Now that I’m safely back in England, I’m going to be writing about every playoff game from here on out. Because I’m not going to backtrack and hit the games I missed, I’m writing a catchup to get us where we are now.

The East has already been decided for round two. There aren’t a ton of surprises – the one notable is that the first wildcard New York Islanders managed to rid themselves of the Florida Panthers in six games. Don’t worry though, Florida fans. Your team is incredibly young and as this season showed incredibly talented. Plus, Jagr isn’t retiring anytime soon. He would have made that known.

Some of the West has been decided – the Stars are into the next round along with the Sharks. Both beat teams with more playoff experience recently.

Let’s start with the series that ended first and make our way to the ones that are still going.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Detroit Red Wings

In Pavel Datsyuk’s last NHL series, the Red Wings came in as the unlikely underdogs – their playoff streak has extended 25 years after all – but also had the smallest goal differential in the playoffs at a -13. The only other team with a negative was Philadelphia with a -4.

Tampa Bay came in hot, after improving significantly from a weak opening to the season. The triplets line of Kucherov-Johnson-Palat was on fire, and even despite missing captain Steven Stamkos for the series, the Lightning relied on their heroes and got the job done in five games.

The first game was close, with the Lightning pulling out a win in the third period. The second game was less close, with the Lightning winning by three goals. The third game Petr Mrazek was able to blank the Lightning as the Red Wings scored their usual two goals. The fourth game showed that the Red Wings just weren’t able to score more than two, and the fifth had Ben Bishop getting a shut out of his own.

Takeaways:

Red Wings – you have to be able to score more than two goals, and the Red Wings just weren’t. They will also be back, as their head coach Blashill gets more experience along with their goalie Mrazek.

Lightning – the line of Johnson and Palat allows for either Kucherov or Killorn to play with them, and that line produced significantly, even if no other line was. It’ll be interesting to see how the Lightning strategize the return of Stamkos, and who stays on TyJo’s line.

San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings

Both the teams came into this series somewhat cold. The Sharks had been right about where they needed to be all season, but nothing more. The Kings had recently lost their first seed in the Pacific to the Anaheim Ducks. One of them would need to heat up to win the series.

Game 1 – Joey Pavs scored first and the winning goal for the Sharks, as they took the first game of the series on the road, a rarity.

Game 2 – The Sharks swept the initial home stand for the Kings, as Martin Jones provided a shutout for the first two periods, and the Sharks added two goals to make the Kings’ late goal irrelevant.

Game 3 – The Kings needed to take a game to OT to finally win one, but they beat the Sharks in the Tank, and won an extremely close game.

Game 4 – The Sharks came back strong, getting goals from Burns, Pavs, and Marleau and held back an onslaught in the third from the Kings.

Game 5 – The Kings kept it close through two periods, scoring all three of their goals in a matter of nine minutes. Unfortunately, the Sharks stepped it up in the third and took a three goal win into the next round.

Takeaways:

Kings – The window may have closed. Without a third cup, their dynasty, if you can call it that, just isn’t on par with the Blackhawks. They will forever remain the Rockets to the Blackhawks’ Bulls – overshadowed and probably under appreciated outside of their fan base. They will also have cap troubles very soon, with Kopitar’s new contract and new contracts needed for some of their young stars.

Sharks – Pavelski was the hero of this series. He kept scoring and kept the team motivated, and got them into the next round. Martin Jones certainly seems like the addition the Sharks needed, and they have depth down the middle with Thornton, Couture, and Tierney. They should remain competitive.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers

In what will likely be the end of the Rangers’ window to get Hank Lundqvist a cup, they came up too short of the Penguins, and lost in five, not in least part because of Hank himself. The Penguins came in hot, having gotten themselves back into playoff contention and the second seed as well. The Penguins came in hotter than any other team in the East, their last ten games of the regular season including eight wins.

Game 1 – The Penguins offense exploded for five goals, including a hat trick from Patric Hornqvist. The Rangers couldn’t even hold a torch offensively, with only Derek Stepan finding a groove.

Game 2 – With an added day of rest, the Rangers were able to surge back, scoring 4, each from a different player. The Penguins scored two, but couldn’t hang with the Rangers’ second period.

Game 3 – The Penguins stars shown and the Rangers couldn’t get anything going offensively.

Game 4 – This was a series where the Rangers offense just could not help out Lundqvist and the defense, and the defense crumbled. The Penguins offense came to play, and so did rookie goalie Matt Murray, who got a shutout.

