2023 NHL Quarterfinals Matchups: 3 Keys to Victory

 In my podcast, I talked about the observations I made about the 1st round matchups in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In this blog, I will give the 3 keys to victory for Each team.

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BOS vs FLA

BOS

• Taylor Hall needs to continue to play like an impact player; he has been really noticeable whenever he is on the ice.
• Trade Deadline acquisitions like Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov need to step up and play more prominent roles on the team as long as Bergeron and Krejci remain out.
• Linus Ullmark needs to be consistent in net.

FLA

• Aleksander Barkov has to be better; he has been shut down the entire series and if he doesn't have an exceptional game 5, the Panthers will lose.
• Florida needs to be better at moving the puck through the neutral zone; the Bruins feed off transition chances and will make.
• Florida wants to play with a Physical edge but they can't keep giving Boston powerplays because they have killed them on the Man advantage.

CAR vs NYI

CAR

• Stefan Noesen has been the unsung hero for the Carolina Hurricanes, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists in this series; in the absence of key players like Svechnikov and Teravainen, Stefan Noesen will need to continue to produce like this.
• Jordan Staal's line has outplayed the Barzal line; they will need continue being one of the top shutdown lines in the league.
• The Defense has to continue to chip in offensively like they have so far in the postseason.

NYI

• Mat Barzal and Bo Horvat have to be a factor; they have been completely nullified by the Jordan Staal line.
• The Islanders will need their defenseman like Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock to chip in offensively.
• Ilya Sorokin has to steal games and be the goalie that got them to the playoffs.

NJ vs NYR

NJ

• Nico Hischier and Timo Meier have been held pointless through the first 3 games of the series; this has to change.
• Dawson Mercer and Tomas Tatar, both who had tremendous years, have been invisible this series; they both need to make their presence felt.
• The defensive structure has to be better than in the previous three games, they simply give the Rangers too much time and space to operate.

NYR

• Chris Kreider needs to continue to score at an otherworldly rate, and Adam Fox needs to continue his stellar play.
• Trade deadline acquisition, Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko need to make their veteran presence felt.
• Igor Shesterkin has be Igor Shesterkin

VGK vs WPG

VGK

• Jack Eichel and Mark Stone need to continue to be their best players and drive the offense.
• William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson need to provide secondary scoring.
• With Laurent Broissoit in goal, Vegas has to be better defensively.

WPG

• Blake Wheeler and Adam Lowry need to continue to score at the rate they have been scoring.
• Josh Morrissey's availability for Game 4 and on.
• Connor Hellebuyck has to steal a game or two

COL vs SEA

COL

• Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar need to show up and leave their stamp on the series.
• Role players like Artturi Lehkonen and JT Compher need to step up and chip in offensively
• Alexandar Georgiev needs to play better in net; he let in a couple soft goals in this series.

SEA

• Seattle needs to continue to play a team game and set the tone with physicality.
• Seattle's Defense has to be more involved in the offense if they are to match Colorado's offensive output.
• Philipp Grubauer has to play like he did in Game 1.

DAL vs MIN

DAL

• Jason Robertson has to be a more impactful player in this series.
• Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen need to continue to carry the load offensively.
• Jake Oettinger has to be the Jake Oettinger in game 4 the rest of the series.

MIN

• Kirill Kaprizov has to have one of those games where he just takes over and dominates.
• Minnesota needs to continue to play with a physical edge.
• Filip Gustavsson has the play the rest of the games in the series.

EDM vs LA

EDM

• Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have to be the best players on the ice and play a full 60 minutes.
• Ryan Nugent Hopkins and Zach Hyman need to start contributing offensively.
• Goaltending has to be consistent and the Defense has to a lot tighter.

LA

• Kevin Fiala made his impact felt in Game 4; he is a game-breaker which makes the LA Kings depth a whole let better. He is a welcomed addition to the line with Vilardi and Trevor Moore.
• Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe need to continue to come up with clutch plays like they have so far this series.
• LA has to stay out of the box because Edmonton's PP is absolutely lethal.