NHL Playoffs 2023: Top Storylines for April 22 Schedule
The New York Rangers were the only team to win two road games to open the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
New York takes that advantage back across the Hudson River to Madison Square Garden on Saturday for Game 3 against the New Jersey Devils.
A home win would give the Rangers the only 3-0 lead across the eight first-round series. All four of the matchups that had their Game 3 on Friday sit at 2-1, and the three other series set to play on Saturday are level at one game apiece.
The last of the four Saturday games will mark the Seattle Kraken's home postseason debut.
Seattle split the first two contests with the Colorado Avalanche. The Kraken held their own on the defensive side of the ice, which gives them hope they can win twice in the next three days against the reigning Stanley Cup champion.
Defense has not been a main quality of the Tampa Bay Lightning-Toronto Maple Leafs series. The winning side produced seven goals in Games 1 and 2, respectively.
That series switches venues to Amalie Arena, where the Lightning posted the second-best regular-season home record and were hard to beat last postseason.
Game 3: Vegas at Winnipeg (4 p.m. ET, TBS)
Game 3: Toronto at Tampa Bay (7 p.m. ET, TBS)
Game 3: New Jersey at New York Rangers (8 p.m. ET, ABC)
Game 3: Colorado at Seattle (10 p.m. ET, TBS)
The Rangers could not have asked for a better situation entering Game 3.
New York captured both games at the Prudential Center to take away New Jersey's home-ice advantage, and now it can win inside its own arena to potentially close out the series by Monday.
The Rangers dominated both sides of the ice in their pair of victories. Each game was won by a 5-1 score.
New York's offense produced 10 goals after putting 53 shots on target over 120 minutes.
The Rangers scored five times on 23 attempts in Game 1 and netted its quintet of tallies on 30 shots in Game 2.
If New York keeps up that effectiveness in front of goal, the series will be over before it flips back to the other side of the Hudson River.
New Jersey's offense did not reach the 30-shot mark in either home contest. Igor Shesterkin has turned away 50 of the 52 shots he faced.
New York's victory formula should stay the same. Its attacking approach needs to remain efficient, and Shesterkin must play at a high level again in net.
Seattle plays the first home playoff game in franchise history on Saturday night.
The Kraken return to Washington after holding their own against the Avalanche inside Ball Arena.
Seattle won the opening game of the series and held the Avs to three goals in a Game 2 defeat.
The second-year franchise has been more competitive in the series than most experts and fans have thought, and it has an opportunity to return to Colorado with an edge in the series.
Seattle needs Philipp Grubauer to shine in net once more against his former team to win Game 3.
Grubauer turned away 34 shots in Game 1 and saved 38 attempts in Game 2.
Shot volume has not been a problem for Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and the Avs, and that should worry the Kraken.
Colorado appears to be on the verge of a breakout offensive performance because it outshot the Kraken by 16 in Games 1 and 2.
Seattle should receive a boost from the crowd inside Climate Pledge Arena, but it is worth noting it played better on the road this season. The Kraken were 26-11-4 on their travels and 20-17-4 at home. Both of Seattle's regular-season wins over Colorado came in Denver.
That would be Seattle's cause for concern on Saturday night, but if it feeds off the home crowd, it could buck that trend and take a 2-1 series lead.
Tampa Bay went 28-8-5 inside Amalie Arena.
That was the second-best home record in the NHL behind the Boston Bruins, who went 34-4-3 on home ice.
The Lightning can benefit from their home success to move back ahead of the Maple Leafs in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Toronto pulled itself level in the matchup with a seven-goal outburst at home in Game 2. That followed Tampa Bay's seven-goal production in Game 1.
Steven Stamkos and the Lightning went 2-1 at home against Toronto in the 2022 first round and they went 7-1 at Amalie Arena throughout the East playoffs.
Tampa Bay needs to bank on its home form to flip the momentum of the series back in its favor, and the Leafs' inconsistency could help it out.
Toronto owns a single winning streak in a playoff series in the last four years. It won Games 3 and 4 in Montreal in 2021.
If the Leafs want to win a playoff series, they must stop alternating results with opponents, but that trend could be hard to stop given Tampa Bay's incredible run at home.
