Here’s where the remaining 13 NHL teams stand at the midway point of the First Round of the Playoffs for the 2020-21 NHL season:
1.Colorado Avalanche
NHL Championship Odds: +280
First Round Series: 4-0 def. St Louis Blues
Postseason Seed: 1st (West)
Previous Ranking: 1
The Colorado Avalanche maintain the top spot on the power rankings following a dominant showing in round 1, which has seen them breeze past the Blues with a 4 game sweep, making them one of just 2 teams in the playoffs to do so thus far.
With 20 goals scored and 7 conceded over the 4 games, the Avs have not struggled to convert their chances or shut down their opposition defensively. Unsurprisingly, the ridiculously talented trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog have all been on fire.
The trio has 24 points between them after round 1, with MacKinnon leading the NHL for goals in the postseason with 6, while all 3 of them rank in the top 10 for total points.
2.Vegas Golden Knights
NHL Championship Odds: (+550)
First Round Series: 3-2 vs Minnesota Wild (active)
Postseason Seed: 2nd (West)
Previous Ranking: 2
The Golden Knights missed a big opportunity to put their round 1 series against the Wild to bed yesterday, losing 4-2 on home soil to bring the series score to 3-2. They get another chance to wrap things up in Minnesota in game 6.
Mark Stone has put in a true captain’s performance so far with 4 goals and an assist after 5 games, while their veteran goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has impressed in net with just 1.4 goals against on average.
💻 Stone & Smith 💻
Stone: I think if we come with the same effort we’re going to get a different result, but we can’t be down 3-1 after the first period. It finally cost us. pic.twitter.com/3hzKL5dlqt
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) May 25, 2021
3.Boston Bruins
NHL Championship Odds: +500
First Round Series: 4-1 def. Washington Capitals
Postseason Seed: 3rd (East)
Previous Ranking: 10
The Bruins get a huge boost up the rankings this week, the result of their swift progression through to round 2 after defeating the Capitals 4-1, losing the first game before winning the next 4 straight.
Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand have provided the biggest goal threat with 3 each, while David Pastrnak leads the team for total points with 6 contributions. Young Bruins’ defender, Charlie McAvoy has really impressed so far, the 23 year old is averaging an assist a game after 5 games.
4.Carolina Hurricanes
NHL Championship Odds: +950
First Round Series: 2-2 vs Nashville Predators (active)
Postseason Seed: 1st (Central)
Previous Ranking: 4
The Canes remain in 4th despite being locked up at 2-2 in their series against the Nashville Predators. The Carolina side dominated the Preds over games’ 1 and 2, taking a 2-0 lead to Nashville where they lost back to back games in the second period of overtime.
As expected, Sebastian Aho has been the main man for the Canes, scoring 3 goals and assisting 2 more after the first 4 games. Jordan Staal and Brett Pesce are both averaging a point a game.
The Canes reclaim the home advantage for game 5, and we don’t expect to see them slip up again from here, especially not back in front of their fans for this one.
5.Winnipeg Jets
NHL Championship Odds: +1200
First Round Series: 4-0 def. Edmonton Oilers
Postseason Seed: 3rd (North)
Previous Ranking: 16
The Jets shocked everyone with a 4 game clean sweep over the Edmonton Oilers, progressing them straight through to round 2, and earning them a huge jump up the rankings.
Four incredibly tight games, five nail-biting overtime periods, and a series we’ll remember forever…
Thank you @EdmontonOilers for a series that had fans around the world on the edge of their seats the entire time! pic.twitter.com/UtWjNcj06Q
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) May 25, 2021
3 of their wins came in overtime, a position they did well in during the regular season with a record of 6-1, with game 4 being the first of this season’s playoffs to go to a third overtime period, which Kyle Connor buried the decisive goal 6 minutes in.
Much of their success is owed to Connor Hellebuyck, who allowed just 8 goals from 151 Oilers’ attempts, operating at a save percentage of 95%.
6.Tampa Bay Lightning
NHL Championship Odds: +700
First Round Series: 3-2 vs Florida Panthers (active)
Postseason Seed: 3rd (Central)
Previous Ranking: 3
Following their 6-2 win in Tampa, the Lightning looked to be a sure thing to progress as they travelled across Florida to face the Panthers in game 5, however, the Panthers flipped the script on them, winning 4-1 to bring the series back up to 3-2.
The Lightning now get to host again in game 6 and we expect them to be progressing, they were subdued last game but scored 14 goals over the 3 games prior, with Alex Killorn, Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov all thriving.
7.Toronto Maple Leafs
NHL Championship Odds: +750
First Round Series: 2-1 vs Montreal Canadiens (active)
Postseason Seed: 1st (North)
Previous Ranking: 6
The Maple Leafs are only 3 games into their round 1 series against the Montreal Canadiens, but they have just taken a 2-1 lead and look incredibly likely to progress to round 2.
