Friday Four: Biggest questions ahead of Stanley Cup Playoffs

It’s the most wonderful time of the year if you’re a hockey fan — and perhaps the most stressful if your favourite team is participating in the festivities that are the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The regular season is a long grind, and even if you’re one of the top 16 teams that qualify for the post-season, just about everyone has flaws at this point of the year. If you plan to go on a long run deep into the spring, you have to be able to hide, and oftentimes overcome, those flaws.

Take the Pittsburgh Penguins as an example. The Pens lost No. 1 defenceman Kris Letang just before the 2017 playoffs, but rallied to a Stanley Cup victory on the back of a blue line that was missing its top performer anyway.

Injuries are one of the biggest issues at this time of year, but they aren’t the only challenge teams are facing. Maybe one of your key players is struggling mightily heading into the post-season? What if you have to rely on an inexperienced skater for key minutes? Everyone will try to mask any issues they are dealing with and will hope to answer any questions when the puck drops on Saturday.

Let’s look at four major questions heading into this year’s post-season.

These Ottawa Senators are a good representation of the importance of goaltending.

For a good stretch of the season, it appeared the Sens were destined to miss the playoffs because they couldn’t get a save. Despite having good underlying numbers, Ottawa was tied for last in the Eastern Conference on Jan. 12 thanks to some subpar goaltending. For the season, Ullmark has an .891 save percentage and ranks 89th among 96 goalies in goals saved above expected this season.

The veteran netminder also had a save percentage below .900 in every month except April, which unsurprisingly coincided with Ottawa’s march up the standings. Ullmark has been stellar this month, posting a .926 save percentage and eight quality starts in his past 13 outings. Thanks to Ullmark’s improved play, the Senators were one of the hottest teams down the stretch, losing just five times in regulation over their past 22 games. That’s going to make them a tough matchup for the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round if Ullmark can keep rolling.

When Ullmark has struggled, though, it’s been really bad. Even with his improved play of late, the Sens still rank 31st in the league in save percentage. Only the last-place Vancouver Canucks were worse. And during this hot stretch, Ullmark still proved he’s capable of a bad outing. He gave up five goals in the first period in a late-March game against the Florida Panthers and was promptly pulled. Games like that are magnified come playoff time, and a similar outing against the Canes at the wrong time in Round 1 could be too much for the Sens to come back from.

One thing Ottawa has done well is support Ullmark between the pipes. The Senators have allowed the second-fewest shots per game this season at 24.4, as Ullmark has faced fewer than 25 shots 11 times over the final two months of the season. If Ullmark plays the way he did down the stretch, the Sens are capable of beating anybody. But if he slips back into inconsistency, their stay in the playoffs could be a short one.

Do the Oilers have enough depth to get back to the Cup Final?

Make no mistake, the Edmonton Oilers are only going to go as far as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl take them. But despite incredible performances from both over the past two post-seasons, the Oilers have fallen just short of their ultimate goal. That means they’re going to need more contributions from the rest of the roster.

Evan Bouchard has really stepped up this year, finishing with 95 points. Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also provide good secondary scoring, but what about after that? Corey Perry, Connor Brown and Evander Kane, who combined for 21 goals in last year’s playoffs, have all departed. They’ve been replaced by the likes of Trent Frederic and Curtis Lazar, who have struggled to do anything offensively all season, combining for just eight goals and 13 points. Then there’s Adam Henrique, who has just one goal in his past 57 games. Jack Roslovic was an excellent acquisition, so there’s going to be a lot of pressure on him, as well as on 22-year-old Matt Savoie, to step up and deliver this spring.

Compounding matters is the fact that Draisaitl has missed the past few weeks with an injury and could miss the start of the Oilers’ opening-round series. Even if he is ready, Draisaitl may not be 100 per cent. Not only that, but the goaltending is again a major concern, as the Tristan Jarry trade failed to solve Edmonton’s issues between the pipes. Connor Ingram has taken over and stabilized things a bit of late as the Oilers have allowed two goals or less in eight of their past 11 games.

If Edmonton starts having issues keeping the puck out of its net again, it’s going to be a lot tougher to outscore its problems this time around with a lack of secondary offence.

There’s never a good time for an injury, but it’s especially problematic right before the playoffs.

That’s what the Montreal Canadiens are dealing with when it comes to Dobson, who very well could miss their first-round series versus the Tampa Bay Lightning with an injury. Dobson is a massive loss for the Habs, as he’s one of the league’s best shot blockers and a pillar on the right side of the Canadiens defence. He also plays more than two minutes per game on the Montreal penalty kill.

Dobson isn’t the only right-handed shot blue liner that’s been sidelined. Alexandre Carrier has been on the shelf as well, though it does appear like he’ll be ready for Game 1. With Dobson ailing, we could see the inexperienced David Reinbacher make an appearance at some point in the series. Reinbacher is a talented prospect and a former fifth-overall pick, but he only has two career games to his credit. It wouldn’t be ideal for Reinbacher to be getting acclimated to the NHL with Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel and company barreling down on him on a nightly basis.

Without Dobson, there’s also going to be more pressure on the shoulders of Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle, as well as even more responsibility for someone like Nick Suzuki in the defensive zone. The Canadiens will all have to be dialled into the details, as Tampa can make you pay and exploit any weaknesses in your defensive coverage.

Will the Hurricanes finally get over the hump?

If there is one team breathing the biggest sigh of relief not seeing the Florida Panthers in the playoffs this year, it’s the Hurricanes.

The Canes have been taken down by the Panthers in two of the past three conference finals, winning just one game total. Carolina could be a heavy favourite to come out of the East this year without Florida participating. The Hurricanes have seven different 20-goal scorers, another six in double digits and four players who have exceeded 60 points. Few teams can rival the way they spread out their offence.

One of those talents up front includes Nik Ehlers, who posted a career-high 71 points. There was some concern about whether Ehlers would be able to excel offensively in Carolina, a team that’s very structured and spreads out its ice time. Instead, Ehlers has made the most of his 16:36 per game and has given the Canes an added dynamic they’ve been missing in the past.

If there’s one Achilles heel Carolina will have to overcome, it’s goaltending. The Canes have a combined .886 save percentage this season, just 26th in the league. Frederik Andersen is having the worst statistical season of his career and Brandon Bussi is still very inexperienced. Meanwhile, Pyotr Kochetkov, who was once thought lost for the season, is trying to work his way back from a hip injury and remains a question mark.

Just because the roadblock that is the Panthers won’t be there this time around doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for the Canes. If their goalies get outplayed by Ullmark in the opening round, they could run into major issues with a Senators team that’s primed for an upset.