Game 5 – For the first period, the offense of the Rangers showed itself. That all ended in the second period as the Penguins dominated, scoring four goals, making Chris Kreider’s goal in the third an incomplete step.

Takeaways:

Rangers – one great period of hockey does not a successful series make. The defense, offense, and Hank were all at fault at times within the series, and the Penguins capitalized, as most playoff teams will. The Rangers will need to get younger and better offensively, and Hank will need to look at waiving his no movement clause if he ever wants to win a cup.

Penguins – despite the lack of depth – the Penguins fourth line should not be trusted – the stars of the Penguins came to play and that’s what needs to continue against the Capitals if the Penguins want to advance.

Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers

For a second it looked like the Capitals’ bad luck in the playoffs may continue and they may choke away a series lead and miss out on the second round. But they got past the Flyers and stay in Pennsylvania. The Capitals came in as the best team in the league in the regular season. The Flyers came in hot, barely making the playoffs over Boston in a year where no such thing was expected of them.

Game 1 – Brandon Holtby came away with a shutout while the Capitals produced two goals from Beagle and a newly healthy John Carlson.

Game 2 – Holtby continued his dominance, making 41 saves, to keep Washington strong. The stars came out for the Capitals as well, with Carlson scoring again alongside Ovechkin and Backstrom’s first goals of the playoffs.

Game 3 – Holtby’s prowess and five goals from the best powerplay in hockey led to a complete knock down of the Flyers from which they shouldn’t have been able to recover, but they did.

Game 4 – Both of the goaltenders stepped up, but it was Flyers backup Neuvirth that got the job done, as the Flyers helped him with two goals.

Game 5 – Neuvirth stepped up again, and got a whole game shutout, as the Flyers again provided him with two goals.

Game 6 – In another goalie battle, it was whoever scored that won, and unfortunately for the Flyers it was Washington. Niklas Backstrom’s second goal of the series was the lone strike, and the Flyers couldn’t get anything past Holtby.

Takeaways:

Flyers – Neuvirth looked a lot better than Mason, and it helped the Flyers, but a little too late. It would have been interesting to see what could have happened if the Flyers had started Neuvirth from the beginning, but Mason was the natural choice. The offense of the Flyers also stepped up too late, but with a young defensive core and prospects to come, the Flyers should be set for the future.

Capitals – They should also be fine in the future, but if they want to win a cup, now may be the year to do it. If the Blackhawks lose to the Blues, then the second round is left without a clear favorite to beat the Capitals, and Ovechkin and Backstrom and Holtby and Carlson could march their team straight into the Finals and maybe even to the Cup itself. They have the Richard winner and the presumable Vezina winner, what’s going to stop them?

Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild

The Stars overcame their lack of playoff experience behind two guys with tons of it – Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya. It’ll be interesting to see if the team can get past either a hot Blackhawks or a Blues team that survived a hot Blackhawks team, but it’s unlikely. The Wild came in the heavy underdogs, and couldn’t pull it together.

Game 1 – Despite their general lack of defense and goaltending, the Stars managed a playoff shutout, and scored four goals behind four different scorers. The Wild were held answerless.

Game 2 – The Wild decided to get more competitive, as Dubnyk held the Stars potent offense to just two goals, and the Wild got their first goal of the series. Unfortunately, that’s all that happened for the Wild, as the Stars swept their first homestand.

Game 3 – A game after getting their first goal, and their first home game, the Wild won. Scoring five goals and not letting the Stars do the same proved to be a good strategy, as the Wild were powered by Pominville.

Game 4 – The Stars would not let the Wild take both of their home games as the Stars had, and beat the Wild in a close game, powered by the second line and Jason Demers.

Game 5 – Facing elimination, the Wild fired back in overtime, with the tying and winning goals coming from the captain, Mikko Koivu. An extremely tight game that came down to an offensively packed third period, the Wild’s survivability only held back the inevitable.

Game 6 – By the same score as game 5, the Stars eliminated the Wild before they could push for a game 7. The amount of offense in the last two games for the Stars may spell trouble, but their offensive capabilities may also be able to help alleviate those troubles. The Wild played one of the best periods in hockey history in the third, but unfortunately allowing one goal in the midst of their storm of goals allowed the Stars to slip by them.

Takeaways:

Wild – they’re going to need more offense if they’re ever going to survive the Central division playoffs. They have a great first pairing on defense as well, but much like the Blackhawks it’s a question of how long they will be able to rely on Spurgeon and Suter to play thirty minutes a night.