They have scored 9 goals over the 3 games, while restricting the Montreal side to just 4 goals, with Jack Campbell boasting a 95.1% save rate from 3 straight starts. William Nylander has scored a goal in all 3 games so far, and tops the Maple Leafs for scoring with 4 total points.
8.New York Islanders
NHL Championship Odds: +1200
First Round Series: 3-2 vs New York Islanders (active)
Postseason Seed: 4th (East)
Previous Ranking: 12
The Islanders have impressed from 5 games against the East Division champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, currently leading the series by 3-2, they are set to play game 6 back at the Nassau Coliseum where they have been very successful this season.
“We’re going to need our fans, we’re going to need our building, we’re going to need everyone going from the get-go.”
Trotz ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eVTCKWASXb
— x – New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) May 25, 2021
Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov have rotated with one another for goaltending duties, but so far Sorokin has proven himself to be far more reliable, winning all 3 games he has started, allowing just 1.66 goals per game on average. Varlamov on the other hand has struggled, losing both games he has started while conceding 3.61 goals per game average.
9.Florida Panthers
NHL Championship Odds: +3100
First Round Series: 2-3 vs Tampa Bay Lightning (active)
Postseason Seed: 2nd (Central)
Previous Ranking: 7
Currently down 2-3 against the Lightning, the Panthers claim the 9th place this week. Down 3 games to 1 after a convincing 6-2 defeat on Saturday, the Panthers’ prospects weren’t looking too good, but they pulled one back in game 5 with a solid 4-1 victory.
The Panthers have scored 17 goals over the 5 games, with Jonathan Huberdeau responsible for contributing to 10 of them, more than any other player in the postseason.
Owen Tippett has also impressed, the rookie winger has 1 goal and 3 assists after 5 games, more than any other rookie player in the NHL.
10.Pittsburgh Penguins
NHL Championship Odds: +3100
First Round Series: 2-3 vs New York Islanders (active)
Postseason Seed: 1st (East)
Previous Ranking: 8
The Penguins haven’t had a great time of it against the New York Islanders so far, currently down 2-3 with their post season on the line as they hit the road to play game 6. All but 1 of the 5 games were decided by just 1 goal in what is proving to be an incredibly tight series.
With just 13 goals over the 5 games, the Penguins have struggled to break down the Islanders as well as they did to other teams throughout the regular season. Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, the Penguins two top scorers throughout the season only have 3 points between them, with Kris Letang topping the team in the postseason with his 5 points.
11.Montreal Canadiens
NHL Championship Odds: +5000
First Round Series: 1-2 vs Toronto Maple Leafs (active)
Postseason Seed: 4th (North)
Previous Ranking: 15
The Canadiens take the 11th spot this week, they did very well to upset their rivals away from home in game 1, but have since lost the next two straight and will need to be at their best if they are to progress past the division champions.
De retour pour le match 4 demain.
Game 4 tomorrow.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/DAznQ2o9KQ
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) May 25, 2021
They have found it difficult to convert their chances against the Maple Leafs, scoring just 4 goals over the opening 3 games while conceding twice that amount. The Habs host the next game and need to get the win or they will be playing for the series when they head back to Toronto.
12.Nashville Predators
NHL Championship Odds: +4100
First Round Series: 2-2 vs Carolina Hurricanes (active)
Postseason Seed: 4th (Central)
Previous Ranking: 13
The Predators stunned the Hurricanes in back to back games in Nashville, pulling the series score back to 2-2 after losing both games in Carolina. Both games went to a second overtime before the Preds came out victorious, with Matt Duchene and Luke Kunin providing the decisive goals.
Four Preds have notched 3 points so far, while only Ryan Ellis has picked up 4, but it is the performances of Juuse Saros in net that are to thank for their success. Saros has been hounded by the offensively minded Hurricanes, facing a whopping 171 shots, and saving all but 13 of them.
13.Minnesota Wild
NHL Championship Odds: +5000
First Round Series: 2-3 vs Vegas Golden Knights (active)
Postseason Seed: 3rd (West)
Previous Ranking: 5
The Wild are playing for their life in game 6 against the Golden Knights, and as such they take the bottom spot on the rankings. However, they got a huge boost in game 5 with a 4-2 win away from home, bringing the series to 2-3.
Up until yesterday the Wild have struggled to convert during this series, with their 4 goal haul in game 5 the same amount they had scored over the previous 4. Kirill Kaprizov, who was their main goal threat all season, has struggled in his first NHL postseason, but he got a confidence boost yesterday, scoring his first goal.
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
