If Saturday's results are any indication, we might be looking at one or more first-round upsets. Lower-seeded Washington, Pittsburgh, and Dallas all took 2-1 series leads with wins on Saturday.  

Capitals 6, Panthers 1 (Capitals lead series 2-1)

Is Washington going to be the team that busts a ton of playoff brackets? I had Florida to win this series in six games, and that could still come true. Yet as it stands, the Capitals hold home-ice advantage in this series. There have been numerous instances of a President's Trophy-winning team getting upset in the first round, and the Capitals have playoff experience, so we shouldn't be that shocked if Washington pulls this off. There is still lots of series left, though.

Alex Ovechkin, Marcus Johansson, and John Carlson each scored a goal and an assist for the Caps.

Ilya Samsonov was stellar in net, stopping 29 of 30 shots. Samsonov replaced the struggling Vitek Vanecek in net for the third period of Game 2 and hasn't looked back, allowing just one goal in four periods. Expect Samsonov to start Game 4.

Sergei Bobrovsky was tagged with the really bad start, allowing five goals on 30 shots.

Avalanche 7, Predators 3 (Avalanche lead series 3-0)

Colorado is the only team on the verge of a series sweep and should be able to take care of Nashville sooner rather than later. However, the big story from this game was Darcy Kuemper being forced to leave in the first period after taking an errant stick through his mask. The good news is that Kuemper is able to see, did not suffer a concussion, and is not expected to be out long-term. He's extremely fortunate, as this could have been much worse.

Darcy Kuemper was forced to leave the ice after Ryan Johansen's stick accidentally got through his mask and into the right eye area.

Pavel Francouz has come on in Kuemper's place. pic.twitter.com/9dIBwaYLMY

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 7, 2022

This image from @tennessean photographer @Andrew_Nelles shows why Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper left the ice following an inadvertent stick through his mask from #Preds Ryan Johansen https://t.co/s2xwvRZHAc pic.twitter.com/pXgY9zpiRX

— Tennessean (@Tennessean) May 7, 2022

Gabriel Landeskog exploded for two goals and two assists, leading the way in Colorado's seven-goal outburst. Landeskog also filled the statsheet with six shots, three hits, and three blocked shots. Landeskog has been making a physical presence throughout the series with 19 hits in three games.

Cale Makar continued his outstanding play with three assists, two of which were on the power play. He has seven points in three games in this series. You may also remember that he took 12 shots in Game 2. The Predators have probably had enough of him by now.

Unfortunately, there was no repeat performance for Connor Ingram. On the heels of his 49-save masterpiece in Game 2, Ingram yielded six goals on 41 shots in Game 3. For much more on Ingram, see this week's The Journey article by Ben Gehrels.

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Penguins 7, Rangers 4 (Penguins lead series 2-1)

This was a rollercoaster of a game. The Penguins stormed out to a 4-1 lead before the first period had ended. But that three-goal lead evaporated in the second period with three Rangers goals. Eventually Danton Heinen would score the game-winner before the Penguins scored two empty-netters.

Igor Shesterkin was pulled after allowing the four first-period goals, which is the first time in his career he's allowed that many goals in the first period. Alexandar Georgiev was much better in relief, allowing just the one game-winning goal on 20 shots. There's no goaltending controversy with the Rangers, though. Shesterkin should be back in net in Game 4.  

Evan Rodrigues did much of the damage in the first period, scoring two goals and adding an assist. Rodrigues had not recorded a point in either Game 1 or 2, but he took nine shots over the first two games. He took five shots in Game 3.

I guess Rodrigues wanted a hat trick so badly that he was willing to score in his own net for one!

The Pens almost put it in their own net with a delayed penalty 😱 #NHLonTNT #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/3un86xZ55v

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 8, 2022

Once in a while, I wonder whether pulling the goalie for an extra attacker on a delayed penalty is a good idea. Canuck fans will know what I'm talking about if they remember Loui Eriksson's first game as a Canuck. 

Sidney Crosby recorded two assists, both on empty-net goals. His second one is worth another look.

Sidney Crosby with one of the all-time prettiest empty-net assists pic.twitter.com/7vXpSIKRyF

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 8, 2022

Crosby's amazing pass was to Jeff Carter, who scored his second of the game.

Mike Matheson recorded three assists, two of which were on the power play.

With his goal in the second period, Frank Vatrano now has goals in back-to-back games.

The scoring was spread out for the Rangers in this game. No Ranger registered more than one point in this game, although Dryden Hunt and Ryan Reaves were the only Ranger forwards without a point.

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Stars 4, Flames 2 (Stars lead series 2-1)

The Stars have won two games in a row in this series, and the number one reason is Jake Oettinger. The 23-year-old goalie they call Otter was on his game again, stopping 39 of 41 shots. He's allowed just three goals over the first three games, which is an impressive feat if you consider the fact that the Flames boasted the league's top even-strength line this season. If the Stars pull this out, it's because Oettinger steals this series for them. Full stop.

Joe Pavelski scored a pair of goals, including the game winner in the third period. Pavelski now has goals in back-to-back games.

