lengthy goal droughts. The Rangers special teams are really good and that’s swung a few games in their favor.

Too many slow starts. Sometimes it’s like they are just trying to survive the first 20 minutes. This has been a problem for years and it’s really weird. They hit the ice and it’s like no one told them they were playing a regular-season game. This ain’t practice guys, get moving. This frequently puts them in a game of catch-up.

Too many breakaways against. This leaves all the pressure on the goaltenders too frequently.

The fourth-line D pair is really weak. Patrik Nemeth is straight-up not doing what they wanted him to do. This means he hasn’t been able to help Nils grow, which is why he’s been sent to the AHL to cook some more. Nils is very young so this isn’t too surprising.

Defense in general has been too spotty. K’Andre has been making more mistakes than usual. He does everything he can to make up for each one though. Libor Hajek is okay at best. Braden Schneider could fill in the void. Very new but very promising and it looks like he’s getting more ice time. Thank god Trouba has been playing so well recently.

On offense, both Kakko and Chytil are injured. Sounds like Chytil will be back much sooner, but he’s more of famine than feast player. He just can’t seem to get everything to click. It always feels like he’s one step away from breaking through and he never does. This is like his 4th season. Kakko’s points totals are a tiny bit higher, he was on a bit of an assist streak before he got hurt.

Lafrenière is the same, everyone is waiting for him to pop off and he’s not. But for Kakko and Lafrenière, I think the expectations are really too high for them. Drafted 2nd and 1st in their respective classes everyone expects them to be Sidney Crosby right away but that’s not realistic. Especially for Lafrenière, this is his first full season. Kakko is on his 3rd. Lafrenière made a fantastic goal in OT against LA this week so that one is a feather in his cap and a super boost to his confidence. We just can’t be impatient about developing players.

I’m not sure how much Dryden Hunt is doing. Let’s hope Morgan Barron can help out. He’s in the same boat as Julien Gauthier; they both have amazing potential. You can see a powerful pro player is stirring inside them. Zac Jones has been called back up so he’s another one for that barrel. Zac’s played less than 20 pro games I think. Again, have to wait for these developing players and not pressure them to the point of cracking.

Chris Kreider is having a god-like season. He got a huge re-up contract and gad zooks is he living up to it. He’s having the best season of his career. First in goals in the league (with Washington and Edmundton in a slump, Kreider went by Ovechkin, Draisaitl, and McDavid) with 30, 15 of them powerplay goals!

No matter what happens though, the team is a lot of fun to watch.

In the grand total of things, Colorado, Florida, Carolina, and Tampa Bay seem unstoppable. Colorado is averaging like 5 points a game and their goaltending is getting better. Carolina steamrolled the Rangers in their first meeting. They are crazy fast and aggressive. Pittsburgh has had the depth to keep them from falling behind with their best players out for months. Now that they’re basically at full strength, the team that many people during the off-season thought were at the point of being washed up are racking up the points. It looks like they’ll be in the playoffs no problem. Now if they choke in the playoffs again is another issue. There’s still a lot of the season left and games are already feeling like they are playoff games. Every point matters. The level of talent in the NHL is nuts.

Look at that! After beating the Oilers last night (4-1, what a revenge!) the New York Rangers are in first place in the entire league. This is incredible. The team hit a bit of a slump just before the Christmas break, something like 1-2-1. Then coming back from the break (which was more than a week of no games), lost in a shootout to the Panthers after losing control in the 3rd period and giving up the lead. Rough loss. A few guys got sidelined because of Covid protocol in the following three games. But every single game was won. Shootout win vs Tampa, then a clean win against Tampa again in a home-and-home contest which went right into playing Edmonton.

The Oilers have been struggling for at least 3 weeks now and the Rangers picked up what other teams have been doing to them. Stay close to McDavid and Draisaitl to slow them down because stick checking doesn’t do enough, they’re too skilled (especially McDavid). That pairing is a huge part of their scoring power, the rest of the team isn’t producing enough. Stay out of the penalty box and that takes away a huge advantage with–again–that pair.

The Rangers are absolutely clicking now. Amazing defense, especially last night. Fantastic communication and effort from everyone. If a mistake is made, others are there to help out. Rock solid goaltending from both Shesterkin and Georgiev. More players are getting points. If Chytil and Gauthier can break through…hoo boy. Zac Jones is on the taxi squad and has been put in twice and he did really well. He was thrown in the deep end to defend against some of the best players in the league and he stood strong. He’s been doing great in the AHL and it’s translating into the NHL. Really promising.

