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Rangers to beat Penguins 

After a three-overtime epic in Game 1, which was ended by Evgeni Malkin on a net-front deflection, look for another battle at Madison Square Garden in Game 2. The Rangers were on the cusp of winning that game, having a goal disallowed due to goaltender interference, but the Penguins owned the puck in that game. If not for the valiant goaltending of Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers might not have been able to make that look as close as it appeared on the scoreboard.

Shesterkin is the key here. He made a stunning 79 saves, six shy of the all-time single-game record, and kept his team in the game. Meanwhile, the Penguins had to turn to journeyman backup Louis Domingue who was excellent in relief, where he was the freshest player on the ice through the second and third overtimes. What will it look like if he has to start and play the whole game.

The Penguins are officially listing Game 1 starter Casey DeSmith as day-to-day. Domingue is not yet confirmed the starter, but it appears at least likely he will be the guy. He played in just two NHL regular-season games this year and has 35 minutes of playoff experience including the parts of two OT periods he played Tuesday.

The goaltending situation swings this game decisively in the Rangers direction. As well as Domingue played Tuesday, Shesterkin is the proven commodity. He will run away with the Vezina Trophy this season as the NHL’s top goalie. He can bail the Rangers out when they’re not at their best. I don’t know if we can say that comfortably about Domingue and the Penguins.

I also think the Rangers are going to have that desperation of losing Game 1 help swing things back in their favor on home ice. The Garden was rocking for that first game and I expect more of the same Thursday, as well as a heck of a lot of adjustments and tweaks from head coach Gerard Gallant to get boys in blue back on track.

Panthers to beat Capitals 

The Caps snatched a victory right out from under the league-leading Panthers in Game 1. Florida shot themselves in the foot, allowing three unanswered goals in the third period to a Washington team that is battle hardened and experienced. That was a wakeup call for the Cats.

On paper, the Panthers are the better team. They were also the better team five-on-five in Game 1, but the Capitals caught them on a few golden chances and made them pay. That’s what playoff hockey is all about, managing games and finding ways to win. The Caps were able to do that in Game 1.

It should be a lot harder to do that in Game 2, though. First off, Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky played very well in the game, making 25 saves and giving his team a chance. On the other side, Vitek Vanecek allowed just two goals, but if I’m looking at the goalie matchup, I’ll take Bobrovsky all day. Additionally, there is a good chance the Caps will be without energetic, physical forward Tom Wilson who was banged up in Game 1. That’s a huge hole in Washington’s lineup without an adequate replacement.

The pressure is on for the Panthers to not go down 2-0 in this series. The franchise hasn’t won a playoff round since 1996, so they know what is at stake here in what has otherwise been an historic season for their hockey club. Expect a big pushback from the Panthers tonight.

Avalanche to beat Predators 

The Preds were steamrolled by Colorado in Game 1 and it was the kind of trouncing that makes you wonder if there’s any hope at all for them in the series.

Losing Juuse Saros to injury was crushing to Nashville’s chances and our first glimpse of his replacement, David Rittich, was not pretty. In fact, there’s a good chance Connor Ingram, who spent most of the year in the AHL will be in net for Nashville in Game 2. Quite frankly, he should be.

This is all about the Avs, though. They rolled to a 7-2 win and dominated in every metric, especially puck possession as they controlled 62 per cent of the shots attempted in the game at five-on-five. Colorado got offense from every line, their defensemen were engaged in the offensive game and they pretty much just skated the Preds right out of the building.

It’s hard to see Game 2 going any differently. Colorado is on a mission.

Flames to beat Stars 

It wasn’t easy, but the Flames found a way to win a tight game against a Dallas team that never goes away. A 1-0 win in Game 1 is satisfying on one level and concerning on another. The Flames are so difficult to score against, but they’d been one of the best offensive teams in the league and really didn’t get it fired up in a meaningful way against the Stars.

Elias Lindholm did score on a great shot, giving Calgary’s vaunted top line the big goal of the game, but they can’t expect to win every game of the series 1-0. The Flames had actually dominated the first two periods on a number of fronts and then had to weather a pretty good push from Dallas in the third period.

Jacob Markstrom only had to make 16 saves the whole game to get the shutout, though. Calgary’s stinginess on defense is certainly its best path to winning the whole thing. Goal prevention is sometimes more important than goal scoring this time of year and teams that can wear the opposition down defensively have a chance. That’s why I think Calgary is going to pick up another win.

We have to expect their offensive game to get fired up even as they continue to defend as a team at an elite level. I don’t think Dallas has the depth to push back against that.

NHL BOOSTS

Florida Panthers to win & Aleksander Barkov over 2.5 shots on goal

Calgary Flames to win & Matthew Tkachuk to score anytime