The Flames, well, they're just not scoring right now. Elias Lindholm scored one of the Flames goals, assisted by Johnny Gaudreau. They each have two points in the series, but no other Flame has more than a single point. Matthew Tkachuk had an assist in Game 1, but he's been held off the scoresheet in both Games 2 and 3.

Tkachuk, by the way, has just six points in 18 career playoff games. His partner in crime Gaudreau is marginally better with 21 points in 33 career playoff games, but it's fair to say that neither have established themselves as playoff performers. They're going to have to figure out a way to solve Oettinger in short order.  

Moments before he allowed the Stars' second goal, Jacob Markstrom made this incredible save.

This save by Jacob Markstrom 🤯 pic.twitter.com/xsYf9oL46m

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) May 8, 2022

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The Keeping Karlsson 32 Beats podcasts are back! Check out Elan's interviews with Columbus beat writer Brian Hedger and Winnipeg beat writer Murat Ates.

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Through various fantasy teams, I've picked the three players below to be my most impactful waiver-wire pickups of the season. I play in mid-level to deeper leagues (250 players drafted in one league, 300 in another), so your waiver-wire pickups might be bigger names than mine. Or not, if you play in one of those leagues where virtually every NHL player with a pulse is rostered. Anyway, the point is that I'll discuss why each player was impactful for me, and perhaps what to expect for next season.

Jesper Bratt

Really simple here: Bratt was nearly a point-per-game player (73 PTS in 76 GP), and it's a victory anytime you can land a 70+ point player on your waiver wire. Bratt was also one of the most consistently searched players on Frozen Tools, so many of you were intrigued by a player who had never even reached 40 points in his previous four seasons suddenly on a massive breakout.

A closer look reveals that the projection has been more linear, though. Remember that COVID has cut the last two seasons short, so it's better to look at point pace. Injuries have also been a factor. In his previous three seasons, Bratt has been on an 82-game pace for 53, 44, and 53 points. Those projections might not have screamed missed opportunity, as an 82-game pace can only be achieved under perfect conditions (no games missed, no regression).

Bratt played some even-strength time with Jack Hughes, but the power-play time with Hughes definitely was a factor. Bratt recorded a team-high and career-high 18 power-play points. As well, he has increased his shot total over a shot per game to 2.6 SOG/GP over the past two seasons. However, a secondary assist rate of 44.7% might cut into his career-high 47 assists next season. I wouldn't expect further growth from Bratt next season, but the Devils' improved offense should ensure that his floor doesn't fall too far either.

Adrian Kempe

Kempe's most notable accomplishment of the season was reaching 35 goals. Considering that he had never scored 20 goals previously, that seems like an accomplishment. However, Kempe recorded just 19 assists, cutting into that value. No player who scored as many goals as Kempe had that few assists, although Andrew Mangiapane and Josh Norris scored the same number of goals with just one more assist each (Norris 66 GP, Kempe 78 GP, Mangiapane 82 GP).

Kempe had been an incredibly streaky player, something I experienced on two of my fantasy teams. Although his quarter-by-quarter results didn't show major peaks and valleys, the hot and cold runs were definitely there. Kempe followed up a streak of seven goals in six games in February with no points in 10 games into mid-March. After that dry spell, Kempe finished the season with 10 goals and 19 points over his last 18 games. You just had to know when to start him.

When I investigated Kempe's shooting percentage for possible regression, I noticed that it was a bit higher than normal this season (14.2 SH%). However, one stat jumped out at me as not making any sense. That stat is his secondary assist percentage, which is quite a bit higher than normal at 57.9%. I though the assist total was low? Perhaps the improved goal scoring is from playing on Anze Kopitar's line more frequently. Kopitar's point total tends to be assist-heavy, so perhaps that is the right match if his purpose is to score goals.

Brady Skjei

I know, you're going to say that I can probably do better than Skjei for a waiver-wire pickup. That might be true. However, I'm going to use this opportunity to point out some of his stats that might grab your attention.

Skjei recorded 39 points this season, which tied his career high from his rookie season of 2016-17. Yet out of all of those points, NONE were on the power play. All 39 points were at even strength. Only 10 defenseman recorded more even-strength points than Skjei. In fact, Skjei has not registered even a single power-play point in FOUR seasons. His last power-play point was in 2017-18, when he played for the Rangers. Fine by me, because the league I added him in does not reward power-play points any differently than even-strength points. That is an issue if you play in a multicategory league, however.

Granted, there are defensemen with a similar point total that have few or no power-play points. Only three of Mackenzie Weegar's 44 points were on the man advantage. As well, Weegar's teammate Gustav Forsling recorded 37 points without a single power-play point. Skjei, Weegar, and Forsling all have the (mis)fortune of playing for strong teams with clear PP1 options on defense (Tony DeAngelo, Aaron Ekblad) that also stack both power-play units with forwards. Skjei averaged 7 seconds of power-play time per game, while Forsling averaged 11 seconds and Weegar 40 seconds.

Without more power-play time, Skjei will have a hard time improving on his 2021-22 point total. However, he is making a clear case for more power-play time and more offensive-zone starts. He reached 50 OZ Start% for the first time in four seasons, while his 46.7 Sec. Asst% shows that his point total could have been even higher. Skjei might be a sneaky-good add for points to fill out your defense late in your draft next season.

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Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.