Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
We’re blade deep in the first round of the NHL Playoffs, and hopefully your pool rosters and brackets are slotted neatly into the “so far so good” territory.
The timing of the start of Round One was a bit unfortunate, as some pairings weren’t finalized until after I wrote up our 2026 Fantasy Hockey Playoff Pool Review (try saying that one 5 times fast with a mouthful of ginger ale).
But guess what?! It’ll be a full report of the postseason dance partners today!
I’ll have each First Round matchup with updates and check-ins on our players I mentioned in the guide.
That means updates for all the Must Have skaters, and any of the Worth the Gamble or Under the Radar guys who need it.
Let’s go!
BUFFALO (A1) vs BOSTON (WC1)
Series tied 1-1.
I felt guilty for always leading with the East, so I almost put COL/LA here first, but I can say this is a natural nod for Viz’s chicken wing, tailgater-king, seeking-out-their-first-bling squad against my natural affinity for Fenway Pahk and caffeinated Dunkin’.
| PLAYER | GOALS | ASSISTS | POWERPLAY POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Pastrnak | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Tage Thompson | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Morgan Geekie | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Viktor Arvidsson | 2 | 0 | 0 |
This is the series I’ll be watching the most. And, to be honest, I kind of hate that one of these clubs will be out in just under two weeks.
Game 1 was a Jeremy Swayman through 2.5 periods, as the Sabres doubled up on the Bruins’ shots. Then, in a span of just 8 minutes after the midpoint of the 3rd period, Tage Thompson lit the KeyBank Center on fire.
Regular readers will know my appreciation for all that is Tage Thompson, so suffice it to say I had more than a few mental short circuits in that 3rd period.
Game 2 went much differently, and the Bs ran the table for most of the night. The good news is they didn’t fall apart again and managed to close it out with a 4-2 win.
Viz said he was happy to see the Sabres’ matchup against Boston instead of them playing Ottawa, and I told him I wanted Boston to face Buffalo rather than Carolina or Montreal, so one of us is going to be right. Unfortunately, that means one of us will be wrong, too.
I have Boston in 6. If the Bruins can play a full 60 minutes instead of 50 as they did in the first two games, the series might not be as close as it has been when they leave Massachusetts after Game 4.
TAMPA (A2) vs MONTREAL (A3)
Series tied 1-1.
“USA USA USA?” Uh…more like “SLA, SLA, SLA”. Like SLAfkovsky! Boom! High Five me!
But…don’t high-five Slafkovsky. Because one forceful hand motion could mean sleepytime if Game 2’s dance with Brandon Hagel is any indication of any future balance-challenged interactions.
HAGEL AND SLAFKOVSKY DROP THE GLOVES AND HAGEL DROPS SLAF WITH A SINGLE RIGHT 😱👊 pic.twitter.com/fuTEJTspLb
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 22, 2026
| PLAYER | GOALS | ASSISTS | POWERPLAY POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Guentzel | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Brandon Hagel | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Nick Suzuki | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Cole Caufield | 0 | 3 | 3 |
As Viz said, this series is an interesting one with two high-octane offenses facing off. I said it about the previous series, and it’s the same story here; the fact that one of these two teams will be out before the puck drops in Round 2 is a ridiculous loss. But, hey, we get those super-important first-round geographic rivalries like Quebec and Florida, right, Gary Bettman? Smh.
Well, the USA chants backfired on the Tampa fans in Game 1’s OT loss, but the final in Game 2 tilted the right way for Bolts fans. A 3-2 OT win evens up the series before the guys head up north to Montreal for Games 3 and 4.
That said, I did take Montreal in 6 games.
CAROLINA (M1) vs OTTAWA (WC2)
Carolina leads 2-0.
| PLAYER | GOALS | ASSISTS | POWERPLAY POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Hall | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Logan Stankoven | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Jackson Blake | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Jake Sanderson | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jordan Staal | 0 | 1 | 0 |
I don’t know if you saw the viral Senators song that some fans put together. I’ll save you the trouble of searching for it.
Looking for a hockey version of the Super Bowl Shuffle? Well, this is not that. But it is a Slim Shady-inspired “song” from Ottawa Senators fans… so bad it must be consumed. pic.twitter.com/0lYmujBBE6
— Damon Amendolara (@DamonAmendo) April 18, 2026
The good news is the Sens aren’t as bad as anything in that video. The bad news? They weren’t much better. Even the premeditated scrap between Jordan Staal and Brady Tkachuk at the start of Game 1 didn’t go their way.
The Canes didn’t exactly blow through Ottawa in the first two games, but if the Sens get pushed out without winning a couple of games, I expect Ullmark to get as much blame as Tkachuk will, even though the OT loss in Game 2 wasn’t his fault (he faced 49 shots).
