After five Game 7s in the first round, the second round will feature only one Game 7. The Rangers made sure of that with a 5-2 win over the Hurricanes in Game 6 at MSG on Saturday.

Filip Chytil was the scoring star for the Rangers with a pair of goals. He also finished with a plus-2 and four shots in just over 10 minutes of icetime. As was the case on Saturday, Chytil has been used on a "kid line" with Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere. Based on icetime, it's no higher than a third line for the Rangers, but it shows the depth they have accumulated during their rebuild period. Chytil has five points in 13 playoff games, although four of those points have been in the form of goals.

This backhander from @filip_chytil is 🤌. #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: @ESPN ➡️ https://t.co/41SxkN49Ig
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet ➡️ https://t.co/snG9hA2fxT pic.twitter.com/DR5Zl907zQ

— NHL (@NHL) May 29, 2022

Even though the Rangers won, they were outshot by a sizeable margin by the Canes (39-25). That meant Igor Shesterkin had to do his thing, making 37 saves in the win. After a rough first round, Shesterkin has found his game with a 1.68 GAA and .949 SV% in this series. Moreover, he's posted eight consecutive quality starts dating back to Game 6 of the Pittsburgh series. It goes without saying he will need another gem for the Rangers to prevail in Game 7.

Shesterkin also recorded two assists in this game, giving him three assists during the playoffs. During this series he has the same number of points as Chris Kreider (2), and over the playoffs he has more points than Kaako (2).

With two assists in Game 6, Adam Fox leads all defensemen in playoff scoring (16 points in 13 games). He is also tied for the Rangers lead in playoff scoring with Mika Zibanejad.

Speaking of Zibanejad, he now has goals in four consecutive games, including his goal in Game 6. Three of those goals have been on the power play.

Barclay Goodrow returned to the Rangers lineup for Game 6. He hadn't played since Game 1 of the first round.

Antti Raanta was pulled after allowing three goals on 13 shots in just over a period, replaced by Pyotr Kochetkov. Frederik Andersen has been practicing with the Canes, but sticking him into a Game 7 after being out of action for over a month would be too much too fast. If the Hurricanes survive this series, then I think he'll appear at some point during the Conference Final.

I've noticed that Seth Jarvis has been used on the first-unit power play, while Andrei Svechnikov has been on the second unit. Looking at %PP numbers on Frozen Tools, that appears to have been the case since around midway through the first round. That's something to keep an eye on for next season and may be another reason to be bullish on Jarvis. Maybe it's about getting another right-handed shot on the power play.

The Hurricanes are 7-0 at home but 0-6 on the road during the playoffs. In fact, they are the first team in NHL history to lose their first six road games of the playoffs. Carolina has been a Jekyll and Hyde team when it comes to home and road splits. If you use pattern recognition to make your picks, the Canes will naturally win Game 7 because the game is at PNC Arena.

Hurricanes have lost 6 straight road games this postseason & did not hold a lead at any point at MSG pic.twitter.com/7zht3vQhcT

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) May 29, 2022

Regardless of who wins Game 7, Tampa will have a definite advantage in terms of rest. Both the Rangers and the Hurricanes went to Game 7 in the first round as well as this series, playing the maximum needed 14 games.

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I think we're all looking forward to the McSeries, I mean the Western Conference Final, which starts on Tuesday. Expect lots of back-and-forth action with the elite-level talent on both teams. Although Edmonton can appear dominant at times, Colorado seems to control the game on their opponent more often. Although the writer's conference picks have yet to be made (I still have to send the email), I'm going to go with Colorado in six games. If you're a Dobber writer yet to make your picks, don't rely on my advice because I am currently 1-2 in my series picks for the second round.

Regardless of whether I'm right or wrong, Connor McDavid is proving that he can perform in the playoffs. And if John Tortorella is interviewing for one of the available head coaching positions, this ice cold take won't help his cause.

pic.twitter.com/5f3UitS9RP

— hockey images that precede unfortunate events (@UnfortunateHky) May 29, 2022

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I'll follow up on my study on power-play usage yesterday with power-play info specific to one team. Recently I listened to an interview with Edmonton play-by-play broadcaster Jack Michaels where he mentioned that Jay Woodcroft has using his second-unit power play "for more than 15 seconds," unlike Dave Tippett. So I decided to compare power-play deployment under Tippett and Woodcroft.

Under Dave Tippett (44 games, until February 9)

Name	PPP	PPTOI	%PP
LEON DRAISAITL	26	03:47	88
CONNOR MCDAVID	26	03:44	86
RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS	15	03:49	84.6
TYSON BARRIE	9	02:54	66.8
ZACH HYMAN	5	02:15	53.4
EVANDER KANE	1	02:11	48.2
JESSE PULJUJARVI	6	01:52	42.7
DARNELL NURSE	5	01:15	28.6
EVAN BOUCHARD	4	01:11	27.5

Under Jay Woodcroft (38 games, not including playoffs)

Name	PPP	PPTOI	%PP
LEON DRAISAITL	15	03:54	78.6
CONNOR MCDAVID	18	03:42	75
RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS	8	02:59	73.5
TYSON BARRIE	12	02:49	60.2
ZACH HYMAN	5	02:33	52.4
EVANDER KANE	3	02:29	51
EVAN BOUCHARD	3	01:30	31.3
KAILER YAMAMOTO	5	01:16	26.6
DUNCAN KEITH	2	01:08	23.3
DARNELL NURSE	1	01:03	21.6
RYAN MCLEOD	5	01:03	21.4

For each of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the power-play icetime dropped about 10% overall. Although the Oilers played only a few more games under Tippett compared to Woodcroft, those three forwards' power-play production dropped off further than that on a per-game level. Tippett's power-play effectiveness (26.6%) and Woodcroft's (24.1%) weren't that different, so this is something worth noting for Oilers projections next season.

Some other observations from the Oilers:

Tyson Barrie's power-play share didn't decline as much under Woodcroft, and his overall power-play production actually increased. If you're waiting on Evan Bouchard, not so fast. But if Bouchard remains on the second unit next season, he doesn't stand to lose as much under Woodcroft as he did under Tippett.

Can someone send out a search party for the Pool Party, aka Jesse Puljujarvi? His power-play icetime averaged 2:22 in the second quarter, but it plummeted to 0:26 during the fourth quarter. During the playoffs it's been nonexistent, as has his scoring. His goal in Game 5 snapped an eight-game point drought.

Out of curiosity, I also dug up the Canucks' power-play usage under both Travis Green and Bruce Boudreau this past season. It really wasn't that different, or at least not as much as the Oilers' situation above.

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This isn't hockey-related, but this suspension without pay might be the biggest penalty in fantasy sports history. Although I've witnessed numerous heated fantasy sports arguments through the years (and have had the unfortunate task of having to resolve them as the league commissioner), I've never seen anything like this.

Tommy Pham told reporters today that he has been suspended three games. During batting practice Friday, Pham slapped Joc Pederson regarding a disagreement over fantasy football rules. "I slapped Joc," he told reporters. "He said some s—- I don't condone. I had to address it."

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 28, 2022

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Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.