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Playoff open thread, April 24-30

Back by popular demand, here is a fresh open thread to discuss the Stanley Cup Playoffs first round that is wrapping up this week, and any other Columbus Blue Jackets or NHL news that comes up.

It’s been a fun opening round so far, with no sweeps for the first time since 2016. 6 of 8 road teams won the opening games of their respective series.

Here are the predicted champions in our subscriber Bracket Challenge:

Boston 8‌‌
Toronto 4‌‌
Edmonton 4‌‌
Los Angeles 1 (hoping for CBJ trade mojo, I assume)‌‌
Colorado 1‌‌
Carolina 1‌‌
Vegas 1‌‌
Tampa 1

Former Blue Jacket check-in

Gus Nyquist recovered from his shoulder injury in time to play the last three regular season games with the Minnesota Wild. He put up 1/4/5 in those games. Pretty good! He is tied for second on the Wild with 4 points in the 4 playoff games so far. They’re tied 2-2 heading back to Dallas and it feels like the Stars have momentum, but he’s been exactly the depth weapon they hoped for when making the trade.

Vladislav Gavrikov is +4 and is playing 22+ minutes a night for the Kings. Turns out he’s a good defenseman when he plays within a good defensive system? Go figure.

The Kings went with playoff experience and chose Joonas Korpisalo as their starting goaltender for this series. He was 2-1 with a .931 save percentage and 2.53 GAA in the first three games. Pretty impressive considering the firepower from Edmonton that he’s facing. A 5-4 OT loss last night has brought his numbers back closer to earth, unfortunately. He’s still 5th in the league these playoffs with a .918 save percentage, but on the power play it’s a league-worst .667, having allowed 6 goals on 18 shots against Edmonton’s elite PP.

Over in Florida, Anthony Duclair returned from injury for the last 20 games of the regular season, then got scratched after putting up -6 and no points in 3 games. He was then replaced for Game 4 by former Columbus teammate Zac Dalpe (they played one game together in 2018-19…against Florida).

Sticking with the Panthers, Sergei Bobrosky was backup for the first three games, to hot hand journeyman Alex Lyon. Lyon put up .902 and 3.26 and a 1-2 record, so Bob got the start in a crucial Game 5. He surrendered 6 goals on 39 shots faced and now the Panthers are one game away from elimination. He has three years left on his contract with an AAV of $10M. Makes you feel a little better about the Elvis contract, huh?

The Seattle Kraken have been surprisingly competitive against the defending champion Colorado Avalanche. Alex Wennberg has a goal and two assists, while Oliver Bjorkstrand has an assist of his own.

Any other former CBJ that have caught your attention this post-season? Any predictions you’re regretting, or feeling better about?