Charlotte Jekill
May 4, 2023
With the previous cup champions being knocked out first round, along with Boston throwing away a 3-1 lead in their series, round one of the NHL 2023 playoffs has been wild!
With the previous cup champions being knocked out first round, along with Boston throwing away a 3-1 lead in their series, round one of the NHL 2023 playoffs has been wild!
1. Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins sure know how to choke! With a 3-1 lead against the Florida Panthers, Boston still managed to be knocked out first round of the Stanley Cup play offs. Going into the playoffs Boston had the best odds of becoming the next Stanley Cup champions, little did the Bruins know their playoff run was going to come to a quick stop. Not only did the Bruins have to lose 3 games in a row to be knocked out of playoffs, their entire season leading up to that point they had never managed to lose more than 2 games in a row.
2. Tampabay Lightning
The Lightning have made it to the final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs every year since 2020, for them to make a first round exit against a team who has not advance in playoffs in several years it disapointing. Their previous Vezina trophy winning goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy, gave away 10 goals in the first 2 games giving him the worst playoff record. For a goalie that had been a Vezina trophy finalist for 4 years in a row that's never expected, especially when hes a pillar of the teams success.
3. New York Rangers
The New York Rangers had a strong lead to the series taking game 1 and 2 against the New Jersey Devils, however, fans spoke too soon in celebrating a poteintial sweep from the Rangers. Heading out of game 3 the Rangers would find themselves leading the series still 2-1, but they couldnt manage to turn things around leading to a 3 game loss streak. This 3 game losing streak allowed the Devils to gain a lead on the series needing only one more game to take a spot in round 2 of the playoffs. The Rangers were able to drag it out to a game 7 but were unable to execute, allowing the Devils to advance to the 2nd round with not 1 but 2 shutouts.
4. LA Kings
After making a first round exit in the 2022 playoffs in game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers, the Kings managed to do it again.
5. Winnipeg Jets
The Jets gave their fans a glimpse of playoff happiness with winning game 1 of their seires, however the Golden Knights quickly turned their heads around and managed to win the next 4 games in a row. The series was the only series to be determined in less than 6 games.