Stanley Cup Playoffs Weekend Thread, 4/28-4/30

Let’s watch some playoff hockey!

Here’s the slate for the next few days (all times CT):

Friday, April 28

Eastern Conference

Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders, 6 p.m. (TBS)

This series has been closer than people expected, considering how the Islanders barely squeaked into the playoffs. The Hurricanes still lead 3-2, but the Islanders have the momentum coming off a 3-2 road win in Game 5. Ilya Sorokin was the real hero for the Islanders, saving 34 of 36 shots. So, the question now is: can he steal another one at home to push for a Game 7?

Boston Bruins at Florida Panthers, 6:30 p.m. (TNT)

Another series that is tighter than expected. The Bruins cruised to historic wins during the regular season while the Panthers stumbled their way into the post season, and the early games made it seem like the Bruins would breeze through the first round. However, injuries have plagued the Bruins, Matthew Tkachuk is having himself a series for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky finally decided to show up in the last game with a .936 save percentage. This series is still the Bruins to win, but the Panthers have made it more interesting than expected.

In injury news, Boston may get David Krejci back. They can win without him, but he’d be a big help:

Western Conference

Dallas Stars at Minnesota Wild, 8:30 p.m. (TBS)

The first four games were back-and-fourth between these two teams, but the Stars finally won two games in a row – and the second was a decisive 4-0 victory on Tuesday to give the Stars a 3-2 lead in the series. Roope Hintz has been a force for the Stars with 11 points so far while no one on the Wild have even half that. If the Wild want to starve off elimination, they’re going to need to get their big star Kirill Kaprizov going – he has just one goal from Game 1 and has been pretty nonexistent in the other four games.

In injury news, Joe Pavelski may rejoin the Stars Friday:

Seattle Kraken at Colorado Avalanche, 9 p.m. (TNT)

Anyone paying attention knew the Kraken were a legit team, so it’s actually not that surprising to see them currently leading the Avalanche 3-2 in the series. The Avalache’s top line has still dominated, but Seattle’s depth has just been better overall in the games so far. However, if any team can push a series to seven, it’s the Avalance. Watch out for Cale Makar, who will have something to prove after missing Game 5 due to a one-game suspension (see: Duncan Keith in Game 5 of the 2013 Kings series).

Saturday, April 29

Eastern Conference

Toronto Maple Leafs at Tampa Bay Lightning, 6 p.m. (TBS)

The Leafs will get another chance at eliminating the Lightning Saturday night after losing 4-2 to them Thursday. It’s been a pretty high scoring series so far, which works in Toronto’s favor, but if there is ever a team and goalie that could shut them down it’s Tampa and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Toronto leads the series 3-2.

New Jersey Devils at New York Rangers, 7 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+)

After going up the first two games on the road, the Rangers find themselves in a do-or-die situation in Game 6 against the new kids on the block Devils. New York’s top-six players have been mostly quiet the last couple of games and were completely silence last game when New Jersey won 4-0. Two Rangers – Chris Krider and Patrick Kane – still lead the series in points with five, but the young guns on the Devsils like Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, Jonas Siegenthaler, and of course Akira Schmid have been showing up in big ways. Devils led the series 3-2.

Western Conference

Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings, 9 p.m. (TBS)

After a back-and-forth first three games, the Oilers finally won two games in a row and are just one win away from making it to the second round. Leon Draisaitl is leading Edmonton in scoring with 10 points, but Connor McDavid closed the gap somewhat with two points in the last game to bring his total to eight. If both those two are going at the same time, it’s going to be a difficult task for the Kings to force a Game 7. On the Kings side, it sounds like they will be shuffling their lines, including possibility uniting the three leading scorers together: Kempe (4 G, 3A) and Kopitar (2 G, 5 A) and Arvidsson (1 G, 4 A).

Sunday, April 30

Eastern Conference

Boston Bruins at Florida Panthers, 5:30 p.m. (TNT)

Western Conference

Colorado Avalanche at Seattle Kraken, 8:30 p.m. (TNT)