(WGR 550) - Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference is in the books with four teams punching their tickets to the next round, inching themselves closer to hoisting Lord Stanley.
As we get set for the Second Round of the Western Conference Playoffs, we will get to see the NHL's best player and his teammates in Edmonton head to Vegas to face the No. 1 squad in the conference, as well as the NHL's newest franchise heading South to take on an upstart group in Dallas.
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Let's first recap the Round 1 that was in the Western Conference Playoffs:
Golden Knights cruise past Jets, 4-1
After struggling out of the gate in Game 1 of their series with Winnipeg Jets, the Vegas Golden Knights turned things around and completed the gentleman's sweep in five games.
The first game of the series was all Winnipeg, as the Jets outshot the Golden Knights, 31-17, and outscored Vegas by a 5-1 score. It was a sloppy, discombobulated effort from the Golden Knights, as they could not get their feet under them in the opening game of the series.
From there, though, it was pretty much all Vegas.
The Golden Knights got the ball rolling with a 5-2 win in Game 2 on home ice to even the series at 1-1. Then in Game 3, Vegas was able to earn a hard-fought double-overtime win on the road to take control of the series. In the final two games, the Golden Knights were able to outscore the Jets, 8-3, en route to a series win.
For Vegas, it got some well-rounded scoring up-and-down the lineup, with captain Mark Stone (3+5) and Chandler Stephenson (4+4) leading the team with eight points in five games. In goal, Laurent Brossoit may not be the most household name in the league, but he held the fort down, going 4-1 with a 2.42 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.
As for the Jets, it may be the beginning of the end for the current core group in Winnipeg following a disappointing performance.
While the group dealt with some significant injuries to the likes of defenseman Josh Morrissey and forwards Nikolaj Ehlers, Cole Perfetti and Mark Scheifele, the team crumbled down the stretch of the series. That was never more apparent after head coach Rick Bowness called the team out for their play after their Game 5 loss in Vegas.
Meanwhile, when Winnipeg needed its best player to step up, and goalie Connor Hellebuyck could not be the backbone the Jets needed. In his five games played, Hellebuyck went just 1-4 with a 3.44 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage.
It's beginning to look like the Jets could be looking to make some sort of transition this offseason, especially with the likes of Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Hellebuyck set to become unrestricted free agents next summer.
Stars down Wild, 4-2
After facing a 2-1 series deficit on the road, the Dallas Stars were able to completely flip the script on the Minnesota Wild, winning the final three games of the series and moving on.
Minnesota took Game 1 of the series in overtime on the road, and then won their first game at home in Game 3 in convincing fashion, 5-1. However, the Stars never showed any quit, and looked to their youth to turn the tide of the series.
Goalie Jake Oettinger stole the series for the Stars with his performances in Games 4, 5 and 6. He limited Minnesota to just three goals in those three games, including one shutout, turning away 82 shots along the way.
The 24-year-old finished the six-game series with a 4-2 record with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
Meanwhile, Roope Hintz has become an offensive machine for the Stars, as he leads all skaters in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in scoring with 12 points (5+7) in six games.
As for the Wild, they suffer, yet, another early exit in the playoffs after a promising regular season finish. Minnesota has not won a Round 1 series in the playoffs since 2015, despite only missing the postseason once in the eight years since.
Minnesota were without the services of center Joel Eriksson Ek, who missed the series due to an injury. However, they did not have Kirill Kaprizov, who played all six games, but may not have been playing 100% throughout. The star winger only managed one goal in the series, but was not there for the Wild when needed.
Meanwhile, goaltending was not as strong as it needed to be for Minnesota, as the Wild turned to backup Filip Gustavsson over veteran Marc-Andre Fleury. Despite a respectable 2.33 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage from Gustavsson in five games, it was not enough to overcome the high-flying Stars.
In addition, the Wild's penalty kill struggled against a high-powered Dallas offense, giving up nine power play goals on 24 attempts.
In the end, Minnesota will need to find a few upgrades this offseason in order to finally get over the hump in Round 1 of the playoffs.
Oilers take care of Kings, 4-2
Despite winning two games in overtime (Game 3 in a controversial way) over the Edmonton Oilers in order to take a 2-1 series on home ice, the Los Angeles Kings could not take advantage and earn a spot in Round 2.
When Edmonton needed their top players to come up in the clutch, they got the production from the likes of Leon Draisaitl and league MVP Connor McDavid. Draisaitl finished the series with 11 points (7+4) in six games played, while McDavid was right behind with 10 points (3+7) in the same span.
Much of Edmonton's success came with the man advantage, as it did during the regular season. The Oilers converted on a whopping 56.3% of their chances against the Kings.
While Edmonton's goaltending with Stuart Skinner was not great in the series, Los Angeles' situation in goal with Joonas Korpisalo was nothing better. Korpisalo finished the series with a 2-4 record, a 3.77 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage.
Despite the Kings finding some solid scoring throughout the lineup, it was still not enough to upend the Oilers. For a second-straight year, the Kings come close, but fail to knock off a NHL powerhouse in Edmonton in Round 1 of the playoffs.
Kraken knock out defending champion Avalanche, 4-3
In the only series to go the full seven games out West, the defending Stanley Cup champions end up falling to the NHL's youngest franchise in just their second season.
Perhaps the most back-and-forth series in the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Kraken and Avalanche were able to trade blow-for-blow throughout the seven games, with Seattle managing to deliver the knockout punch in Game 7.
The Kraken managed to get out to a great start, earning the first win in franchise history in Game 1 with a 3-1 win. Following a couple of losses to Colorado to go down 2-1 in the series, Seattle fired back with an overtime win in Game 4 on home ice, courtesy of Jordan Eberle to even the series at 2-2.
From there, the road teams managed to win out in the series, including Seattle with a 2-1 win in Game 7 to officially knock out the Avalanche at Ball Arena.
The Kraken needed contributions throughout the lineup if they were able to upset the defending champions. They ended up getting plenty of that, and then some, with just forward Ryan Donato failing to register a point among the players that played in all seven games.
Defensively, Seattle was able to keep Colorado relatively at bay, especially when on the penalty kill, as they only gave up two power play goals on 18 attempts.
While Mikko Rantanen was able to put up 10 points (7+3), Devon Toews contributed nine points (1+8) and Nathan MacKinnon racked up seven points (3+4) in seven games, the rest of the Avalanche lineup was uncharacteristically quiet in the series.
Part of that was a lack of players being available when needed, whether due to injury, suspension or a leave of absence from the team.
Among the notable players missing from action due to injury included Gabriel Landeskog (missed the entire season), Darren Helm, Andrew Cogliano, Jack Johnson and Josh Manson. All five players had significant roles during the Avalanche's run last season to a Stanley Cup.
Meanwhile, defenseman Cale Makar was forced to sit out Game 5 in the series due to a suspension for interference on Kraken forward Jared McCann.
Also, forward Valeri Nichushkin left the Avalanche after their Game 2 win over the Avalanche and never returned for the rest of the series. The reports surrounding Nichushkin certainly do raise some red flags, but his presence was missed on the offense.
While Alexandar Georgiev was stellar in goal for Colorado, former Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer was even better for Seattle. The German-born netminder finished his series going 4-3 with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. While Grubauer wasn't on top of his game in the regular season, his play in the postseason has, to this point, been game-changing for the Kraken.
We'll see how far Seattle's run in their first playoffs goes, but there will be a new champion crowned come the end of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
