A week into the NHL’s return, the quick best-of-five format has already claimed two victims. The New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets bowed out in unimpressive fashion, leaving big questions unanswered for their front offices.
New York Rangers
From my Eastern Conference Play-In Preview: “I think Carolina will demolish New York. I see an overrated team that played over their heads this season against an underrated team that is as good as any. Prediction: Carolina in 3.”
Welp. Who saw it coming, eh? Even if you didn’t watch the Rangers play this season, a little trip to Evolving Hockey would point out immediately that Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin would have a very difficult time producing as they did before the pause. New York’s defense was shredded by Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov (watch out, NHL) and poor Henrik Lundqvist could only do so much. New York has to re-evaluate their roster from top-to-bottom. They can’t rely on their superstars to repeat this year’s efforts.
On a more personal note, I have to express how sad I am for King Henrik. As a rival fan, I can’t help but feel bad for Lundqvist, an all-time legend of the game. I wish him well and I hope he can win a Cup somewhere.
Winnipeg Jets
From my Western Conference Play-In Preview: “I think these teams are pretty much dead even in terms of talent. I just think that Hellebuyck will hand Winnipeg an undeserved win at some point, giving the edge to the Jets. Prediction: Winnipeg in 5.”
Unfortunately for Winnipeg, I was quite wrong on this one. After losing their most important skater in Game 1 to a scary-looking injury from a seemingly innocent play (not if you ask Paul Maurice though), the Jets struggled to take flight. Although Winnipeg is known for impressive forward depth, you can’t expect a fringe playoff team to do much without Mark Scheifele. The loss of Dustin Byfuglien was almost as noticeable as the absence of fans. The Flames scored off of odd-man rushes and waltzed into Connor Hellebuyck‘s crease.
Winnipeg, much like New York, must address defense this off-season. Unlike the Rangers, the Jets don’t have the luxury of cap space to help them out. It would also help if Patrik Laine could figure out how to score 40 goals, just saying…
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