The National Hockey League’s 2022 playoffs officially began on May 2, 2022. Teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences were placed in bracket match-ups in a best of seven games series for advancement into Round Two. The Eastern Conference teams consisted of the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Western Conference teams consisted of the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, and the Los Angeles Kings. The last two games of the first round finished up on May 15. 

The 2022 NHL first round playoffs were games you wouldn’t have wanted to miss. Out of the eight series, five of them went to a final “Game Seven”. Three of those seven games went to overtime. Additionally, the 2022 first round was the ninth highest scoring first round since 1987. With Tampa Bay moving ahead into Round 2, they are looking for their third Stanley Cup win in a row.

Here are the results of the Eastern Conference first round. 

• No. 1 Florida Panthers win 4 games to 2 against Wild Card 2 Washington Capitals
• No. 3 Tampa Bay Lightning win  4 games to 3 against No. 2 Toronto Maple Leafs
• No. 1 Carolina Hurricanes win 4 games to 3 against Wild Card 1 Boston Bruins
• No. 2 New York Rangers win 4 games to 3 against No. 3 Pittsburgh Penguins

Here are the results of the Western Conference first round.

• No. 1 Colorado Avalanche win 4 games to 0 against Wild Card 2 Nashville Predators
• No. 3 St. Louis Blues win 4 games to 2 against No. 2 Minnesota Wild
• No. 1 Calgary Flames win 4 games to 3 against Wild Card 1 Dallas Stars
• No. 2 Edmonton Oilers win 4 games to 3 against No. 3 Los Angeles Kings

The second round of the NHL playoffs is currently underway as the first game began at last night with the first game of the Blues vs Avalanche going into overtime. Two of the four series are cooking up with some hot rivalries. The second round involves both the Battle of Florida and the Battle of Alberta, both exciting series to watch. Here are the rest of the second round matchups.

• Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning (Battle of Florida) 
• St. Louis Blues vs Colorado Avalanche
• Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames (Battle of Alberta)
• New York Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes

The excitement and entertainment is only just beginning as there are still plenty of hockey games to keep an eye on over the course of the month. Be sure to check the times of the games because these are games you do not want to miss.