1 Word for Every 2024 NHL Playoff Team So Far

Round 2 of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs has officially commenced, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are nowhere to be found.

Sorry, Leafs fans, but at least you're in some good company with the Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning also eliminated.

So far, the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders have shown us they are who we thought they were (hooray for negative goal differentials), and the Boston Bruins have somehow turned into a feelgood underdog-ish story with their 5-1, Round 2 win to open things up with the Florida Panthers.

The New York Rangers are also winning the heavyweight Metropolitan Division battle with a 2-0 series lead on the Carolina Hurricanes.

Here's one word for every playoff team so far.

The whole hockey world was watching last Saturday as the Bruins blew a second consecutive 3-1 Round 1 lead and faced the Maple Leafs in another Game 7.

This one felt a little different for that reason and also knowing the Leafs advanced to Round 2 via the Tampa Bay Lightning last season.

However, the Bruins finished overtime early through David Pastrňák for a 2-1 win and safe passage to the second round.

Boston head coach head coach Jim Montgomery said:

"Last year was such an empty feeling, us having to go to a Game 7, having to go to overtime. It was the exact same, but you could feel there was a big difference in our room all night long. Going into overtime, I said to the staff: 'We've gone to overtime in the playoffs four times now, and we didn't feel like we were going to seize the moment. I've never felt this confident about our group going into overtime.' You could just tell there was a difference in our attitude."

Montgomery also said what was on all of our minds: Goaltender Jeremy Swayman was the best Bruins player of Round 1.

They decided to stick with the 25-year-old for Round 2 despite Linus Ullmark's solid numbers against the Panthers.

How did that work out? A 5-1 win on the road in the opening game of the series, and Swayman stopped 38 of 39 shots. He's now allowed three goals or fewer in each of his seven starts.

According to MoneyPuck.com, he's got the two best single-game performances of any goaltender in the playoffs right now: Game 1 vs. Toronto with 3.35 goals saved above expected in a 5-1 win, and Game 1 vs. Florida with 2.88 goals saved above expected.

Nothing builds confidence like having a confident goalie to rely on, and Swayman is the guy.

The Hurricanes have spent the last half-decade becoming a perennial playoff team, but now that the window's been opened wide, simply making the playoffs is no longer good enough.

They were again one of the best teams of the regular season, they acquired Jake Guentzel and got even better, and then came the playoffs.

There were a few concerning moments in terms of faceoffs and "little things" plays in Round 1, but they ultimately beat the Islanders pretty easily, surrendering only one game in double overtime.

They're off to a rougher start in Round 2, down 0-2 in the series to the Presidents' Trophy-winning Rangers.

The Hurricanes need to be at their best to get past New York, and they're hurting without top defenseman Brett Pesce. Tuesday night's double-overtime loss was a tough blow, especially handed to them by former Cane Vincent Trocheck.

It's still a series, but if the Hurricanes don't advance to the Eastern Conference Final, they aren't living up to the expectations they finally have.

These Colorado Avalanche have been there before, and no lead is safe with them around.

We saw it throughout Round 1 when the high-scoring outings shifted to their end to ultimately outscore the Jets 28-15.

We saw it immediately in Game 1 of the second round, when the Avalanche erased a 3-0 first-period deficit to grind their way back up and win it in overtime.

You need to be on high alert at all times around Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon and his squad, even if they play with their food in the beginning of the game.

The Dallas Stars have been the most complete team in the NHL for a while now, with lines and lines full of scoring and matchup nightmares that make them an opponent no one wants to face.

In the first round of this year's playoffs, they stayed patient and took down the Vegas Golden Knights in seven games despite an early series deficit.

They're not a typical deep playoff team with the one hero who's going to come up for them more often than not, but someone always just seems to step up in the nick of time.

Will it be the same story against the Avalanche in Round 2? They already looked pretty rattled in the last two periods and overtime against Colorado in the opener, but it was only one game.

Much like in the regular season, the Oilers' stars are topping the playoff scoring charts after Round 1.

Connor McDavid is leading all playoff skaters with 12 points (11 assists) in five games. Leon Draisaitl is right behind him with three goals and 10 points in five games, and Zach Hyman is tied with Valeri Nichushkin leading all skaters with seven goals in five games.

You don't want to stray too far from what made you successful in the regular season, so it's a great sign for Edmonton fans that the playoffs have been business as usual for the high-octane Oilers.

They're heavy favorites headed into the second-round series against the Canucks for a reason. If they just continue the explosive offense and outscore any potential problems Stuart Skinner is posing in net, they'll be fine.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice is one of the best quotes in the league. He's candid, funny and clearly passionate about his group.

Aaron Ekblad had a particularly rough Game 1 against the Bruins on Monday, as three of Boston's even-strength goals were scored with him on the ice and happened after errors he was a part of. This is part of the deal when you're a top defenseman eating big minutes.

Maurice's postgame comments were the latest example of how to correctly rally your troops without mincing words.

"He's a Florida Panther and I love every bit of him," he said. "He will be better next game."

Not many expected the Panthers to go down so easily to start this series, but they won't be panicking at all under Maurice.

I'm here for any team that wants to step up and make the playoff field more interesting. But every time I was coming around to believing, it was like the Los Angeles Kings forgot how to win. The same thing happened in the playoffs.

At their best, they are a tight squad with a sound even-strength game. But they make it difficult for themselves and have to grind it out in a way that isn't particularly conducive to winning against the league's best.

