日更挑战当前排名：第405天，第1009名，排名较昨日前进6名。

雪崩也是大热

The Avalanche have reached the Western Conference Second Round in each of the past three seasons only to lose, including in six games to the Vegas Golden Knights last season after they won Games 1 and 2.

But like the Maple Leafs, the Avalanche set team records for wins (56) and points (119) this season. They're the top seed in the Western Conference and will open against the Predators.

Colorado is expecting to get forward Gabriel Landeskog back for Game 1. He missed the final 23 games of the regular season recovering from knee surgery. Landeskog had 59 points (30 goals, 29 assists) in 51 games before the injury.

He said prior to the surgery that the Avalanche realize that they won't get too many more opportunities to win the Stanley Cup and feel they're better equipped to do it because of the playoff disappointments from the past few seasons.

Makar对决Josi

Roman Josi of the Predators and Cale Makar of the Avalanche, the top two scoring defensemen and arguably the top two candidates for the Norris Trophy, given to the League's best at the position, will go head-to-head in the first round.

Josi led all defensemen with 96 points (23 goals, 73 assists), the most at the position since Brian Leetch had 102 (22 goals, 80 assists) with the Rangers in 1991-92. Makar was second with 86 points (28 goals, 58 assists).

Josi led the Predators with six points (two goals, four assists) in four games against the Avalanche during the regular season. Makar had a team-high seven points (two goals, five assists) in three games against Nashville.

Nashville won three of four against Colorado, including 5-2 on Dec. 16, when Josi scored a goal and Makar did not play.

狂野的门将选择

Cam Talbot or Marc-Andre Fleury for the Minnesota Wild's starting goalie?

The question that has been omnipresent around the Wild since they acquired Fleury before the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline will be answered in time for Game 1 against the St. Louis Blues at Xcel Energy Center on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, TVAS, BSN, BSMW).

Talbot and Fleury each started 11 of Minnesota's final 22 games. Talbot went 8-0-3 with two shutouts, a 2.25 GAA and .925 save percentage. Fleury was 9-2-0 with a 2.74 GAA and .910 save percentage.

Talbot started all three of Minnesota's games against the Blues this season, going 0-1-2 with a 5.92 GAA and .814 save percentage. Fleury went 0-3-0 for Chicago against St. Louis with a 3.36 GAA and .903 save percentage.

Husso成为蓝调的首发门将

The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 with Jordan Binnington in net after he seemingly came out of nowhere to become one of the best goalies in the NHL.

Three years later, the Blues will go into Game 1 against the Wild with Ville Husso expected to be their starting goalie and Binnington the backup.

Husso has earned it this season, going 25-7-6 with a 2.56 GAA and .919 save percentage in 40 games (38 starts). Binnington was 18-14-4 with a 3.13 GAA and .901 save percentage in 37 games.

The Blues feel comfortable with Husso, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, but don't expect coach Craig Berube to give him too long of a leash given Binnington has already proven he can win at this time of the year.

企鹅核心团队的最后机会

Sidney Crosby raised the point earlier this week that this could be the Penguins last chance at winning the Stanley Cup again with the three players who were all part of their championships in 2009, 2016 and 2017.

Crosby, a center who tied with forward Jake Guentzel for a team-high 84 points this season, is signed through the 2024-25 season. But center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang are each a pending unrestricted free agent.

Crosby is Pittsburgh's all-time leading scorer in the playoffs with 191 points (69 goals, 122 assists). Malkin is second with 174 points (64 goals, 110 assists). Letang is seventh, and first among defenseman, with 86 points (22 goals, 64 assists).

They also rank first, second and third in playoff games played; Crosby with 174, Malkin 170 and Letang 142.

The Penguins are in the playoffs for the 16th straight season, the longest active streak for any team in a major professional sports league in North America, but they have not won a playoff series since 2018.

Shesterkin的射门

Igor Shesterkin led the NHL with a 2.07 goals-against average and .935 save percentage. The Rangers goalie had 36 wins and six shutouts in 53 games (52 starts).

Shesterkin is the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie and is in the conversation for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the NHL most valuable player.

But this will be his first real chance to make a name for himself in the playoffs. His NHL playoff experience is limited to Game 3 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers against the Hurricanes on Aug. 4, 2020, when he made 27 saves in a 4-1 loss that eliminated the Rangers.

If Shesterkin can replicate his regular-season success in the playoffs the Rangers have a real chance to make a run this postseason.

火焰和星队一组的较量

The matchup between the first lines in the series between the Flames and Dallas Stars will be one to watch. They are arguably the two best first lines in the NHL this season.

Calgary's top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk combined for 301 points (124 goals, 177 assists). Gaudreau (115) and Tkachuk (104) were two of the eight 100-point scorers. All three finished with at least 40 goals (Lindholm, 42; Tkachuk, 42; Gaudreau, 40).

Similarly, the Stars' top line of Joe Pavelski, Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz was the driving force behind them getting into the playoffs. The line combined for 232 points (105 goals, 127 assists).

Robertson scored 41 goals, Pavelski, at 37 years old, put up career-highs in assists (54) and points (81), and Hintz scored 37 goals.

最后的狂欢

Kings forward Dustin Brown announced on Thursday that he will retire at the conclusion of the playoffs, so this postseason will be the last for the 37-year-old, who played in a team record 1,296 regular season games and will still add to his 85 career playoff games.

Brown is the only player in Kings history to play 18 seasons with the team, reaching the playoffs eight times. He won the Stanley Cup with them in 2012 and 2014 and had 712 points (325 goals, 387 assists) in his career. He has 47 points (19 goals, 28 assists) in the playoffs.

Could this also be the last postseason run for Bruins center Patrice Bergeron and Panthers center Joe Thornton?

Bergeron, who helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011 and get back to the Cup Final in 2013 and 2019, is in the last year of an eight-year contract and the 36-year-old has not committed to playing beyond this season. He has played all of his 18 NHL seasons with Boston.

Thornton is playing on a one-year contract for the fifth straight season. The 42-year-old is not playing regularly for the Panthers and could be on his last legs of a likely Hall of Fame career. He has never won the Stanley Cup