All playoff games with networks are listed here.
Daily game night threads will include links to CBC streaming, daily channels and times.
Eastern Conference:
Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings
Boston Bruins
Injuries: Daniel Paille (head), Adam McQuaid (quad), Dennis Seidenberg (knee), Chris Kelly (back), Patrice Bergeron (LBI)
Key players: Tuukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Milan Lucic
SBNation Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Detroit Red Wings:
Injuries: Henrik Zetterberg (back), Stephen Weiss (sports hernia), Dan Cleary (knee), Jonathan Ericsson (finger)
Key Players: Jimmy Howard, Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Kronwall, Gustav Nyquist
SBNation Blog: Winging it in Motown
What to look for: Coaching matchup. Mike Babcock is under appreciated as an NHL coach as he has managed to keep an aging Red Wings team in playoff contention every year; Claude Julien is a highly talented coach who has managed to Cup Final appearances and one Cup win since 2011.
Essential GIF
Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning
Injuries: Ben Bishop (UBI), Ondrej Palat (UBI), Valtteri Filppula (LBI), Ryan Malone (arrest)
Key Players: Ben Bishop, Victor Hedman, Sami Salo, Steven Stamkos, Valtteri Filppula
SBNation Blog: Raw Charge
Montreal Canadiens
Injuries: Travis Moen (concussion), Alex Galchenyuk (knee), Brandon Prust (UBI)
Key Players: Carey Price, Andrei Markov, PK Subban, Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec
SBNation Blog: Eyes on the Prize
What to look for: Lars Eller and Tomas Plekanec to run two separate shutdown lines. John Cooper to try to get the Filppula line out against Pacioretty-Desharnais-Vanek. Stamkos out against Douglas Murray or Francis Boullion.
Essential GIF
via i.minus.com
New York Rangers vs Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers
Injuries: Ryan McDonagh (shoulder), Chris Kreider (hand)
Key Players: Derek Stepan, Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi
SBNation Blog: Blueshirt Banter
Philadelphia Flyers
Injuries: Steve Mason (UBI), Niklas Grossman (ankle), Zac Rinaldo (body injury)
Key Players: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Kimmo Timmonen, Braydon Coburn
SBNation Blog: Broad Street Hockey
What to look for: A chess match with who the Sean Couturier line will match up against. The Flyers lack of puck moving defence men could bite them in the playoffs. Ryan McDonagh’s health.
Essential GIF
via www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Columbus Blue Jackets
Pittsburgh Penguins
Injuries: Pascal Dupuis (knee), Chris Conner (hand), Joe Vitale (UBI), Marcel Goc (ankle), Evgeni Malkin (foot)
Key Players: Sidney Crosby, Jussi Jokinen, Matt Niskanen, Olli Maatta
SBNation Blog: PensBurgh
Columbus Blue Jackets
Injuries: Ryan Murray (knee), RJ Umberger (body injury), Nathan Horton (abdominal surgery), Nick Foligno (LBI)
Key Players: Ryan Johansen, Artem Anisimov, James Wizneiwski, Fedor Tyutin
SBNation Blog: The Cannon
What to look for: Besides the health of Evgeni Malkin; Marc-Andre Fleury's mental state, the health of Ryan Murray and the Johansen/Crosby matchup. Also if Dan Bylsma is comfortable turning to Tomas Vokoun if needed.
Essential GIF
Western Conference
Los Angeles Kings vs San Jose Sharks
Los Angeles Kings
Injuries: Drew Doughty (shoulder)
Key Players: Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, Slava Voynov, Drew Doughty
SBNation Blog: Jewels from the Crown
San Jose Sharks
Injuries: Raffi Torres (body soreness), Adam Burish (broken finger)
Key Players: Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Marc-Eduard Vlasic, Justin Braun
SBNation Blog: Fear the Fin
What to look for: Match ups. If the top two lines play each other to a draw the third lines could decide the series. Joe Pavelski versus Jarrett Stoll may be the most important match up there is.
