By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs came to an end on Wednesday night with the lone Game 7 of the opening round. The Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-4, to take the series and advance to the second round.
For several teams who have been waiting since finishing off their series, the second round is set to begin as soon as Thursday night.
In this week’s trip Around the NHL, we look at who has advanced and the four series on tap in the second round.
Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Obviously, Flyers fans are very familiar with how the Penguins got here. It took six games, but the Penguins ousted the Flyers to reach the second round, keeping their streak alive at nine straight playoff series wins.
Washington fell behind to Columbus, two games to none, after the first set of home games in Washington, but the Capitals rallied for an overtime victory in Game 3 and another win in Game 4 to even the series. A win on home ice put the Capitals ahead in the series after Game 5 and they were able to finish things off in Game 6 on Monday night.
When you look at this series, what more do you need to say than Crosby vs. Ovechkin. It’s the mini-series within the series. The narrative is pretty much the same as in years past as well. It’s the team that just can’t seem to get over the second-round hump and the defending back-to-back champions that just always seem to find a way.
So what’s it going to be this time? Does Washington finally have what it takes to not only defeat the Penguins but overcome their second-round demons? Or is it another conference finals berth for the Penguins in their quest for a three-peat?
Whoever comes out on top, this should be a great series between the two best teams the Metro has to offer.
Vegas Golden Knights vs. San Jose Sharks
This is an interesting series for two reasons. First off, both teams have been sitting around for over a week. Vegas finished off a sweep of the Los Angeles Kings last Tuesday. The Sharks completed a sweep of the Anaheim Ducks last Wednesday. So this could be a bit of a sloppy series at the start.
Secondly, this is a series that features two very different teams in terms of exposure.
Vegas has been the league’s darling this season. They have been such a feel-good story that it’s pretty hard to root against this little team that could and has accomplished so much in their inaugural season.
The Sharks, meanwhile, are essentially the one Western Conference team left in the playoffs that hasn’t been highly discussed at really any point over the season as a major contender. When you look at the rest of the conference, all three teams have received some sort of high attention for their successes throughout the season. San Jose has been the classic under-the-radar team.
Don’t put anything past Vegas. They’ve had the look of a contender all season against heavy odds. But Vegas can’t expect a low-scoring, goaltending-heavy series like they got against the Kings. This one should feature a little more offense, but still be just as tight and even more competitive.
Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets
This series has all the look of a Western Conference Final, but it’s not. The NHL’s playoff structure allows for this to be a conference semi-final, which means one legitimate contender is going home out of this series.
Nashville easily has the advantage over Winnipeg in the experience column, because nothing is going to top a run that came up two wins short of the ultimate goal. Nashville also has tremendous goaltending, arguably the best blue-line group in the league and great depth among their forwards.
Winnipeg is the team in the West that most closely matches that. They too have the goaltending. They have a solid defensive core that doesn’t match up to Nashville’s standards on paper, but has played well all season. They have a lot of star power up front and solid depth as well.
This is the type of series that has seven games written all over it.
It’s the type of series that deserves to go the distance too. The atmosphere in both buildings has been tremendous. They two teams are so evenly-matched in skill, speed and makeup.
It’s hard to look at all four series in the second and pick just one that may be the must-watch series, but this might be it.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins
The Lightning have been waiting for an opponent since Saturday afternoon after defeating the New Jersey Devils in five games.
Tampa was really the class of the Eastern Conference the entire season until the Boston Bruins started to surge and challenge them for the top seed in the East.
Much like the Nashville-Winnipeg series, this could have easily been a conference final matchup, but because of the way the playoff structure is, it becomes a semi-final series.
Boston had to withstand a scare from the Toronto Maple Leafs, who forced a Game 7 after being down 3-1 in the series and took a 4-3 lead into the third period of Game 7. They did.
With a tremendous combination of veteran talent and youth, the Bruins are a legitimate contender. They have the goaltending with Tuukka Rask. They have the blue-line depth — Charlie McAvoy, Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk. They have the game-changing top forwards — David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron — and solid depth — Rick and Riley Nash, Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci.
Tampa Bay was at the top of the Atlantic Division all season for a reason. Nikita Kucherov is a big part of it. So is Steven Stamkos.
The Lightning have incredibly talented forwards not limited to Kucherov and Stamkos. Brayden Point has really emerged as a star on the team. J.T. Miller has been a great addition to the power play. Don’t forget guys like Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde either.
The blue line is led by an elite defenseman in Victor Hedman. But beyond Hedman, this is a steady group that has as much depth as any in the game. In goal, they have a star as well in Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Much like the Nashville-Winnipeg series, this could also have seven games written all over it. Expect a lot of fireworks from two divisional foes that have delivered high-octane offensive shows all season.
