Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

 This is a Quick update on the Conference Finals Matchups in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Eastern Conference  Florida Panthers Sweep Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 Game 1 took an eternity before Matthew Tkachuk scored in the 4th OT to give the Patnhers a 1-0 lead in the series; Sergei Bobrovsky made 63 saves in the win. Game 2 went to Overtime again, and resulted in yet another Matthew Tkachuk GWG, this time the goal was scored just 1:51 into overtime on the powerplay. Sergei Bobrovsky was the story of game 3, as he made 32 saves to shutout Carolina, 1-0 to give the Florida Panthers a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. With 4.9 seconds left in the 3rd period and Florida on the Man Advantage due to a Jordan Staal tripping penalty, Matthew Tkachuk scored his 3rd Game winning goal of series to send the Panthers on the the Stanley Cup Finals. The Florida Panthers are back in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1996, and they have had by far the toughest path to it having to...

Here is the schedule for the conference finals of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The winner of each best-of-7 series will advance to the Stanley Cup Final. In the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes, the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division, will play the Florida Panthers, the second wild card. In the Western Conference, the Vegas Golden Knights, the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division, will face the Dallas Stars, the No. 2 seed from the Central. All times listed are ET and subject to change. Eastern Conference Carolina Hurricanes (M1) vs. Florida Panthers (WC2) GM 1: Thu., May 18: Panthers at Hurricanes, 8 p.m.; TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS GM 2: Sat., May 20: Panthers at Hurricanes, 8 p.m.; TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS GM 3: Mon., May 22: Hurricanes at Panthers, 8 p.m.; TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS GM 4: Wed., May 24: Hurricanes at Panthers, 8 p.m.; TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS GM 5: *Fri., May 26: Panthers at Hurricanes, 8 p.m.; TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS GM 6: *Sun., May 28: Hurricanes at Panthers, 8 p.m.; TNT, SN,...

This is a Quick update on the Quarterfinals Matchups in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs since a lot has changed since my last post. Eastern Conference Matchups BOS vs FLA Boston Bruins lead the series 3-2 In Game 4, Taylor Hall had 4 points, Linus Ullmark had 41 saves to lead the Bruins to a 6-2 victory, sending Florida to the Brink. Sergei Bobrovsky made 44 saves in a OT victory to stage off elimination in Game 5 to send the series home to Florida for a Game 6. Game 6 is tonight at 7:30pm on TNT/CBC CAR vs NYI Carolina Hurricanes lead series 3-2 The Hurricanes won Game 4, 4-1 behind two goals from Seth Jarvis, and the win also ended an 8 game road losing streak in the playoffs. In Game 5, with the Hurricanes trying to send the Islanders home for the summer, Ilya Sorokin had other ideas, making 34 saves in a 3-2 win. Game 6 is tonight at 7:00pm on TBS/SN360 NJ vs NYR New Jersey Devils lead series 3-2 After falling behind in a 2-0 hole in the series, the Devils won Game 3 in Overtime on a...

 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. Check out my Podcast 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 h...

Full Preview Here are the series-by-series schedules for the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Eastern Conference First Round BOS vs FLA GM1: 4/17 @ 7:30 pm EST (ESPN, CBC) GM 2: 4/19 @ 7:30 pm EST (ESPN, CBC) GM 3: 4/21 @ 7:30 pm EST (TNT, CBC) GM 4: 4/23 @ 3:30 pm EST (TNB, SN1) GM 5: 4/26, TBA GM 6: 4/28, TBA GM 7: 4/30, TBA Predictions: Boston in 5 TOR vs TB GM 1: 4/18 @ 7:30 p.m EST (ESPN, CBC) GM 2: 4/20 @ 7 p.m EST (ESPN, CBC) GM 3: April 22 @ 7 p.m. ET ( TBS, CBC) GM 4: April 24 @ 7:30 p.m. ET (TBS, CBC) GM 5: April 27, TBA GM 6: April 29, TBA GM 7: May 1, TBA Predictions: TB win in 7 CAR vs NYI GM 1: 4/17 @ 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2, SN360) GM 2: 4/19 @ 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2, SN360) GM 3: 4/21 @ 7 p.m. ET (TBS, SN1) GM 4: 4/23 @ 1 p.m ET (TNT, SN360) GM 5: 4/25, TBA GM 6: 4/28 , TBA GM 7: 4/ 30, TBA Predictions: CAR in 5 NJ vs NYR GM 1: 4/18 @ 7 p.m. ET (TBS, SN360) GM 2: 4/20 @ 7:30 p.m. ET (TBS, SN360) GM 3: 4/22 @ 8 pm ET (ABC, SN1) GM 4: 4/24  @ 7 pm ET (ESPN, S...