Stanley Cup Playoffs open thread: May 26

2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Game 5: New York Rangers @ Carolina Hurricanes

Series tied 2-2

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: Sportsnet East/Ontario/Pacific (English) TVA Sports (French)
In the U.S.: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN+, NHL Live, Sportsnet Now

The only second-round series to be tied after four games, the Rangers didn’t wait to go down 3-1 before switching on their comeback talents, instead recovering from two losses in North Carolina to even up the Metropolitan Division Final. Igor Shesterkin is refinding his game and allowing his team to hang with a club that is much stronger on paper. He only allowed one goal, coming in the third period, in Game 4, and New York had more than enough offence of its own to take advantage of that performance. The trend for the Hurricanes will have them favoured for a seventh home win in seven attempts tonight, but perhaps the Rangers will be the first team to disrupt the pattern.

Game 5: Edmonton Oilers @ Calgary Flames

EDM leads 3-1

How to watch

Start time: 9:45 PM EDT / 6:45 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English) TVA Sports (French)
In the U.S.: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN+, NHL Live, Sportsnet Now

I think a lot of us expected this series to showcase the Oilers’ superstar duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but ultimately end with the all-around better Flames overcoming those exploits to move on. That’s not at all how things have gone, and even in the one win the Flames had in Game 1, the Oilers made the headlines will an incredible effort to come back from a four-goal deficit. This has been the wildest playoff round so far with plenty of goals, and suspect goaltending surprisingly tilted toward Jacob Markstrom. Now there’s a chance for the Oilers to advance to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2006.