Round 1 Proved To Be Very Exciting
Round 1 proved to be very exciting hockey. Excellent results for Canadian based teams with 3 clubs making it to the final 8. Winnipeg, Edmonton and Toronto have advanced to round 2. Montreal and Ottawa did succumb to their opponents, but they showed a glimpse of very promising futures.
Two of the losing eight teams in the first round were considered strong contenders for the Stanley Cup. The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Florida Panthers and the Colorado Avalanche lost to the Dallas Stars in tough match-ups. Given both these series could have been considered toss-ups at the start of the playoffs, it demonstrates how competitive this league has become and strongly speaks of parity.
The Western Conference proved to have the more competitive matchups based on longer series. Two of the four series went to game seven with the Dallas Stars beating the Colorado Avalanche and the Winnipeg Jets beating the St. Louis Blues.
The most exciting Series had to be the one featuring the Winnipeg Jets and the St. Louis Blues. Fans of both franchises would have benefited from having a defibrillator nearby. Both teams features all-star calibre goaltenders who recently participated in the 4 Nations Cup Tournament. St. Louis Blues had Jordan Binnington in net and the Winnipeg Jets had Connor Hellebuyck. This was a physical series with well over 600 hits. The Jets had to play most of game 7 without two of their best players as Josh Morrissey was injured in the first period and had to leave the game and Mark Scheifele was injured in game five and did not play at all.
St. Louis had to win game 6 at home to take it to game 7, which they did. St. Louis then scored two early first period goals in game seven against the hometown Jets. The Blues held a 2 goal lead, 3-1 heading into the last few minutes of the game. Winnipeg then pulled their goalie to have 6 attackers. To score 2 late third period goals in game 7 would be a minor miracle on ice. The jets made it 3-2 with only 1:56 left on the clock on a shot by Vladislav Namestnikov. And with only 3 seconds left on the clock, Cole Perfetti positioned in front of the net defected a pass from the sideboards past Binnington for the winning goal. This made history as the latest game 7 tying goal in NHL playoff history. With less than 3:50 minutes remaining in the second overtime period, team captain Adam Lowry also standing front of the net, deflected a point shot from Neal Pionk to put the Jets into Round 2. Exhilarating for the Jets fans and deflating for the fans of the Blues.
Round 1 Results
Eastern Conference Round 1
Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadians in 5 games (4-1).
Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New Jersey Devils in 5 games (4-1).
Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in 5 games (4-1).
Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators in 6 games (4-2).
Western Conference Round 1
Dallas Stars defeated the Colorado Avalanche in 7 games (4-2).
Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Minnesota Wild in 6 games (4-2).
Winnipeg Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues in 4 games (4-3).
Edmonton defeated the Los Angeles Kings in 6 games (4-2).
In total their were 8 series and 46 games played in total in Round 1 of the 2025 NHL Playoffs.
Round 2 Match-Ups
Eastern Conference Round 2
Washington Capitals Vs Carolina Hurricanes
Toronto Maple Leafs Vs Florida Panthers
Western Conference Round 2
Winnipeg Jets Vs Dallas Stars
Vegas Golden Knights Vs Edmonton Oilers
Greetings. In introducing myself, I must relate that family is most important. I am a husband, father and grandfather. Beautiful extended family. I was born in the 60’s. Graduated from Laurentian University in Sudbury in 1985 with a degree in Social Work. Recently retired.
Sports has been and continues to be my foremost outlet for stress. I have been a coach/ trainer on over 40 youth teams, including hockey, baseball and soccer. Hockey is my number one sport. Began playing as a young child and continue to play several times per week. Huge Fan. I am not an expert per say when it comes to having close contacts to the hockey world. Still have expertise as a Fan. I have probably earned some form of “Hockey PTSD” over the years with the highs and lows of the cheering for the Leafs. I want to respectfully share my opinion and respectfully view your opinions. Should be fun. Keep your stick on the ice.
Take Care and Stay Safe.