Stars – Their goaltending and defense will need to take steep steps up if they’re going to survive the second round, as both the Blues and Blackhawks have offensive capabilities greater than that of the Wild. Vladmir Tarasenko has been shown to be able to take down teams on his own, and nobody should want to face Patrick Kane. They’re getting one of those two, along with a bevy of other strong players, including in net.

New York Islanders vs. Florida Panthers

The Islanders came in as the first wild card, barely missing out on a top three position in the Metropolitan division. The Panthers came in hot, unexpectedly winning the Atlantic division title.

Game 1 – Taking the first game on the road, the Islanders survived a close game against the Panthers by a 5-4 score. Tomas Greiss survived a hail storm of shots to get the win, and the depth and first line of the Islanders showed to help get them the win.

Game 2 – In back to back playoff days (which was to account for the three days rest for the other New York team) the Panthers evened the score, beating the Islanders by two goals. Luongo survived his own hailstorm, and the Panthers offense powered them to goals in all three periods.

Game 3 – The Islanders’ first home game went to OT, and both goalies faced the same large amount of shots. The defense helped lift the Islanders in the game, as Leddy and Hamonic both played half an hour and Hickey scored the GWG.

Game 4 – The Panthers again evened the score, as they beat the Islanders in a significantly less offensive fourth game, a 2-1 score. The Panthers’ depth showed in this game, and Luongo had a significantly easier job than in other games, only having to stop 26 to win.

Game 5 – Another game that went to overtime, another game the Islanders won in overtime. A quiet night for the offenses, the Islanders scored in the first and the Panthers didn’t answer til the third. Both goalies had a lot to stop, as Greiss got the win with 47 and Luongo stopped 40.

Game 6 – Unfortunately, the Panthers couldn’t answer with another win, and the Islanders got by into the second round on another OT on a goal by captain Tavares. It was another goalie battle, and another battle that Greiss won. It was another plethora of shots on both sides, and the Islanders with a shocking 51 were able to beat Luongo into oblivion.

Takeaways:

Panthers – Florida is still very young and has a good coach. It’s just a matter if the goalie that held them in the games will return, as Luongo is aging. The same question can be asked of the other elder statesmen of the Panthers, Willie Mitchell and Jaromir Jagr. Jagr still plays like a 25 year old, so it’s unlikely he retires. Mitchell may hang on for another cup run, but as a member of the successful Kings teams, his names on the cup. He can rest easy knowing the fate of the Panthers’ defense is on the shoulders of Aaron Ekblad.

Islanders – the Islanders now get to, or should I say have to, face a Tampa team that is very hot and may be getting back an offensive force in Stamkos this series. They know that Tomas Greiss is proving so far to be the real thing, and that Tavares has been an equal force. This may quietly be the best matchup in the second round, and it’ll be an interesting game to watch.

Anaheim Ducks vs. Nashville Predators

The Ducks are coming off a triumphant storming into the first seed in the Pacific after a particularly slow start to their season. Nashville got into the first wild card from the Central, and therefore doesn’t have to face their own division unless they get into the third round.

Game 1 – The Predators shocked the Ducks by winning by a goal in the first road game for Nashville. They did so on the backs of their first line, depth and defense, a decent way to win. The defense helped hold off a Ducks team trying to be an offensive powerhouse, and the Ducks couldn’t do the same thing.

Game 2 – A strong second period led the Predators to taking their first 2-0 series lead in franchise history, and the strongest effort was from the defensive pairing of Shea Weber and Roman Josi who contributed one goal and two assists respectively. Filip Forsberg was also strong, putting in two assists as well. The Predators maintained this lead, winning by a goal.

Game 3 – After getting beat both times at home, the Ducks decided they’d had enough and blanked the Predators on their ice. With all three goals coming from depth players, the Ducks looked like they didn’t need the trinity of Perry, Getzlaf, and Kesler. The switch from Gibson to Anderson also worked, as the more experienced goaltender was able to figure out the Predators.

Game 4 – The Ducks continued their depth scoring, and added a goal by Getzlaf. Anderson continued to be shutdown, and held the Predators to just one goal.

Game 5 – Continuing the streak of domination, the Ducks put up five on their home ice to the Predators’ two. The Predators were left on the brink of elimination, and the Ducks were on the brink of getting the Sharks. Anderson showed why Boudreau made the wrong choice in Gibson, and the Predators showed why they couldn’t score goals all season.

Game 6 is coming up tonight. There will be a full in depth break down tomorrow.

The Blackhawks and Blues are in their own piece immediately after this one on the homepage. Please go back there and scroll down to see my thoughts on that series. We will have a full breakdown of their Game 7 tomorrow as well.