Now it’s to the west coast for a 5 game road trip. Exciting times, to say the least. The margin for error is razor-thin, just like at those standings. There are only 5 points between first and 8th place. 2 points for first to fourth place! The Rangers are in first because they have more regulation wins over Washington. Every game is important but the momentum is behind the Rangers now. We’re seeing team depth on ice now and that’s the key to success (just look at Edmonton).

17-5-3

Last night, the Colorado Avalanche stopped the Rangers 7 game winning streak. It’s been a crazy stretch since the middle of November that saw the Rangers come together as a team. This streak was the longest since the 2015 season and put them near the top of the entire league and right underneath the Capitals for first place in the Metro division (the Caps were losing in OT which meant they lost ground slower to the Rangers, who were constantly winning, by getting one point instead of none by losing in regulation).

There’s been great concern since Igor got hurt (groin) a week ago. Georgiev played the last 15 minutes of that game and stopped all 9 shots to maintain the shutout against San Jose. He started the next two games and won those games as well, boosting is meager stats. Last night was a back to back so Adam Huska took over the net for his first NHL game. It was a trial by fire.

A 7-3 loss, the worst game since the shutout under the heels of Calgary. Were the Rangers simply too tired from the late game in Chicago the night before? Probably. Whatever it was, the team defense was horrible after the first period (ending 2-1 Rangers). It’s the kind of game where a lot went wrong and Colorado is a fast team that can and will take advantage of any mistakes their opponent makes. That’s basically what happened. With such a long streak, one loss isn’t a big deal. Have to sweep this one under the rug and move on. At least Nils got his first NHL goal, which was fantastic. It’s a busy schedule all the way up to Christmas…Buffalo tomorrow which shouldn’t be a problem and Colorado again next week (first game against Arizona too, which has to be a blowout by the Rangers).

Onward and upward!

10-4-3

A solid four-win streak that ended with a 2-1 loss to Toronto.

A few days off from the beating Calgary dished out worked well. Talking and working on the issues that are a problem made the team play more like a team. There was a tangible difference from game to game. Much better vision on the ice, fewer high risk plays for no benefit, more shots on goal. Face-off wins even went up. Points were scored and dished out over more players. Kappo Kakko now has two goals and an assist, Hunt and Gautier have their first goals. Chytil is back on the ice and is playing well. Blais suffered a season-ending ACL tear, which damages the depth of the team exposing the need for a really good RW even more (the bungling of Vitali Kravtsov looks even worse now).

Toronto was a big test and it was a good game. Toronto was just the better team for more minutes. The Rangers had a bad first period, picked it up in the 2nd, and had a really strong 3rd. Toronto is currently a tough nut to crack, one of the highest face-off percentages and top special teams. Both proved to be advantages in Thursday’s game.

In the NHL you can’t play well for 20-30 minutes. You have to show up for all 60 and avoid penalties. Buffalo is next and that is an expected Rangers win. It’ll be a disaster if they don’t and they can’t take Buffalo’s bad record for granted, they’ve upset a few teams this season and are ready to pounce on any team that doesn’t show up at puck drop.

The nagging problem at RW is going to be an issue likely until a trade is made. Or maybe change the first line, switching Kreider to RW and pulling Lafrenière up to LW and Goodrow to the second line. It was tried for a little while but I don’t think the amount of time given in this experiment was reasonable as Laffy could simply need more time to be able to take off. With his talent, it feels like he should be given that space and confidence to progress. It could make a huge difference.

5-2-1

Last Monday the Rangers got trounced 5-1 by Calgary. It was the Washington game all over again. The Rangers were slow, not working as a team, turnovers all over the place, and bad special teams. The all-stars on the team didn’t do anything. Calgary is playing really well, currently one of the best in the league. You can’t be sloppy against teams like that.

Four days later the Rangers showed up at the Garden. Columbus isn’t a team to take lightly, their goalie is one of the best between the pipes right now. After a bumpy first 5 minutes, the Rangers took control and never let up.

4-0 Rangers. Igor Shesterkin’s third career shut out, first of this season. He’s been playing very well and the team in front of him finally put the pieces together to match his efforts. The difference in this 60 minutes? The Rangers played as a team.

Much better discipline with 3 penalties against. The Penalty Kill lines were perfect. The Power Play lines got 3 chances and scored twice. Huge improvement. Passes were way more careful and thoughtful so turnovers didn’t become an issue (something like 20 vs Calgary). They were fast and took all the smart chances to hit. Panarin- 3 assists, Fox- 2 assists, Kreider- 2 goals. Strome opened the night with a blistering goal with Nils Lundkvist getting his first NHL point. Panarin looks like he’s about to hit his stride, whether that’s a timing issue or he had more room to move because their offense was so much better is debatable. Mika didn’t get a point but he was a threat and contributed to the win in every period. He just needs to pop off too. Every goal was special (the pass Fox made to Laffy from behind the net was nuts). I think almost every stat was in the Rangers’ favor at the final horn.

