Which series has been the biggest surprise so far?
The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs did not feature a single sweep, but not even one week into the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, we could be looking at three sweeps in the first round alone.
Both series in the Metropolitan Division’s portion of the bracket are eligible, as the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers lead the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively, by 3-0 margins, while the Colorado Avalanche earned a third-straight win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night to push them to the brink.
While the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche taking a huge early lead over the Kings is no surprise, many expected the tilts between Carolina and Ottawa and the Penguins and Flyers to be much closer than they’ve proven to be.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Daily Faceoff managing editor Matt Larkin to discuss why Carolina’s 3-0 lead over Ottawa has been the most surprising result so far.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I was dead wrong on a few of these. I was dead wrong on Pittsburgh and Philly. I felt like, though, Vegas and Utah was going to go deep. I felt like Buffalo-Boston was going to go deep, and I felt like Carolina-Ottawa was going to go deep. Are there any series that have really, really stunned you through the first few games?
Matt Larkin: Yeah. I mean, I had Ottawa beating the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. I think they’re really similar teams. Great defensively, they had question marks in net going in, but with the Senators, it’s almost like you’re seeing Carolina as an evolved version of the Senators. They play similarly, but Carolina’s been doing it a lot longer, and they just roll so many lines with so much energy. Especially Logan Stankoven, to me is dominating the series. He’s someone who when the Dallas Stars scouted him, they referred to him as a pitbull. He’s so little, but so much fight to his game, and the Senators don’t have an answer. I think last night watching the end of that game, the term I said out loud was embarrassing. I couldn’t believe just how little push back we saw from Ottawa when they were trying to tie that game. They were making too many extra passes, trying to make the cute play. They look discombobulated; they look lost, and now I feel like that series can be over soon. That one has surprised me a lot.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…