NHL Playoff bracket based off of statistics: Round 1

The NHL playoffs are always an exciting time with games getting more intense and fans making brackets in order to predict the winners of said games. There is no way to make a perfect bracket, but with statistics, brackets can be made more accurately. I am going to create a bracket based off of statistics to show the way they play a role in wins and losses.

The first matchup is the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are 54-21-7 this season and have a total of 115 points. The Tampa Bay Lighting are 51-23-8 and have 110 points. This year, in the 4 matchups between these two teams, each team won two games, and one of the Leaf’s wins was in overtime. The goalie matchup with these two teams is similar, yet Campbell has been very inconsistent this year and Vasilevsky has been an award winning goalie for many seasons, including winning two Stanley Cups in back to back years. To make sense of these statistics, they show that the lighting have won the same amount vs the leafs this year, yet the overtime loss counts better for the lightning. The leafs have also not won a playoff series in 18 years, while the lightning are coming off of a back to back championship wins. The lightning have also recently acquired Brandon Hagel, who will add depth and skill to the already skilled team they have.

Winner prediction: Lightning

Next is the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes. The bruins are 51-25-5 with 107 points this season and the hurricanes are 50-20-8 this season with 116 points. This year these two teams have matched up 3 times with the hurricanes winning each one of these contests. Including an injury to starting goalie for the hurricanes, Fredrik Andersen, the goalie matchup for these two teams is pretty even . The hurricanes have a good chance of winning this series including the fact that the three wins this season the hurricanes won by either a shutout or by 6 goals. The hurricanes also have 9 more points than the bruins this year.

Winner prediction: Hurricanes

Next up is the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New York Rangers. The rangers are 52-24-6 this season with 110 points and the penguins are 46-25-11 with 103 points. In the four matchups this season, the rangers have won 3 of the, and the only loss was by one goal. The goaltending in this contest is also swayed toward the rangers with Shesterkin being in net. Shesterkin has had an amazing season and is playing very consistently as per usual. In addition to the rangers being ahead in these ways, the penguins have many injuries during this playoff run including the two starting goalies and some other key pieces to the team including Rakell and Zucker. Due to all of these statistics and how the rangers have shown they are better this season, they have a better chance at winning this series.

Winning prediction: Rangers

Last from the east are the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals. This year the panthers are 58-18-6 with a total of 122 points and the capitals are 44-26-12 with a total of 100 points. This year in the 3 games these two teams competed in, the panthers won two of them and lost the other game by one goal. The goaltending is pretty even for these two teams and it is just apparent that the better team in this matchup is the panthers. The panthers have won 14 more games total this season and have 22 more points.

Winning prediction: Panthers

From the west, first we have the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings. The oilers are 49-27-6 on the season and have a total of 104 points. The kings are 44-27-11 on the season and have a total of 99 points. This year the oilers have won three out of the four games played between the two teams and the only loss was on December 5th, which was the first game played between the two. The most recent game, on April 7th was won by the oilers to show the most recent data on the team. The oilers have 5 more points than the kings this season and have won 5 more games in regulation. From the kings, a key piece Drew Doughty is also injuring leading the oilers to have another slight advantage in addition to the goalie matchup also being swayed towards the kings.

Winning prediction: Oilers

Next up from the west is the Minnesota Wild and the Saint Louis Blues. The wild are 53-22-7 with 13 points this season and the blues are 49-22-11 with 109 points. In the three games played between these two teams, the blues have won all three but only by one goal twice and by two goals once. The goaltending this series is highly in favor of the wild with the newly acquired Mark Andre-Fleury. The wild also have 4 more points this season than the blues and have 4 more wins in regulation. This matchup is extremely close, but with the statistics of Fleury, and the amount of points from the wild they have an opportunity to win.

Winning prediction: Wild

The next matchup is the Colorado Avalanche and the Nashville Predators. The avalanche are 56-19-7 this season with a total of 119 points. The predators are 45-30-7 this season with only 97 points. In the four games played this season, the predators have won 3 of them, but one was on overtime which included terrible officiating and the other was in a shootout. With Nashville’s goalie out with an injury, the avalanche dominate on the terms of goaltending with Darcy Kuemper being in net. Overall, the avalanche have 22 more points than the predators and have won 11 more games than them.

Winning prediction: Avalanche

Last up is the Calgary Flames and the Dallas Stars. The flames are 50-21-11 this season with 11 points and the stars are 46-30-6 with 98 points. In the three matchups between these teams this season, the flames won two of them and only lost one game in overtime. The goalie matchup with these two teams favor the flames with Markstrom as starting goalie who has had an amazing and consistent season compared to the stars goalie Oettinger who has been less consistent this season with worse stats. The flames also have a great new addition to the team with Tyler Tiffoli who went all the way to the championships last season.

Winning prediction: Flames

I will be back next round to use statistics to decide winners of the second round, but for now we will see how these predictions play out!