HabsWorld Predicts: 2026 Playoffs – Round 2, Part 1

The NHL bumped up the start to the second round with a series where both teams have never met before in the playoffs. These divisional rivals know each other pretty well, so the HabsWorld writers gave their predictions on the first two matches of the postseason’s second round, starting Saturday and Sunday night.

Eastern Conference

Carolina Hurricanes vs Philadelphia Flyers

Norm Szcyrek predicts: Hurricanes in 6 games
Kevin Leveille predicts: Hurricanes in 5 games
Brian La Rose predicts: Hurricanes in 5 games

(Norm) In the first round of the playoffs, the Hurricanes steamrolled the Ottawa Senators on their way to a four-game sweep. Forwards Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven led the way with seven and five points, respectively. Veteran goalie Frederik Andersen allowed only five goals in those four games. His one shutout, 1.10 goals against average, and .955 save percentage led the league. Their dominance in the series left a lot of Ottawa fans to wonder if their rebuilding team needs a shakeup, like trading their controversial captain Brady Tkachuk. Carolina will be without rookie defenceman Alexander Nikishin who suffered a concussion in game four. Forward Nikolaj Ehlers missed Game Four with a lower-body injury. It’s reported that he is improving but his status for Game One against Philadelphia is unknown.

For the Flyers, they deserved their six-game series victory over their state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen led his team in scoring with five points, while forwards Travis Konecny, Noah Cates, and Trevor Zegras had four points. Ristolainen is playing in his first playoffs this year, at the age of 31. In a twist of fate, former Hab Nicolas Deslauriers was traded by Philadelphia to Carolina before the trade deadline. Nicolas took part in only one game against Ottawa, but may see more ice time against his former Flyers team. While I enjoyed watching the plucky Flyers defeat the Penguins in Round One, I do not expect them to advance to the next round. Carolina has more depth and veteran experience, and traditionally has gas left in the tank for the first two rounds before they usually bow out of the playoffs.

(Kevin) This might be the biggest mismatch in the second round. The Flyers have been a fun story through the end of the season and through the first round, but they hit the proverbial wall here in a Canes team that will forecheck them into the ground. The goaltending matchup is uninspiring on either side, and that’s the best Philly can do on paper. The skill and depth on the Carolina blue line is better than for the Flyers and that gap widens up front. Philly will likely try to get under the skin of the skilled Carolina players, but I can’t see it being very successful as that was the Ottawa game plan and it never really worked. Then again, Ottawa didn’t do a very good job of it. Porter Martone could maybe be the wild card for Philly, but this seems to be far-fetched in my estimation.

(Brian) For Carolina, they handled Ottawa much easier than I was expecting.  Yes, Andersen played rather well (surprisingly) but they got some key secondary scoring with their top line being shut down.  I don’t expect Sebastian Aho’s line to be shut down that much in this series; they’ll rebound nicely.  Philadelphia took care of business against a Pittsburgh team that frankly isn’t anywhere near as good as Carolina is.  Their defensive game has improved but the Hurricanes feature a better attack than the Penguins.  This won’t be quite as easy for Carolina but they should take care of business.

Western Conference

Colorado Avalanche vs Minnesota Wild

Norm Szcyrek predicts: Avalanche in 7 games
Kevin Leveille predicts: Avalanche in 7 games
Brian La Rose predicts: Avalanche in 6 games

(Norm) Minnesota upset the Dallas Stars in six games during the first round. Their leading scorers were forwards Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov with nine points each, followed by defenceman Quinn Hughes with eight points. In net, the Wild started rookie netminder Jesper Wallstedt. That was a somewhat surprising move, considering veteran goalie Filip Gustavsson started more regular season games, and had the better goals against and save percentage statistics. Nevertheless, Wallstedt was like a wall against the Stars, allowing a meagre 2.05 goals against average with an impressive .924 save percentage.

Colorado dominated the Los Angeles Kings, as expected. They swept the Kings but the games were relatively close. Up front, superstar forward Nathan MacKinnon tied for the team lead in points with four, with former Hab Artturi Lehkonen and Gabriel Landeskog. In net, starter Scott Wedgewood earned all four wins, with a microscopic 1.21 goals against average and a .950 save percentage. This series is going to be very close, as the Wild are playing a hard-hitting style that neutralized the Stars in the first round. So the Wild will win three games in this series but the Avs will eventually prevail and go on to the third round.

(Kevin) The Kings might have played the Avalanche tough in a game-by-game basis, but the Wild arrive in Denver presenting an entirely different challenge in what many are considering a Stanley Cup Final-calibre match in the second round. The Wild should hold an advantage in that they’ve already had to elevate to get by a tough Dallas Stars first-round matchup. The longer the series goes, the more it will be Advantage Colorado as they arrive far more rested after a short first-round series.

On paper, the goaltending duel is an enigma as both teams are riding relatively unproven starters. The Wild hold the advantage on the blue line, and that’s saying something considering the Avalanche boast a formidable group featuring perennial Norris candidate Cale Makar. Up front is where the biggest mismatch finds itself. The Wild hold their own at the top of the forward group, but the Avalanche’s addition at the trade deadline, specifically down the middle, makes this a very difficult match-up for the Wild. In the end, I think that gap down the middle ends up paired with the fact that I can’t see this being a short series makes me believe that the Avalanche will pull through.

(Brian) I don’t think Colorado played particularly well against Los Angeles despite getting the sweep.  But that tells me they have another gear to get to and Minnesota should bring that out of them (or the Wild will pull off the upset).  The Wild not having Jonas Brodin available to start hurts them considerably defensively while Joel Eriksson Ek is also banged up.  I also don’t see Wallstedt playing as well as he did last round.  Minnesota can certainly pull off the upset but I don’t think they will.