Playoffs

The Chicago Blackhawks took home the Stanley Cup in 2015, taking the series 4 to 2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and advanced through the playoffs, coming up short against the St. Louis Blues just last year. But, much to the surprise of ESPN’s prognosticators, this year the No. 8 seed Nashville Predators swept the Hawks right out of the series. And Gnash, the Predators’ mascot, isn’t about to let ESPN forget it.

A bar on Chicago’s Southwest Side is most assuredly not jumping on the Chicago Cubs bandwagon despite the fact that the north siders won a smashing Wild Card victory and head to the NLDS to face the St. Louis Cardinals. In fact, the bar is going the opposite way by offering free drinks for every Cardinals homer.

Come back, Steve Bartman, all is forgiven. That’s the motivation of one “lifelong Cubs fan” who has created a GoFundMe page to raise money to send Bartman, the ostensible villain of the 2003 playoffs, to the upcoming wild-card game between the Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

With a wave of renewed criticism about the wild-card playoffs in Major League Baseball, Commissioner Rob Manfred seems poised to attempt to tweak the rules.

The Tampa Bay Lightning completely skated over the New York Rangers, 6-2, on Monday night. The series heads to Florida tied at 1-1.

The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 to take a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals.

The New York Rangers grabbed a 1-0 series lead with a solid 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Rangers won by one goal in all 13 of playoff games.

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. They will either face the New York Rangers or Washington Capitals.

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin took a page out of Joe Namath and Mark Messier’s book after his team lost to the New York Rangers on Sunday. He guaranteed the Capitals will win in Game 7 on Wednesday and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Chicago Blackhawks head to their fifth conference finals in the last seven years after a four game sweep of the Minnesota Wild. The team owns two championships in that time. Can they make it a third? They will first have to defeat either the Anaheim Ducks or the Calgary Flames.

What is it with teams in the playoffs that lead in shots on goal, but lose the game? The New York Rangers outshot the Washington Capitals, but lost 1-0 due to goalie Braden Holtby’s amazing play. The Capitals lead the series 2-1.

The Washington Capitals finally succeeded in a Game 7. They defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 to advance to the second round against the New York Rangers. It was an amazing game mainly because the referees allowed the players to

The Minnesota Wild defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-1 to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They will faceoff against the Chicago Blackhawks next week.

There is a major reason why Carey Price is expected to win the Vezina Trophy for best goaltending. The Canadiens goaltender again proved his worth as he shut out the Ottawa Senators 2-0 to advance Montreal to the second round.

The Calgary Flames also advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a come-from-behind defeat of the Vancouver Canucks, 7-4. They will face the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center where the Flames currently hold a 20-game losing streak.

The New York Islanders forced a Game 7 with their 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.

The New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime to capture the series and move to the second round. They will play the winner of the New York Islanders-Washington Capitals series.

The Anaheim Ducks proved their worthiness with a sweep of the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday night. The sweep allows the Ducks to rest before they face off against the Vancouver Canucks or Calgary Flames in the second round.

A group of Washington Capitals fans from New York City experienced a horrible time at the New York Islanders/Capitals game on Sunday. Their team lost the game, but the group claims that Islanders fans vandalized their cars, shouted racial slurs at them, and were overall downright rude.

The New York Islanders defeated the Washington Capitals in overtime, 2-1, after dominating over 99% of the game.

After a disappointing show in the first game, the Penguins proved Saturday night that they will not make it easy for the top-seeded Rangers to advance to the second round.

Two huge changes are coming up in the Nashville Predators-Chicago Blackhawks playoff series.

The second game between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens did not possess the drama of the first, but it was just as exciting and physical. Alex Galchenyuk scored in overtime to lift the Canadiens to a 2-0 series lead.

Nothing beats the NHL playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators game proved just that with an exciting, action-packed Game One. In the first period, Abdrei Markov accidentally scored on his own goal to give the Senators a 1-0 lead.

In defeating the Los Angeles Kings last Thursday, the Calgary Flames clinched a playoff spot for the first time in six years and eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champions all in one game.

The dark horse in the Eastern Conference might be the Ottawa Senators, who clinched a spot when they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1. They were 14 points out of a playoff spot on February 10 with five teams ahead of them.