As the Maple Leafs head to Florida's warmer climate having won both games at home, the Dallas Stars took care of business in game one against the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 3-2.
Heading into the May 7 slate of NHL postseason games, no player in the NHL was on a hotter streak than Dallas Stars winger Mikko Rantanen, who had scored or assisted on nine consecutive goals for his third franchise this season. Rantanen began the year on the Colorado Avalanche before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes due to the inability to agree on a contract extension with the Avalanche.
When similar results were found during his brief stint on the Hurricanes, he was then dealt to the Stars where he eventually signed an eight-year, $96m contract to remain in Dallas for the foreseeable future. Due to rejoining not only the Western conference, but the Central division as well, Rantanen was given the opportunity of playing Colorado in the first round, getting off to a slow start but eventually becoming the focal point of the Avalanche’s exit from the postseason.
Rantanen scored a third period hat trick in game seven to officially knock off Colorado, and totaled a ridiculous 12 points against his former club despite scoring just one point through the first four games. Once he found his Playoff footing, however, Rantanen completely took off and has now helped the Stars claim a 1-0 series lead over the Winnipeg Jets after scoring yet another hat trick in game one on May 7, appearing to have a magnet whenever the puck touches his stick to find the back of the net.
He has now scored or assisted on an NHL-record 12 consecutive goals for Dallas, and has led the Stars to hold odds of +320 to win the Stanley Cup this season, the highest of any franchise on FanDuel. While Winnipeg will certainly not go down without a fight, as showcased by its President’s Trophy-winning regular season and seven-game series victory over the St. Louis Blues in its own opening round contest. Netminder Connor Hellebuyck started the Playoffs in troubling form, having been removed from all three contests played in St. Louis, but has rebounded well to appear like the Vezina Trophy favorite he performed as throughout the regular season.
FanDuel places a considerable amount of faith in Dallas to advance to the Western Conference Finals this season, placing odds of -335 on the Stars defeating Winnipeg in the second round, while Jets are listed at +265 to pull off an upset. The Jets have been on the brink of elimination before this season, needing a last-second game-tying goal against St. Louis in game seven to force the game to overtime, where team captain Adam Lowry scored the game-winner to complete the Jets’ incredible comeback.
On the east side of Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to win both games at home in its second round matchup with the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, now preparing to head south for the next two games of the series. Toronto has outplayed Florida for the majority of both games, almost relinquishing a three-goal lead but holding on in the final moments to take an early advantage on the Panthers. Whether the lead will be enough to advance past the reigning champions remains to be seen, especially with a devastating track record of Playoff heartbreak for Toronto, having not reached a Stanley Cup Finals since 1967, or even an Eastern Conference Finals following the 2002 season.
On FanDuel, the Maple Leafs hold odds of -210 to finally reach the penultimate stage once again, and will only need to win its final two games at home to advance past Florida in the second round. Obviously, it would be more ideal on Toronto’s part to steal a game in the Panthers home arena and really put pressure on the franchise with a 3-0 or 3-1 series lead, but this is also why having home ice advantage is such an advantage in the postseason. Most will say a series does not officially begin until the home team loses, but in the case of Toronto, the franchise just needs to defend home ice in order to reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
On May 8, more game two’s are set to be played between the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals as well as the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights, with Carolina and Edmonton managing to generate a 1-0 series lead up to this point. At the time of writing, FanDuel lists the Hurricanes with odds of -465 to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons, while Washington is listed at +340 to continue its magical ride as one of the better performing Eastern conference squads in 2024-2025. Vegas is looking up at Edmonton with odds of +176 to overcome its own 1-0 deficit, whereas Connor McDavid and the Oilers are -215 to continue its quest to a second consecutive NHL Finals.
