Whew, what a wild ride the NHL season’s been, it all comes crashing into Round 2, where every team’s lacing up for glory and chasing that shiny Stanley Cup dream. The first round didn’t go out quietly; it exploded into chaos with back-to-back Game 7 heart-thumpers. The Jets? Oh, they straight-up pulled a hockey miracle, coming back twice, tying the game with three seconds left and sealing it in double OT like something out of a hockey fairy tale. Lowry tipped in the winner after 36 minutes of stress-fueled overtime, and just like that, the third-longest Game 7 in NHL history got its legendary moment.

Meanwhile, in Dallas, the Stars got their drama fix too; down two goals in the third, Rantanen turned beast mode on his old squad. Two goals? Check. Game-winning assist? Yup. Empty netter for the hat trick dagger? Oh yeah. And now, the second round kicks off with the reigning champs, Florida, storming into Toronto. Canada’s got only three teams left standing, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Edmonton, and after 32 long years, the dream of a Canadian Cup is heating up. The odds are looking pretty good for the Great White North. Could this finally be the year America’s streak snaps?

So MoneyPuck.com just dropped some juicy playoff tea on X and yeah, the numbers are doing all the chirping now. According to them, there’s a “36% chance a Canadian team wins the Cup,” and honestly, after decades of waiting, that’s got the north buzzing just a little louder, eh? Now let’s break down the chaos. The Winnipeg Jets are skating in hot with a 13.5% shot at glory, while the Toronto Maple Leafs are close behind at 13.9%, not too shabby for a squad with something to prove.

The Edmonton Oilers are still in the mix, too, clinging to an 8.6% hope. On the U.S. side of things, Florida Panthers are leading the chase with 16.3%, the Carolina Hurricanes are storming in at 14.5%, Vegas Golden Knights are flexing a solid 13.8%, and the Dallas Stars are hanging with 11.8%. Oh, and the Washington Capitals? Sitting at 7.5%, just kinda vibing in the shadows. But yeah, if you toss all that math into a blender, Canada’s got a real shot to finally break that 32-year drought and snatch that sweet Stanley Cup back home.

Alright, so let’s rewind the hockey time machine real quick; like way back, 32 years ago, when the Montreal Canadiens, aka the OG royalty of the NHL, were sitting on top of the hockey world. Yup, that 1993 Stanley Cup magic. The Habs, with all that legendary swagger and more banners than you can count, rolled into the playoffs as a third seed in the Adams Division. Not exactly the easiest road, but guess what? The stars kinda aligned. First, they handled the Nordiques, then got a lucky break when Buffalo knocked out the Bruins. Boom, second round handled. Then came the Islanders, also a third seed, and well… Montreal just kept cruising.

Fast forward to the big dance, and there they were, facing off against Wayne Gretzky and his LA Kings squad. Game 1 went sideways, but did the Habs flinch? Nah. They came back swinging, rattling off four straight dubs like it was light work. And just like that, Lord Stanley came home to Canada, sitting pretty in Montreal. Little did anyone know, though, that would be the last time the Cup would chill north of the border… for three whole decades. Yeah. Wild. But for now, the Round 2 for that Stanley Cup is on!

Second round is all set for that Stanley Cup!

The Stanley Cup playoffs are on full blast, and the drama? Oh, it’s piping hot. The Winnipeg Jets, who snatched that shiny President’s Trophy. needed a full-blown miracle and basically two lifetimes’ worth of overtime to finally seal the second-round bracket. Now, we’ve got all four division champs still skating strong, Washington, Toronto, Vegas, and Winnipeg, plus the reigning Cup beasts, the Florida Panthers. Dallas bounced Colorado in a nail-biting Game 7, and just like that, we’ve got ourselves a second-round party filled with all-division rivalries and plenty of spicy matchups.

Canada’s long-lost dream of kissing Lord Stanley again? Yeah, it’s still hanging by a hopeful little thread, tangled up in the gloves of three squads, Winnipeg, Toronto, and the Connor McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers, who are out here trying to light up the bracket like a bonfire in the dead of winter. Over in the East, the Leafs are back at it with the Florida Panthers in a juicy rematch from 2023. Last time, the Cats handled ‘em in five. But Toronto’s rolling after knocking out Ottawa, while Florida just casually won eight of their last nine playoff series. Meanwhile, Carolina and Washington are reviving their 2019 beef, and it’s gonna be goalie wars: hot-handed Logan Thompson versus a returning Frederik Andersen. Buckle up.

On the NHL’s flip side, the West’s getting rowdy. Edmonton’s back in the ring with Vegas after 2023’s six-game heartbreak. The Oilers had to swap out Stuart Skinner for Calvin Pickard mid-series, and boom, four wins later, they’re back in business. Vegas, though? Struggled to light the lamp but still squeaked past the Wild. And then there’s the Jets vs. the Stars, a fresh playoff rivalry with major bite. Hellebuyck’s chasing that Vezina shine, but his postseason numbers? Oof. Meanwhile, Dallas is hoping to bring back big guns Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen any day now. And yeah, if you’re wondering who’s leading the Cup odds, it’s Florida on top, followed by Carolina and Dallas, but honestly? With the way things are going, it’s anyone’s chaos-fueled game ‘til the final buzzer in June.