The NHL playoffs begin the night of April 21. The top 16 teams of the season will compete for the Stanley Cup. We will tell you which Russians are among the contenders for the coveted trophy and who have no chance.
Who will play who in the NHL playoffs?
Following the results of the regular season, the following Stanley Cup pairings were formed.
Western Conference:
“Dallas” (1A) – “Vegas” (4B); “Vancouver” (1B) – “Nashville” (4A); “Winnipeg” (2A) – “Colorado” (3A); Los Angeles” (3B).
Eastern Conference:
Rangers (1A) – Washington (4B); Florida (1B) – Tampa (4A); Islanders (3A) – “Toronto” (3B);
The Russians are going for the Cup! But without Ovechkin
Among the main contenders, bookmakers identify the Rangers, Edmonton and Carolina. You can bet on any of these teams with odds of 8.00.
The Rangers are led by Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin. At the beginning of the playoffs, they had to play against Alexander Ovechkin’s Washington. The capital club literally miraculously reached the round of 16; Ovi and company are considered the main outsiders. You can bet on the Capitals for 40.00. Washington’s chance is to be completely relaxed; no one will blame them for being eliminated in the first round. The pressure on the Rangers is much greater. Well, Ovechkin’s experience should play a role.
“Carolina” is one of the most Russian teams in the tournament. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andrey Svechnikov, Dmitry Orlov and Pyotr Kochetkov will begin their Cup campaign with another Russian-heavy team: the Islanders. The Russian goalkeeper duo Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov and Alexander Romanov play in defense here. The Islanders’ chances are not as low as Washington’s, but they don’t believe in them either: the odds are 30.00.
In Edmonton, Russian fans have no one to root for; the Oilers will play Los Angeles at the start of the playoffs for the third straight year. The chances of Vladislav Gavrikov’s team were estimated at 8:00 p.m.
Bobrovsky and Tarasenko will face the lightning.
In the second group of Stanley Cup candidates, analysts see Colorado (8.50), Florida (9.00) and Dallas (9.00). The Avalanche with Alexander Georgiev, Valery Nichushkin and Yakov Trenin will play without home field advantage in the series with Vladislav Namestnikov’s Winnipeg. The Jets are given 3:00 p.m., experts believe that having their own site will not help the team in a game with the experienced Avalanche.
But all Russian NHL fans will surely watch the Florida-Tampa series. Sergey Bobrovsky, Vladimir Tarasenko and Dmitry Kulikov against Andrey Vasilevsky and Nikita Kucherov. Mikhail Sergachev will not help Tampa, the defender is injured. And overall, the Panthers’ chances are better. Odds are 15.00 for the Lightning to win the Stanley Cup. But this team can always surprise.
“Dallas” was strengthened by Evgeniy Dadonov before the start of the playoffs. The Russian missed a couple of months due to injury, but he returned right after the start of most of the season. The stars will meet with the reigning Stanley Cup champion, Vegas, in which Pavel Dorofeev and Ivan Barbashev play. But the bookmakers don’t have much faith in defending the title; at 3:00 p.m. you can bet that the “knights” will build a dynasty.
Vancouver, which won its division featuring Ilya Mikheev, Vasily Podkolzin and Nikita Zadorov, has odds of 11.00. The Canucks will play the best team in the wild card zone, Nashville. You can bet on “predators” for 20.00.
Finally, Ilya Samsonov and Ilya Lyubushkin from Toronto will fight Boston, where there are no Russians. In the Stanley Cup, the chances are higher for the “bears”, they are given odds of 12.00, and on the “maple” you can bet at 17.00.
The 2024 Stanley Cup will begin on the night of April 21 and will end no later than June 24.
