Who Is Left In The NHL Playoffs?
With the NHL playoffs in full swing, we take a look at who is left in the hunt for the Stanley Cup.
The Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning are currently in the lead for the Stanley Cup. They have an impressive record so far and are looking like they could take it all the way. Who else is left in the playoffs? Let’s take a look.
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s History
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Lightning were founded in 1992 as an expansion team and played their home games from 1992 to 1996 at the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds. The team moved to their current home arena, Amalie Arena (originally the Ice Palace) in 1996.
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Roster
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Lightning were founded in 1992 and played their first games during the 1992–93 season. The team is currently owned by Jeff Vinik, while Steve Yzerman serves as general manager.
The Lightning have won one Stanley Cup championship, in 2004, and their record for most points in a season is 113, set during the 2018–19 season. They have made the playoffs in ten of their 25 seasons of existence, appearing in the Stanley Cup Finals four times. The Lightning were not able to maintain their level of success after 2004 and suffered through some lean years until they returned to playoff contention in 2011–12. The team reached the Eastern Conference Finals three times between 2015 and 2020 but failed to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The current roster for the Tampa Bay Lightning is as follows:
Forwards: Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, Yanni Gourde, Anthony Cirelli, Mathieu Joseph, Cedric Paquette, Carter Verhaeghe, Adam Erne
Defensemen: Victor Hedman, Erik Cernak, Mikhail Sergachev, Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Shattenkirk, Braydon Coburn
Goalies: Andrei Vasilevskiy
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Schedule
Tampa Bay will continue their playoff push on Thursday when they take on the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of their Stanley Cup Qualifier series. The Lightning currently lead the series 3-1, and will look to close it out in Montreal.
If they are able to advance, Tampa Bay will face either the Philadelphia Flyers or the Washington Capitals in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Flyers currently lead that series 3-2, with Game 6 set for Wednesday night.
The Boston Bruins
As the NHL regular season comes to an end, the race for the Stanley Cup is heating up. While some teams have already clinched their spot in the playoffs, others are still battling it out for the final few spots. The Boston Bruins are one of the teams that have already clinched a spot in the playoffs. Let’s take a look at their chances of winning the Stanley Cup.
The Boston Bruins’ History
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team has been in existence since 1924, making them the third-oldest active team in the NHL, and the oldest to be based in the United States.
The Bruins began play in 1924 as an expansion team, joining six other NHL teams. Their home rink was Boston Arena (now Matthews Arena), and their first coach was Art Ross. The team won its first Stanley Cup championship in 1929.
In 1947, Bobby Orr joined the team, and led them to two more Stanley Cup wins in 1970 and 1972. In 2011, the Bruins won their sixth Stanley Cup championship. They are currently owned by Jerry Jacobs and Jeffrey Vinik.
The Boston Bruins’ Roster
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team has been in existence since 1924, making them one of the oldest teams in the NHL. The Bruins have won six Stanley Cup championships, the most recent being in 2011.
The Bruins’ roster is currently made up of the following players:
Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, David Backes, Noel Acciari, Chris Wagner, Sean Kuraly, Joakim Nordstrom
Defensemen: Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy, Torey Krug, Kevan Miller, Brandon Carlo, John Moore
Goalies: Tuukka Rask, Jaroslav Halak
The Boston Bruins’ Schedule
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team has been in existence since 1924, making them the third-oldest active team in the NHL, and the oldest to be based in the United States.
The Bruins have won six Stanley Cup championships, tied for fourth most of any team with the Blackhawks and tied for second-most of any American team with the Avalanche. They are one of the Original Six teams, along with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins have played their home games at TD Garden since 1995.
The Bruins began play in 1924 as an expansion team joining the NHL. For two decades they struggled to compete against their Original Six rivals until Bobby Orr arrived in 1966. Orr transformed the Bruins into a Mark Messier-led dynasty that won two Stanley Cup championships in three seasons. In 1990, they captured their first conference championship since 1978 while making their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1972. After losing Game 7 of that year’s Stanley Cup Finals to Edmonton by a 4–1 score, they qualified for NHL playoffs every season until 2004–05 but never reached another Finals during that time period due to injuries and trading away star players around each playoff appearance. The 2011 Stanley Cup Final marked their most recent appearance; they lost to Vancouver 4–0 in seven games.
The Washington Capitals
Of the four teams remaining in the NHL playoffs, the Washington Capitals are the only team that has not won a Stanley Cup. The Capitals have been to the Stanley Cup Finals twice before, but they lost both times. This year, the Capitals are back in the playoffs and they are looking to finally win the Stanley Cup.
The Washington Capitals’ History
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Capitals are owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and the Verizon Center. Nicknamed the Caps, the first professional ice hockey team in Washington, D.C., the Capitales de Québec of the American Hockey Association (AHA) played in Quebec City from 1912 to 1920. In 1923, Ted Leonsis, who would later purchase the Wizards and Mystics, was born in Queens to parents who had emigrated from Alexandria Egypt just three months earlier.
The Washington Capitals’ Roster
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Capitals are owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and the Verizon Center. The first Capital was presented with the Stanley Cup in 1918.
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin – LW
Nicklas Backstrom – C
Evgeny Kuznetsov – C
Tom Wilson – RW
Jakub Vrana – LW
Devante Smith-Pelly – RW
Andre Burakovsky – LW
Brett Connolly – RW
Dmitrij Jaskin – LW
Travis Boyd – C
Riley Barber – RW
Nathan Walker – LW
The Washington Capitals’ Schedule
If the Washington Capitals win their next game, they will move on to the Eastern Conference Finals. They would then play either the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Boston Bruins.
The Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are one of the teams left in the NHL playoffs. They are a relatively new team, having only been in existence since 2017. They are also the first team in the NHL to be based in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights have had a lot of success in their short existence, making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season.
The Vegas Golden Knights’ History
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights were founded as an expansion team in 2017 and began play in the 2017–18 NHL season. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team is owned by Black Knight Sports & Entertainment, a consortium led by Bill Foley and the Maloof family.
The Golden Knights play their home games at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. In their inaugural season, they set numerous NHL expansion records, winning eight divisional games and accumulating 109 points, both of which stood as league records for first-year expansion teams until 2019. The Golden Knights defeated the Los Angeles Kings in four games during the First Round of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, becoming the first expansion team since 1967 to win a playoff series in their inaugural season. They reached the Stanley Cup Finals that same year, where they lost to the Washington Capitals in five games.
The Vegas Golden Knights’ Roster
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The team began play in the 2017–18 NHL season, and is a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League. The team is owned by Black Knight Sports & Entertainment, a consortium led by Bill Foley and the Maloof family.
The Golden Knights play their home games at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. An expansion franchise awarded in 2016 by Commissioner Gary Bettman and Expansion Draft completed on June 21, 2017 with an entry fee of $500 million, they have made active use of their roster flexibility to shop for available talent to compete for immediate success during their inaugural season. In doing so, they have acquired several high-profile veterans via trades and free agency signings to supplement their player draft selections from the expansion draft.
The following is a list of players who were either drafted or signed as free agents by the Golden Knights:
Forwards:
William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, James Neal, David Perron, Erik Haula, Alex Tuch, Cody Eakin, Tomas Nosek, William Carrier
Defensemen:
Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb, Nate Schmidt, Colin Miller Jon Merrill
Goalies:
Marc-Andre Fleury
The Vegas Golden Knights’ Schedule
The Vegas Golden Knights are scheduled to take on the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
