The second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books. Four teams advanced to the conference finals while four more went home. Let's dig deeper into the true highlights and lowlights.
Winner: Mitch Marner's Playoff Reputation
Sometimes fairly — but often unfairly — Mitch Marner shouldered most of the blame for the Maple Leafs' playoff shortcomings when he was in Toronto. Now, Marner has done a good job of silencing critics and proving he can elevate his game when it matters most.
Against the Anaheim Ducks, Marner recorded 11 points in six games, including a hat trick in Game 3 and a two-point performance in Game 6 to close out the series. Including his stellar three-point effort to close out the Utah Mammoth in Game 6, Marner now has 14 points in his last seven games and leads the Golden Knights in scoring this postseason.
As Vegas gets set to play the Avalanche in the Western Conference Final, there's no longer any doubt about whether Marner is capable of leading this team in the playoffs. He took his reputation as a playoff choker and lit it on fire.
Loser: Alex Tuch Goes Ice Cold
Alex Tuch was a force for the Buffalo Sabres in the regular season and the first-round series against the Boston Bruins. Then, at the worst possible moment, Tuch went ice cold.
The Syracuse native completely lost his scoring touch, and Buffalo got crushed when he was on the ice. Tuch failed to tally a single point in the seven-game series, and the Sabres were outscored 8-1 with him in the game at five-on-five.
Part of it was poor puck luck. Tuch put 26 shots on net in the series — the most of anyone on the team — but none of them found the back of the net. The extra salt in the wound for Tuch is that he will enter contract negotiations with the Sabres on a sour note.
Winner: Jakub Dobes' Coming-Out Party
Ever since Carey Price stepped off the ice in April of 2022, the Canadiens have been looking for some stability in goal. If this postseason has been any indication, they've found it.
The 24-year-old Dobes has been spectacular, and he showed poise beyond his years in Game 7, making one big save after another as the Sabres made a series of strong pushes in front of their home crowd. One of the biggest stops came in overtime when he stuck with Tage Thompson on an odd-man rush.
A fifth-round pick in 2020, Dobes is proving he is the future of the crease in Montreal. In the second-round series against the Sabres, Dobes posted a .913 save percentage with a high-danger save percentage of .870. He's on the fast track to stardom in one of hockey's hottest markets.