Oh, and if you’re wondering if I spelled “Jason” Blake wrong there when I typed Jackson, don’t forget to take your old folks’ pills (yes, that’s his dad).
Carolina in 5.
PITTSBURGH (M2) vs PHILADELPHIA (M3)
Philly leads 2-0.
| PLAYER | GOALS | ASSISTS | POWERPLAY POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evgeni Malkin | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Rasmus Ristolainen | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Christian Dvorak | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Garnet Hathaway | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Travis Konecny | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Porter Martone | 2 | 0 | 0 |
I thought the Penguins would roll right through the Flyers in 4 games, so this is a pretty big flub. Then again, I wasn’t about to put Rasmus Ristolainen and Christian Dvorak in the “Must Have” draft section in last week’s guide, so take this for what it is.
Sid is back, but wasn’t part of the scoring in either of the first two games. I’m guessing he’ll be ready to kick it up a notch tomorrow in Game 3 (7:00 PM ET). Malkin picking up the slack wasn’t a surprise, but the Pens will need both of their stars to drive the offense, or they’ll end up in a big hole by Thursday morning.
This series is a big whiff by me already. I had Pittsburgh in 4. (Sorry, Dan Vladar).
Now for the West!
COLORADO (C1) vs LOS ANGELES (WC2)
Colorado leads 1-0 (final edit before the end of Game 2).
| PLAYER | GOALS | ASSISTS | POWERPLAY POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nathan McKinnon | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Cale Makar | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Artemi Panarin | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The Western Conference is going to be pretty clear (outside of the MIN/DAL series). The Kings made it a close game in Game 1 (2-1 COL), and were playing tight through the first intermission in Game 2 last night as well.
I think LA takes one game in the series, but isn’t strong enough to hold off the waves of pressure from the Avs throughout the series. Colorado in 5.
DALLAS (C2) vs MINNESOTA (C3)
Series tied 1-1.
| PLAYER | GOALS | ASSISTS | POWERPLAY POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joel Eriksson Ek | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Mats Zuccarello | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Quinn Hughes | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Matt Boldy | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Brock Faber | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Wyatt Johnston | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Miro Heiskanen | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Jason Robertson | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Two games in the books in this series, and it’s going just as a lot of us predicted. The firepower is on full display with 13 goals scored (total) so far. Heading into last night’s games, our top two playoff scorers were Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov. I assume we’re going to 7 games with this series, so there should be plenty of time for the top scorers to add to their totals.
I’m happy to see Wyatt Johnston on the list, and Brock Faber’s playoff coming-out party is off to a good start, too. Matt Duchene with a couple of points means Don Cherry is smiling somewhere.
If you’re playing any DFS nights, I’d check on guys like Heiskanen and Duchene as cheaper-priced adds.
It’s close enough that I have Dallas in 7 in the Razzball bracket Challenge, but Minnesota in 7 in all of my other playoff (team) pools.
VEGAS (P1) vs UTAH (WC1)
Vegas leads 1-0 (final edit before the end of Game 2).
| PLAYER | GOALS | ASSISTS | POWERPLAY POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colton Sissons | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Noah Hanifin | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Mark Stone | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Mitch Marner | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Logan Cooley | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Logan Crouse | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Eichel | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Mark Stone is back to being a power-play threat, and Marner and Eichel are starting to chip in helpers. The Mammoth have a really cool Zamboni, but I don’t know if they have enough defense (and offense) to slow down the Knights and put up any real threat of an upset.
I didn’t give Utah enough credit, but I did say they’ll win one game. Vegas in 5 was my pick.
EDMONTON (P2) vs ANAHEIM (P3)
Edmonton leads 1-0.
| PLAYER | GOALS | ASSISTS | POWERPLAY POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Troy Terry | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Jason Dickinson | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Leon Draisaitl | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Kasperi Kapanen | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jake Walman | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Vasily Podkolzin | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Leo Carlsson | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Ah, there we go. Troy Terry and Jason Dickinson are leading the scoring in this series, just as we expected.
I’m going to assume that Oilers fans don’t care who is scoring, as long as their German juggernaut, Leon Draisaitl, is healthy. Edmonton said all along that he’d be back for Game 1, and it looks like the LTIR concerns (lower-body) are a thing of the past.
It’s nice to see my “Under-the-radar” guys putting up some numbers. And the resurrection of Leo Carlsson is a welcome sight for Ducks fans.
I would’ve liked to have given Anaheim one win here, but I didn’t. Edmonton in 4.
That’s all for this week! I’ll be back next Wednesday with playoff news, numbers, and notes heading into Round 2. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and I’ll get back to you ASAP. Viz will be back on Friday.
Happy Wednesday, and I’ll see you next week!
Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social