The Rangers can be a scary team when they are firing on all cylinders. There’s more depth now which means scoring chances can come from every line. There are a lot of guys who can score that need to be covered, and teams are wary of that. It’s not just the first line that needs the best defense lines anymore. Lesser teams are going to get overwhelmed and the better teams have more to pay attention to. Last night the Rangers were the team we’ve been waiting for. Can they keep this focus and energy together? It looks like the new coaching system is starting to settle in. The real test is coming in the next month. If more elements coalesce in that time like they are expected to, by this time in November the Rangers could be a monstrous team on the ice. Those stats will likely be what we can expect through the rest of the season.

Next: First game ever against the Seattle Kraken.

1-1-1

Not the kind of start you want for a season. Soundly beaten by Washington, a dumb overtime loss to Dallas, and a closer than necessary win against Montreal.

It felt like there was a lot of wind in the Rangers sails coming into the season and getting a 5-1 drubbing by Washington stopped those good vibes. The first half was competitive, and then it all fell apart. The seasons long problem of too many penalties reared its head and you can’t do that against Washington. Georgiev getting worked like that isn’t going to help him get out of last season’s rut and made the whole team look bad.

The Dallas game was a better contest that slipped away, another old problem where the Rangers can’t close out a game. They did rally to push it to overtime so the effort was there at least. That game was more a letdown than a second crushing blow.

Montreal had a lot to prove last night, the first home game in more than a year and the added pressure of not going 0-3 to start the season. So they came out hot as anticipated and the Rangers handled it well. Penalty kill teams did their job at the start and then Montreal went nuts on the penalties, which the Rangers turned into a goal. Good for this to happen in favor of the Rangers instead of the other way around for once. Montreal did keep it close and this was largely a contest of goaltending. Plenty of robberies on both sides and Shesterkin was the one who managed to keep it on lockdown. Lafreniere got the bonus of his family being in the stands for his game-winning goal. Brilliant rush and pass from Mika made for a hell of a highlight-reel goal.

It feels like after this game the team is starting to gel better. Kreider has 3 goals in 3 games, which is incredible. Very few are as good at deflecting in goals as he is. If he can keep this up–and not disappear like he usually does for giant stretches of time–he’ll continue to be a huge PITA in front of the net and slap away any discussion that he got too generous of a contract extension.

Mika has been more noticeable than Panarin so far. Mika is an all-star and now he has an all-star contract. He’s making waves on assists, he almost had a breakaway goal with 2 guys chasing after him. He’s just goal-shy now, whiffing on an odd amount of one-timer shots. That’s weird to see. Last year he was doing that because it took him weeks to shake off the effects of covid. Now we’re just waiting on Panarin to hit his stride.

Of the new players on the team, I’m most impressed with Ryan Reaves. He’s incredibly fast for his size, he hits anything that moves, and he pounces on every opportunity to be a playmaker. Kakko and Lafreniere have been moved up on the lines and getting a lot more ice time. Kakko looks much stronger, he had a productive off-season. He got hurt last night with an upper body injury and he’ll be off the ice for a week. Hopefully no longer than that. We’ll see if Morgan Barron can get some traction in his absence.

A bumpy start for sure but nothing to panic over. Still a lot of promise.

The seemingly unstoppable force turned out to be unstoppable. Despite dazzling the entire Playoff run through 3 rounds, Montreal couldn’t figure out how to handle Tampa Bay. Their only win was a hell of a fight and one other game they could have won. But close calls don’t give you wins so the Cup finals was only 5 games.

This was a brutal season for everyone. A condensced season with very few days off and then right into the unrelenting playoff schedules. Tampa was the favorite all season long and now one of the very few teams to win 2 Stanley Cups in a row. The only question is how much of this team will stay together because this team, as a whole, shows no signs of slowing down. Seattle will be playing their first season and the regular season is currently planned to start on time in October with a full 82 games, so the standard grind will be back. Way more traveling for teams (no more division bubbles) and reasonable breaks between games. Right now, there’s no reason not to believe Tampa will have another fantastic season.

The expansion draft for Seattle is next up on the 21st and then the normal entry draft about a week later. Expect to see a ton of trades after that. Many teams will have many changes in place come October, and the New York Rangers will be on top of that list. New coach, new assistant coaches will be announced soon, roster changes, then training camp to figure out who goes where.

With this break, we can all look forward to a wild NHL season starting in just a few months. A lot to keep an eye on.