NHL20 Playoffs Sim: Round 3 Preview

Another eight teams have been eliminated from our NHL20 Playoff Sim and we’re down to just eight remaining. From here, everything will proceed like a normal playoffs with Best of 7 series, the only difference is that we are using re-seeding each round, similar to how playoffs were formatted before the division format.

East

(1) Boston Bruins vs (11) New York Rangers (Bruins win series 3-1)

• Game 1: Rangers 2 @ Bruins 5
• Game 2: Rangers 4 @ Bruins 3
• Game 3: Bruins 2 @ Rangers 1 (2OT)
• Game 4: Bruins 3 @ Rangers 0

(2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs (10) Florida Panthers (Panthers win series 3-2)

• Game 1: Panthers 2 @ Lightning 4
• Game 2: Panthers 2 @ Lightning 0
• Game 3: Lightning 1 @ Panthers 2
• Game 4: Lightning 4 @ Panthers 3
• Game 5: Panthers 2 @ Lightning 1

(3) Washington Capitals vs (8) Toronto Maple Leafs (Capitals win series 3-1)

• Game 1: Leafs 5 @ Capitals 3
• Game 2: Leafs 1 @ Capitals 4
• Game 3: Capitals 5 @ Leafs 2
• Game 4: Capitals 4 @ Leafs 0

(4) Philadelphia Flyers vs (5) Pittsburgh Penguins (Flyers win series 3-2)

• Game 1: Penguins 3 @ Flyers 6
• Game 2: Penguins 4 @ Flyers 3
• Game 3: Flyers 1 @ Penguins 3
• Game 4: Flyers 4 @ Penguins 3 (OT)
• Game 5: Penguins 2 @ Flyers 3

West

(1) St. Louis Blues vs (9) Minnesota Wild (Blues win series 3-2)

• Game 1: Wild 1 @ Blues 2
• Game 2: Wild 3 @ Blues 6
• Game 3: Blues 1 @ Wild 2 (2OT)
• Game 4: Blues 2 @ Wild 4
• Game 5: Wild 3 @ Blues 4 (2OT)

(2) Colorado Avalanche vs (7) Nashville Predators (Avalanche win series 3-1)

• Game 1: Predators 0 @ Avalanche 4
• Game 2: Predators 3 @ Avalanche 2 (OT)
• Game 3: Avalanche 5 @ Predators 3
• Game 4: Avalanche 2 @ Predators 1

(3) Vegas Golden Knights vs (6) Calgary Flames (Flames win series 3-1)

• Game 1: Flames 4 @ Knights 6
• Game 2: Flames 2 @ Knights 0
• Game 3: Knights 3 @ Flames 4 (OT)
• Game 4: Knights 2 @ Flames 4

(4) Dallas Stars vs (5) Edmonton Oilers (Stars win series 3-0)

• Game 1: Oilers 2 @ Stars 4
• Game 2: Oilers 2 @ Stars 5
• Game 3: Stars 3 @ Oilers 0

That does it for the second round (first round in a normal playoffs) of our NHL20 Sim Playoffs. The favourites won 6/8 series with the Flames and Panthers being the only upsets. There was only one sweep with three series going the full five games.

Here are the top 11 players by points after two rounds of action:

1. Zach Parise (MIN) 8 GP, 9G, 3A, 12 Pts
2. Sean Monahan (CGY) 7 GP, 6G, 4A, 10 Pts
3. David Pastrnak (BOS) 4 GP, 4G, 5A, 9 Pts
4. Patrice Bergeron (BOS) 4 GP, 2G, 6A, 8 Pts
5. Claude Giroux (PHI) 5 GP, 1G, 7A, 8 Pts
6. Andrew Mangiapane (CGY) 7 GP, 4G, 4A, 8 Pts
7. Rasmus Andersson (CGY) 7 GP, 2G, 6A, 8 Pts
8. Eric Staal (MIN) 8 GP, 0G, 8A, 8 Pts
9. Brad Marchand (BOS) 4 GP, 3G, 4A, 7 Pts
10. Ryan Strome (NYR) 7 GP, 2G, 5A, 7 Pts
11. Matt Dumba (MIN) 8 GP, 1G, 6A, 7 Pts
12. 9 others tied with 6 points

Here are the matchups for the third round (Semi-Final round) with the highest seeds facing the lowest remaining seeds in each conference. This round along with all future rounds will be a standard Best of 7 series.

East

(1) Boston Bruins vs (10) Florida Panthers

(3) Washington Capitals vs (4) Philadelphia Flyers

West

(1) St. Louis Blues vs (6) Calgary Flames

(2) Colorado Avalanche vs (4) Dallas Stars

Round 3 will start on Saturday afternoon when the Flames head to St. Louis to take on the Blues. Joining them on Saturday and every second day after will be Bruins and Panthers. Avalanche/Stars and Capitals/Flyers will be on Sunday and every second day after.

We’ll be putting together a short Flames/Blues series preview article on Saturday so make sure to check that out as we gear up for the next round of the playoffs.

We are also in the final stages of testing a way to live-stream the games to you per the many requests we had. While it may not be ready for Game 1, it should be ready for Game 2!