Essential GIF
St. Louis Blues vs Chicago Blackhawks
St. Louis Blues
Injuries: Vladimir Tarasenko (hand), David Backes (LBI), Vladimir Sobotka (body injury), TJ Oshie (UBI), Patrick Berglund (shoulder), Brenden Morrow (foot)
Key Players: Alex Steen, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Ryan Miller
SBNation Blog: St. Louis Game Time
Chicago Blackhawks
Injuries: Patrick Kane (knee), Jonathan Toews (UBI)
Key Players: Marian Hossa, Brandon Saad, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Johnny Oduya
SBNation Blog: Second City Hockey
What to look for: Besides the health of both teams, the use of Chicago’s fourth line which is a D-zone heavy line that can break even on possession. Ryan Miller’s play as he has turned into Ondrej Pavelec lately.
Essential GIF
via i.imgur.com
Anaheim Ducks
Injuries: Tim Jackman (hand)
Key Players: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Cam Fowler, Francois Beauchemin
SBNation Blog: Anaheim Calling
Dallas Stars
Injuries: Rich Peverly (heart), Brenden Dillon (LBI), Ray Whitney (LBI)
Key Players: Brenden Dillon, Alex Goligoski, Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin
SBNation Blog: Defending Big D
What to look for: The Dallas Stars to outshoot the Anaheim Ducks. Tyler Seguin to shoot above 2%. What goalie will start and finish the series for Anaheim? Bruce Boudreau offensive zone face-off loss puck recovery.
Essential GIF
Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche
Minnesota Wild
Injuries: Jason Zucker (knee/quad), Kyle Brodziak (body injury), Darcy Kuemper (LBI), Keith Ballard (groin), Mikael Granlund (UBI), Mike Rupp (body injury)
Key Players: Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, The Universe
SBNation Blog: Hockey Wilderness
Injuries: Matt Duchene (knee), John Mitchell (concussion), Tyson Barrie (UBI), Cody McLeaod (knee/ankle), Jan Hejda (UBI), Cory Sarich (back spasms)
Key Players: Semyon Varlamov, Paul Statsny, Jan Hejda, Nathan MacKinnon
SBNation Blog: Mile High Hockey
What to look for: Bad, exciting hockey. Two bad possession teams going head to head while suffering through injuries. This could very well turn into a battle of the Russian 'tenders with Ilya Brygalov going up again Semyon Varlamov.
Essential GIF
via gifrific.com
*Not all injury information reflects who will and will not play in the playoffs because it is the playoffs. All injury information from TSN.ca
Writer Predictions
The unscientific and completely non-stats based predictions of the writers of Arctic Ice Hockey. We all went Ken Holland and went with "gut analytics"! (Missing a couple of writers, sorry guys).
Team | Garret | TJ | Justin | Yaw Axis | Truck | Arby | Daniel | Terrell | Cara | Swervin‘ |
Boston | Win in 5 | Win in 5 | Win in 6 | Win in 5 | Win in 7 | Win in 5 | Win in 6 | Win in 7 | ||
Detroit | Win in 6 | Win in 7 | ||||||||
Pittsburgh | Win in 6 | Win in 5 | Win in 5 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Win in 5 | |||
Columbus | Win in 7 | Win in 7 | Win in 7 | |||||||
Tampa Bay | Win in 5 | Win in 6 | Win in 7 | Win in 7 | Win in 6 | |||||
Montreal | Win in 5 | Win in 6 | Win in 5 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | |||||
New York | Win in 5 | Win in 7 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Win in 5 | Win in 6 | |||
Philadelphia | Win in 7 | Win in 7 | Win in 7 | |||||||
Colorado | Win in 5 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Win in 7 | Win in 5 | |||||
Minnesota | Win in 7 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Win in 7 | Win in 7 | |||||
St. Louis | Win in 7 | |||||||||
Chicago | Win in 5 | Win in 7 | Win in 7 | Win in 6 | Win in 7 | Win in 7 | Win in 7 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | |
Anaheim | Win in 5 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Win in 5 | Win in 5 | Win in 5 | ||||
Dallas Stars | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | ||||||
Los Angeles | Win in 5 | Win in 5 | Win in 7 | Win in 6 | Win in 7 | |||||
San Jose | Win in 6 | Win in 6 | Lose in 5 | Lose in 7 | Win in 6 | Win in 7 | WIn in 6 |