The Stanley Cup Playoffs second round begins Friday May 1 with three series already settled and three more in position to close out Wednesday night. Florida swept the Lightning in five games behind Sergei Bobrovsky's .938 save percentage and Sam Reinhart's eight goals, the second straight year the Panthers have eliminated their state rival in round one. Carolina took out the Devils in five games behind Frederik Andersen's three shutouts and Sebastian Aho's eleven point series. Edmonton bounced the Kings in six behind Connor McDavid's eleven points and Stuart Skinner's bounce back from regular season struggles.
Game six between the Penguins and Flyers in Pittsburgh settles the Metropolitan Division round one matchup Wednesday night. The Penguins lead the series 3-2 after Sidney Crosby's overtime winner Sunday night kept the home team alive. Crosby has eight points across the five games and is playing what could be his final playoff series with the Penguins given persistent trade rumors heading into the offseason. The winner advances to face Carolina in the second round, with the series opening either Saturday or Sunday in Raleigh depending on rest.
Tampa Bay forced a fifth game in Montreal Tuesday night with a 4-2 win that pushed Andrei Vasilevskiy to 31 saves. The Canadiens lead the series 3-1 and host the deciding game Wednesday night in the Bell Centre. Cole Caufield has nine points across four games and Lane Hutson has been the most impactful rookie defenseman in the postseason. The winner faces Florida in a second round series that opens Friday or Saturday in Sunrise.
Vegas hosts Utah in game five Wednesday night with the Hockey Club leading the series 3-2 after pulling out a double overtime win in game four. The Vegas series has been physical and low scoring, with Adin Hill posting a .932 save percentage across the five games. Utah's first playoff run since the franchise relocated from Arizona has been built around Logan Cooley's emergence as a top six center and Clayton Keller's eleven point output. The winner faces Edmonton in the second round, opening in Edmonton Saturday night.
Toronto and Boston completed their first round series Tuesday night with the Maple Leafs winning 4-3 in overtime to finish the Bruins in six games. Auston Matthews scored twice in the deciding game and finished the round with eight goals. The Maple Leafs face whichever team emerges from the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals series, currently tied 3-3 with game seven scheduled for Thursday night in New York. The Capitals have leaned heavily on Alex Ovechkin's seven goal output and Logan Thompson's .924 save percentage.
Bookmakers updated Stanley Cup futures Wednesday afternoon, with the Florida Panthers installed as the +320 favorite, followed by Carolina at +400 and Edmonton at +550. The remaining odds range from +800 for Vegas to +1200 for either potential Atlantic survivor. Florida's path through the Eastern Conference would likely include either Tampa or Montreal, then either Toronto or the Rangers and Capitals winner, before facing the Western survivor in the Stanley Cup Final scheduled to begin Tuesday June 9.
Television assignments for round two move to TBS and TNT for most national broadcasts, with select games on truTV. ESPN holds the rights to the Stanley Cup Final and conference finals, beginning May 18. The NHL playoff format follows the divisional bracket, meaning Florida and Carolina cannot meet until the Eastern Conference Final, while Edmonton and Vegas would meet in the Western Conference Final if both advance.
The second round historically takes longer to play through than the first, averaging eleven to thirteen days across the four series. Goaltending has been the dominant story through the first two weeks of the playoffs, with Andersen, Bobrovsky, Vasilevskiy, and Hill all posting save percentages above .920. Even strength scoring is down 8 percent league wide compared to the regular season, while power play conversion has held at 21 percent. The salary cap rises to $96 million next season, the largest single year jump since the 2014 expansion, which will reshape rosters across all four conference finalists during a deeper than usual unrestricted free agent class beginning July 1.