Round two has only two of the 16 top point producers of the regular season, and no division winners. As a matter of fact, 7 of the top 10 regular-season teams are now eliminated.
In the first round alone, the 2019 playoffs had as many games go into overtime (10) and series go to seven games (3) as the entire 2018 playoffs.
Eastern Conference:
Boston Bruins (2) vs Columbus Blue Jackets (WC2):
The Jackets took care of the might Bolts in four straight games on the strength of the league's best motivator/manipulatir behind the bench in head coach John Tortorella, a stingy defense led by Seth Jones, Zach Werenski and David Savard, who is cementing his place among the best shut-down defenders in the league. Sergei Bobrovsky - whom I repeat is the only active goalie with two Vezinas - took care of the rest and perhaps chased away his playoff demons.
The Bs, as expected, needed seven games to get rid of the Leafs. They might win the first two via adrenaline, but the Jackets are essentially the same team, just younger, fresher and perhaps even tougher. Boston won't get intimidated by Columbus like Tampa did, but they might run out of breath by next Tuesday.
Jackets in 6.
New York Islanders (2) vs Carolina Hurricanes (WC1):
The "bunch of jerks" will meet their match in the Isles. many were surprised when the Boys From Long Island
Isles in 5.
Western Conference:
San Jose Sharks (2) vs Colorado Avalanche (WC2):
Seriously, Sharks, no. In a Game 7 when he should have stopped the Golden Knights cold after his team scored four straight powerplay goals to reverse a 3-0 deficit in the third period, Martin Jones showed his teammates and the entire world that he was going to buck under pressure. Don't get me wrong, the Avs will feel like every round will get harder and every adversary will get better - because they will. But they can beat San Jose with their top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Miko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, and Philipp Grubauer is showing some serious poise behind the pipes to help out on the back end.
Make no mistake - the Sharks didn't beat the Golden Knights in the first round; they beat a lazy Max Pacioretty with the help of referees who did their jobs so badly that they were themselves excluded from the second round. It was as if they'd gambled on the game and needed to influence it, so they gave Vegas a 21-minute disadvantage, including the late five-minute major on something taht was at most a minor penalty.
Avs in 7.
St. Louis Blues (3) vs Dallas Stars (WC2):
The Stars will need Alexander Radulov, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Mats Zuccarello to just throw everything and the kitchen sink at the hottest goalie on the planet, Jordan Binnington. He's stopping everything, at a 96% clip, meaning Dallas will need to pepper him with 60 shots per game, every game to wear him down and tear holes through his armor, and to trust Ben Bishop will take care of things in their own end. And barring another postseason injury, he will - he's having Conn Smythe-caliber playoffs himself, after all. The Blues have no business playing in May this year, they need to be brought down to earth (and will be, whether it's now or in the next round).
Stars in 7.
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