Three First-Round NHL Playoff Series With The Most At Stake
The ultimate goal for every NHL team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is to win it all, but for some teams, more than others, winning it all matters more. With that, we'll visit the three first-round playoff series with the most at stake.
Video Transcript
I think it's gonna come down to goaltending.
when you look at, you know, either team, they're, they're both strong offensively.
They both have pretty deep, you know, defense corps.
Mm-hmm.
But, you know, I think it's gonna come down to Jake Oettinger versus, you know, whether it's Philip Gustavsson or if we even see Jesper Wallstedt who's- What?
Or, I don't know, how do you pronounce his name now?
Is it Y- Wester- Jesper Wallstead?
Wester Jesper.
After that little prank the other day, uh- where they changed the nameplate.
Yes.
Yeah, so they're ha- they're having fun.
I, I, I still think it's gonna come down to which team has the best goaltender, and I really do think this one's gonna go the distance.
I, I'm probably not going out on a limb to say that, but- Yeah I will go out on a limb and say I think Minnesota might pull off, do we call it an upset when these two teams are so close?
Maybe.
Yeah.
but I'm saying the Wild takes it.
It's a big win.
All right, Ry, what do we think?
To me, the biggest X factor is Miro Heiskanen's health, right?
Yeah.
Like, they think he could be ready for game one, for Dallas, and obviously- Sure that would be a massive boost for the Stars because he is one of their more s- most important players.
Yep.
But if he misses that game, huge loss.
Even if he plays in it, is he 100%?
You hope so, because- Right you know, he's an elite defenseman.
Minnesota has Quinn Hughes, who's an elite defenseman.
And again, it, it, as Mike said, like, it's really gonna come down to those, like, small edges because they are so evenly matched.
I think Dallas overall has a bit of an edge in that they're, they're better at center.
but again, like, if you don't have Miro Heiskanen, then you're losing a guy that could play, you know, hypothetically 26, 27 minutes a game in a playoff game and, and that would be big
