Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press
Five NHL teams sealed Friday qualifiers to advance to the conference finals in the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday. That leaves only one of the 16 spots open at the weekend, though there are still seeds to be decided.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens, both no. 12-seeded, wounded to attract insurgents, such as the No. 11 Arizona Coyotes. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders, both no. 7-seeds, also advanced to the next round Friday.
The final playoff spot will be decided in Sunday’s Game 5 Matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs (No. 8 seed in Eastern Conference) and the Columbus Blue Jackets (No. 9).
Both no. 1-seeds are also underway and will be decided during Saturday’s round-robin action.
Eastern Conference
Round-Robin Seeding
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (2-0-0, 4 points)
2. Philadelphia Flyers (2-0-0, 4 points)
3. Washington Capitals (0-1-1, 1 point)
4. Boston Bruins (0-2-0, 0 points)
Qualifying match
No. 12 Montreal Canadiens defeated no. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1
No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes defeated No. 11 New York Rangers 3-0
No. 7 New York Islanders defeated No. 10 Florida Panthers 3-1
No. 8 Toronto Maple Leafs and no. 9 Columbus Blue Jackets are 2-2 ties
Western Conference
Round-Robin Seeding
Colorado Avalanche (2-0-0, 4 points)
2. Vegas Golden Knights (2-0-0, 4 points)
3. St. Louis Blues (0-2-0, 0 points)
4. Dallas Stars (0-2-0, 0 points)
Qualifying match
No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks defeated no. 5 Edmonton Oilers 3-1
No. 11 Arizona Coyotes defeated no. 6 Nashville Predators 3-1
No. 7 Vancouver Canucks defeated no. 10 Minnesota Wild 3-1
No. 8 Calgary Flames defeated no. 9 Winnipeg Jets 3-1
Top Seeds Up for Grabs on Saturday
The no. 1 seed in the Eastern and Western conferences will be decided Saturday, when the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Philadelphia Flyers and the Colorado Avalanche against the Vegas Golden Knights. All four of these teams are 2-0 in round-robin seeding games on their way to their final matchups for the quarterfinals of the conference.
When the regular season ended in mid-March, the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues the top teams at their respective conferences. But no one can appeal higher than the No. 3 seed and could even be the No. 4 seeds, depending on the results of their latest round-robin games.
Tampa Bay seeks to be the second seed in the Eastern Conference for the second straight year. Last season, it was swept through Columbus in the first round, so it has a lot to prove this postseason. With victories over the Washington Capitals and Bruins already, the Lightning were able to go a perfect 3-0 in round-robin games with a victory over the Flyers.
In the two previous meetings of the teams this season, Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia in both by a combined score of 6-3. They were scheduled to play a third time the week the season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On the other hand, the Avalanche and the Golden Knights will retire after winning their first two round-robin games in various ways. Colorado defeated St. Louis and the Dallas Stars by conceding just one overall goal, while Vegas scored 11 overall goals in their victories over those teams.
That means Saturday’s game could come down to which side wins the matchup between the Avalanche defense and the Golden Knights offense.
Both games would provide exciting conclusions for the hunt for the no. 1-seeds. And for the losing teams, they are assured that they will not fall lower than the No. 2 seeds, so will still be in good positions to make a deep playoff run.
Toronto and Columbus set to win Lone Game 5
Although there were eight qualifying series, but one goes the distance. The Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets will go head-to-head for the final available spot in the conference quarterfinals Sunday.
The teams have fought a competitive, back-and-forth series. The Blue Jackets recorded a 2-0 win in Game 1, and the Maple Leafs responded with a shutout victory of their own in Game 2, winning 3-0. In Game 3, Columbus won 4-3 in overtime after trapping 3-0 in the second period. Toronto responded in an even more dramatic way to win 4-3 in overtime in Game 4.
In Friday’s Game 4, the Maple Leafs extended the series when Auston Matthews scored a power-play goal 13 minutes, 10 seconds into overtime. That came after they were 3-0 down, with a little under four minutes left.
“We got a little CPR there, and we found ourselves back,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said, according to the Associated Press (h / t ESPN.com). “Here we go.”
Meanwhile, Columbus’ right-hand man, Cam Atkinson, was ready to turn the page to Game 5: “I will not dissect these. They clearly wanted more than us. We will be ready to go Sunday.”
Based on how the past two games in this series have gone, the final should be a suitably exciting end to the qualifying match and build up for the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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