It's not all doom and gloom, and there are positive things to build off, including the rise of Quinton Byfield.

However, it's safe to say the Pierre-Luc Dubois experiment didn't work. The Kings should buy him out, despite GM Rob Blake's comments, seek out a few snipers and get back at it.

I've been clamoring for the Predators to blow it up for nearly half a decade now. New GM Barry Trotz deserves credit for not doing that and keeping Juuse Saros and outscoring cheap yet effective scoring help while Nashville was surging.

They played the Canucks respectably and close in the first round. They turned their regular season around and made things interesting.

On one hand, they were a first-round exit again and won't get a high draft pick or go on a long playoff run, but Trotz earns credit for giving the group a chance, and the group buckling down with a sharp defensive second half and first round.

Turns out the New York Islanders were what we thought they were all along: A hard-working group that needs a few more talented pieces.

The complexion of the team changed drastically when Patrick Roy came in as head coach, and even then it was only enough for one playoff win, which took two overtimes.

The Islanders were trying everything and winning plenty of faceoffs and board battles, and it just wasn't going to happen.

It's time for management to give the core some help and make it a little easier for a team that is giving its all and coming up short.

Does it matter if you score most of your goals on the man advantage if the goals keep coming? It shouldn't.

These Rangers have mastered the art of being good and using their strengths to their advantage, and boy, do they have a lot of strengths.

Igor Shesterkin is back in elite form in net. The power play, of course, is clicking. But so is even strength these days, as is 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick Alexis Lafrenière and bottom-six forwards such as Barclay Goodrow.

Lafrenière's two goals Tuesday led the Rangers as they climbed to a 2-0 series lead over the Hurricanes.

It's hard to imagine this group of Lightning players returning to the form that won them 11 straight playoff series from 2020-2022 before the Avalanche won the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.

They've been hanging around and making the playoffs, but two consecutive first-round exits paired with captain Steven Stamkos' contract uncertainty feels like the beginning of the end.

They've reached the dreaded franchise position where they're still good enough to make the playoffs but no one is expecting them to have a deep run and their prospect/draft pick pool is looking bleak.

What they do with Stamkos will be a huge indicator of how they're going to navigate their new era.

The Leafs failed to follow up their trip to the second round last season with another step in the right direction this year.

They had an amazing regular season with career highs from William Nylander and 69 goals from Auston Matthews, but the story ended in a fashion the core is all too familiar with: Another Game 7 overtime loss and another first-round exit.

We can debate until we're blue in the face about who is to blame: The core four and their almost impossible-to-live-up-to-contract stipulations, the revolving door of supporting cast, the general lack of defense, the not-clutch-enough goaltending, the coach. But you get the sense it's a bit of everything at fault, and one of the most simple solutions is moving some of these players.

The scapegoat of the day Mitch Marner has one year left on his $10.9 AAV contract after this season, but you have to wonder if his no-movement clause will cause the Leafs problems.

No matter what happens from here on out, you get the feeling we'll look back on this run as the last fatal blow to the "core four" as changes in Toronto loom.

The Vegas Golden Knights have formed an identity around going for it, whatever "it" is at the given moment. This season, they had the biggest trade deadline in the league, acquiring Noah Hanifin, Tomas Hertl and Anthony Mantha.

Perhaps with all of the LTIR talk, we forgot that the Knights needed major help at the deadline, as the defending champions were fighting for a spot in the playoffs.

Of course, in dramatic flair, Mark Stone came back and immediately scored in Game 1. The Vegas-Dallas matchup and all of its Pete DeBoer lore is historically a bit of a nightmare for the Stars, so things were looking ugly.

In the end, the most complete team in the league beat out the most dramatic. Vegas didn't go down without a fight despite issues that were plaguing it all season, though the LTIR drama was distracting us from those issues.

The Canucks weren't perfect in Round 1, but that's never been their thing.

They've thrived on finding ways to win, comebacks, good vibes and different individuals stepping up at various times.

They've now gone through three different goalies after Thatcher Demko got hurt. Third-string Arturs Silvos had the third-best performance of any goalie this playoffs with 2.67 goals saved above expected as the Canucks closed the series out, according to Sport Logiq via Sportsnet.

They seem galvanized by some magical moments like that and Brock Boeser's hat trick. While the Oilers are a heavy favorite this series, don't count out a team as resilient as the Canucks, especially with a new, mysterious goalie up their sleeve.

Turns out the team that squeaked into the playoffs with a negative 37-goal differential was pretty bad, especially against the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers.

There were barely any glimmers of hope throughout this series as the Capitals got swept. Alex Ovechkin was held without a point, and T.J. Oshie's future is in question. Not even up-and-coming goalie Charlie Lindgren could win them a game.

The good news? No one expected some Cinderella run out of this team. Coach Spencer Carbery seems well-equipped to usher in a new generation of Capitals hockey, and there are some enticing younger players and prospects coming up.

The problem with your goaltender being far-and-away your best player year after year, is you're a bit screwed if a team happens to solve him.

Although we're all still reeling from the chaos that was Jets-Avalanche in Round 1, Connor Hellebuyck being hung out to dry emerges as the No. 1 reason Winnipeg again failed to advance past the first round.

The Winnipeg Jets need more players who can consistently put up more points and score more goals. It's tough, because they've made strides in this way, acquiring Nino Niederreiter, Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli who all have been effective at certain points. Perhaps they need more consistency out of the players they already have.

The Jets also need perhaps one more top-four defenseman who can help Hellebuyck, as the opposition is peppering him.