NHL: Western Conference playoff preview

Tuesday night left us with three matchups to pretty much wrap up the loaded Western Conference playoff picture.

The Minnesota Wild clinched the top Wild Card spot with a late comeback OT win over the Ducks in dramatic fashion.

St. Louis blew the doors off the Utah Hockey Club to clinch the final spot in the West and fend off the surging Flames.

Now, it’s time to take a deep look at how the West looks with all the first-round matchups set in stone.

WC2: St. Louis Blues vs. 1C Winnipeg Jets

The Jets (55-22-4) will have home ice advantage in the best-of-7 series after winning the Presidents’ trophy. The Blues (44-30-8) clinched the second wild card in the West with a 6-1 win in their regular-season finale against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday.

These two squads met in the playoffs back in 2019, where the Blues defeated the Jets in six games in round one.

Winnipeg is led by Kyle Connor who tallied 41 goals and 55 assists for a career-best 96 points, alongside Mark Scheifele who recorded 38 goals and 48 assists.

Superstar goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who has struggled in the playoffs in the past, led the NHL in wins with 46, a save percentage of .924 and eight shutouts.

On St. Louis’ side, center Robert Thomas led the Blues this season with 81 points in 70 games.

Jordan Kyrou led the team with 36 goals and was second in points with 70 in 82 games. The signing of Dylan Holloway in the offseason was extremely underrated. Holloway had a career-high 63 points in 77 games.

Winnipeg has lost in the first round in each of the past two seasons. The Blues enter the postseason winning 13 of their last 16.

WC1 Minnesota Wild vs. 1P Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas (49-22-10) won the Pacific Division and will have home-ice advantage in the first-round. Minnesota (45-30-7) clinched the first wild card spot with a 3-2 comeback OT win against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

Jack Eichel enters the playoffs leading the Golden Knights in scoring with 93 points.

Mark Stone had 19 goals and 48 assists in 66 games and Tomas Hertl had 61 points in 73 games.

Game one starter Adin Hill had a 32-13-5 record in 50 starts with a 2.47 goals against average and .906 save percentage this season.

The Wild were led offensively by Matt Boldy with 73 points in 82 games. Marco Rossi also had a great season with 24 goals and 36 assists.

Superstar Kirill Kaprizov returned on April 9th after missing 28 straight games and 40 of the previous 43 due to a lower body injury. It is key for Minnesota that this guy is healthy for the playoffs because he is simply a game changer.

Goaltender Filip Gustavsson had a 31-19-6 record in 58 starts with a 2.56 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.

Vegas has made the playoffs for the third consecutive season and seventh time in eight years since joining the league.

Minnesota qualified after missing the playoffs last season. The Wild have not advanced past the first round since 2015.

This should be a great matchup with Minnesota fully healthy just in time for the postseason.

3P Edmonton Oilers vs. 2P Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles (46-24-9) finished second in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of Edmonton (47-28-5).

The teams will meet in the first round for the fourth straight season, with Edmonton winning each of the previous three, eliminating Los Angeles in five games last season, six in 2023 and seven in 2022.

The Kings are led offensively by Adrian Kempe who leads the Kings into the playoffs with 33 goals and 35 assists in 79 games.

Anze Kopitar is still unbelievable and tallied 65 points in 79 games. Kevin Fiala had 34 goals and 22 assists in 78 games and Quinton Byfield set a career high with 53 points in 79 games.

L.A. netminder Darcy Kuemper had an unbelievable year since coming over from the Capitals in the offseason. Kuemper posted a .921 save percentage and a league leading 2.05 GAA.

The Oilers are once again led by Leon Draisaitl and his league leading 52 goals, Connor McDavid who had 100 points in only 67 games.

On the blue line, Evan Bouchard recorded 67 points in 80 games, chipping in offensively once again.

One of the main issues heading into the playoffs will be the man between the pipes for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner finished the season 25-18-4 with a 2.87 GAA and .894 save percentage in 50 games.

This year's version of this series should bring more fireworks than it did a year ago. The Kings are firing on all cylinders at the moment and we will see if they can finally get over the first-round hump that is the Edmonton Oilers.

3C Colorado Avalanche vs. 2C Dallas Stars

Dallas (50-24-6) finished second in the Central Division with 106 points, four ahead of Colorado (49-29-4).

The Stars clinched a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive season and the Avalanche clinched their berth into the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.

Dallas will have home ice for this first-round matchup in a big time series that everyone will have their eye on.

Matt Duchene led the team with 81 points (30 goals, 51 assists) in 80 games and Jason Robertson was right behind him with 80 points (35 goals, 45 assists) in 80 games.

The Stars had seven players this season with 40 or more points.

Dallas has a solid goaltending tandem with Jake Oettinger who had a solid season with a top-ten goals against average and backup Casey DeSmith who had a 14-8-2 record in 26 appearances.

The Avalanche are led by Nathan MacKinnon, who had 116 points (32 goals, 84 assists) in 79 games.

The blueline pairing of Cale Makar and Devon Toews has been unreal as well with Makar having 92 points in 80 games and Toews having 44 points.

Marty Necas has 28 points in 30 games since being acquired in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24. He had a total of 83 points this season in what was a remarkable year for Necas.

Colorado could be getting its captain Gabriel Landeskog back in time for the postseason. Landeskog played his first game since 2022 this past Friday and was recalled for round one.

The Avs will also be seeing a familiar face, Mikko Rantanen, who was dealt to Carolina back in January and then traded again to Dallas at the trade deadline.

The Stars eliminated Colorado in the second round last season in six games. This year's series will be absolutely nails due to all the star power up and down each lineup.

Expect Rantanen to get booed every time he touches the puck.

Austin Moran is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acm6506@psu.edu