2025 NHL Playoffs: Round 2 Previews
Second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs underway and we are here in Toronto with your fourth period playoff coverage. I’m your host Kate Patterson joined by Dave Pota and tonight we saw the Maple Leafs take a one- nothing series lead with a 5-4 win over the Panthers. But Dave, that’s not the story tonight. It’s the Sam Bennett elbow to Anthony Stolars. He leaves the game. Joseph Wall comes in and gets the job done. But we’re hearing that Stallars may have headed to the hospital. What’s the update there? Yeah, that’s what it sounds like. Craig Rubé um was very direct in his comments with respect to what had happened. He said it was clear as day, an elbow to the head on Anthony Stolars, then that followed up afterwards um with that little knee and then he had to leave the game. Uh we we saw he had to release some some additional tension, I guess. I don’t want to make light of the situation um at all, but you know, by the bench, that was kind of the indicator that they needed to take him out. Joseph Wall comes in and there was word um and we had some additional confirmation afterwards that Stlars was taken to the hospital on a stretcher in an ambulance uh during the third period. So the teammates didn’t even know by the time the game ended that that had been the case. But he’s being further evaluated as of this moment as we’re doing this to make sure he’s you know good to go. But if it is indeed a concussion, um I mean the likelihood of him playing after going to the hospital and vomiting on the bench in game two is is slim. So, you know, for the Leafs, they have to get past that. The uh as as Buru said, the league will do whatever it needs to do to evaluate the situation on their end. But the players were talking about how they were focused on the game. They added some physicality to the mix and they got a one- nothing series lead in this one. And what we saw from Florida in the third period is likely what we’re going to see moving forward in this one. This series far from over. All right. Well, in the East, it continues tomorrow with the Caps and the Canes. You’ve got Alex Ovuchkin. You’ve got Logan Thompson who was great in the first round. Freddy Anderson goes down in game four, doesn’t play in game five. What are the keys for Carolina and what’s the key for Washington? Because it looks like they’re in a good position here heading into this series. Yeah, certainly. I mean, both teams feeling comfortable, feeling confident going into the second round. Uh Freddy Anderson feeling confident as well, not just health-wise, but he’s got a one-year extension on top of it. And he’ll be the guy that they’re going to lean on and and go to, but also the physicality that Carolina can bring. Expect a lot from Brett Burns. Expect a lot from Seth Jarvis in this one to kind of set the tone physically against a very skilled Washington Capitals club that can also retaliate from the physical aspect as well. Well, Tom Wilson did a fantastic job in the first round against Montreal. You utilizing his body, but doing it without crossing the line, and we’ve seen a little bit of maturity out of the 30 plus goal scorer now this season for the Caps. They’re going to utilize him. They’re going to lean on him. They’re going to lean certainly on Alex Ovetkin in this one. Is the skill going to be able to get past the defensive minded hurricane squad? That’s what we’ll have to wait and see. All right. Well, another game tomorrow night is in the West. We’ve got the Oilers and Vegas. This is the second time they’re meeting in three years. Now, we know what happened the last time is Vegas went on to win the cup, but all the talk is about containing McDavid and Dry Cidle. What does Vegas need to do aside from that? And where do you think Edmonton needs to improve from what we saw when they clawed their way back into it after being down two nothing? Yeah, they really did. And they utilize, speaking of physicality, they utilized their physicality in this one. They had some of their grittier players contributing. Vander Kane did really well coming back from his injury all season, not playing for the regular season. Coming in uh in that one, he was a factor. Trent Frederick was a factor as well. They utilize some of their depth pieces to get past the LA Kings. You can certainly argue the Kings overall were the better team, but kudos obviously due to uh excuse me, due for the Edmonton Oilers for getting past that, taking advantage of certain uh opportunities and circumstances. Vegas a different beast. They managed to get past Minnesota in a series that I think a lot of people thought might have been easier for them, myself included. Uh but they’re going to lean on that. They’re going to have to contain obviously McDavid and Dry Cidle as best they can, but a different type of beast than what we saw with the LA Kings in that first round. Vegas is is a little bit deeper. They’re a lot more experienced. They got a lot of guys with rings on that club. Uh, and they’re going to utilize that to their advantage. This is a much tougher opponent, I think, for Edmonton, but I think we’re in for one heck of a exciting series. Yeah. And the last one, you’ve got to talk about the way the Dallas Stars played in the first round. They’re going to get a couple of pieces back. It may not be for game one, but we’re expecting to see Hasten back and Robertson. And then over on the other side, you’ve got the Winnipeg Jets, Connor Halabuk. He struggled on the road. They clawed their way back, can double overtime to win game seven. So, what do you need to see from both of this teams? And who do you think is has the edge here? Well, I mean, uh, if we take some analysis from Nathan McKinnon, uh, after that series, he indicated that the Stars managed to beat them without their best defenseman, Heiskinan, and without their be their their their top scorer in uh, Robertson. So, a tougher opponent for Winnipeg. Certainly, a lot more potency from the Dallas Stars in this one once they become fully healthy. We don’t know the full extent as of the time we’re doing this of the health of Josh Moresy, of Mark Schiffley. Not having either of those two in the lineup will be tough certainly for the Jets to get back. But Hellbuck, look, the Winnipeg Jets won in the first round. They got through it. Hellabuk ended up getting through it. Doesn’t matter how you win as long as you win. Doesn’t have to be pretty. It wasn’t for Winnipeg, but they moved past it. They can build off that confidence and utilize that against the Dallas Stars. Again, a much tougher opponent, much more skilled opponent than St. Louis. Dallas is going to come at them with everything they’ve got. And if Mico Ranton continues to play at a pace in which he did in games five, six, and seven, I don’t know if the Jets can contain that. All right. Well, we’ll have to wait and see, but we’ve got a lot of hockey coming up over the next two days as we roll right into the second round. Thanks for watching our playoff coverage here on the fourth period. I’m your host, Kate Patterson, and as always, Dave Pota bringing us some great insight here in Toronto from Scotia Bank Arena.
David Pagnotta & @kpettersen report from Toronto and recap Game 1 of the Maple Leafs second-round matchup with the Florida Panthers, and then preview the remaining three series in Round 2 between the Washington Capitals & Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas Golden Knights & Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets & Dallas Stars.
