NHL By Northwest

As a young boy growing up in the Edmonton suburbs, Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart hung posters of Montreal goalie Carey Price on his bedroom walls. The first time Hart, who turns 22 on Thursday, faced Price in the opposite net was the 2018-19 season as a 20-year-old still early in the meteoric rise of his NHL development. Hart gave up three goals in the first 10 minutes and was pulled.
Hart and his No. 1 seeded Flyers teammates will be looking for a much different result when Philly faces Price and No. 8 seed Montreal Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And the league's first round is bursting with Pacific Northwest connections.
For starters, both Hart and Price got their start playing major junior hockey here in Washington. Price starred for the Tri-City Americans while Hart stopped pucks for the Everett Silvertips. They are just two of an impressive number of players with Northwest ties who will be on the ice this week.

Before we highlight Northwest players to watch, here are the first-round matchups (please note the seeding for Qualifying Round is now retired. The seeds run No.1 through 8 in each conference and the second round will re-seed teams so the remaining top team in each conference plays the lowest seed. For instance, if No. 8 Montreal does steal another series from a team representing Pennsylvania, then Eastern Conference No. 2 seed Tampa Bay would play Montreal.
Tuesday's games drop the puck on four series: No. 3 Dallas vs. No. 6 Calgary (2:30 p.m.) and No. 1 Vegas vs. No. 8 Chicago (7:30 p.m.) in the Western Conference and No. 2 Tampa Bay vs. No. 7 Columbus (12 noon) and No. 4 Boston vs. No. 5 Carolina (5 p.m.) in the East.
Wednesday rolls out the remaining four series: No. 2 Colorado vs. No. 7 Arizona (2:30 p.m.) and No. 4 St. Louis vs. No. 5 Vancouver (7:30 p.m.) in the West and No. 3 Washington vs. No. 6 New York Islanders (12 noon) and No. 1 Philadelphia vs. No. 8 Montreal (5 p.m.) in the PNW goalie battle.

Here's a look at more Northwest players to watch in the playoffs:
Arizona Coyotes: Veteran winger Michael Grabner (Spokane Chiefs 2004-2007) scored twice for the Coyotes as they ousted the Nashville Predators in the Qualifying Round. Arizona's third goalie is Adin Hill (Portland Winterhawks 2014-2016). He likely won't play, unless an injury occurs, but he was spotted on the bench last week wearing a Seahawks hat.
Boston Bruins:Defenseman Brandon Carlo (Tri-City 2013-2016) is not going to fill up the scoresheet for Boston, but he will play a big, physical brand of hockey.
Calgary Flames:Center Derek Ryan (Spokane 2004-2007) played junior in the Northwest and is a native, born in Spokane, who is a veteran of 302 NHL games. He picked up one assist during the Flames Qualifying Round win over the Winnipeg Jets. Defenseman Juuso Valimaki (Tri-City 2015-2018) is healthy and in the Edmonton bubble as a reserve.
Carolina Hurricanes: Morgan Geekie (Tri-City 2014-2018) has only played five NHL games so far but he's scored three goals with five points, including an assist during Carolina's sweep of the New York Rangers. Seattle Kraken fans take note: Your GM, Ron Francis drafted Geekie. Nino Niederreiter (Portland 2009-2011) gives the Hurricanes some depth and secondary scoring.
Dallas Stars:The Stars brought goalie Landon Bow(Seattle 2015-2016) to the bubble with them.
Columbus Blue Jackets:Fresh off shutting down the Maple Leafs, defensemen Seth Jones (Portland 2012-2013) and Ryan Murray (Everett 2009-2013) will be tasked to do the same against the high-flying Tampa Bay Lightning. Up front, Oliver Bjorkstrand (Portland 2012-2013) is a 20-goal scorer who will need to find the net for the Blue Jackets in the first round.
Montreal Canadiens:A veteran of 686 NHL games, Carey Price(Tri-City 2003-2007) was masterful as the Canadiens upset the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Qualifying round. On the backend, Noah Juulsen(Everett 2013-2017) has battled injury but is in the bubble with the Canadiens.
New York Islanders:The speedy Mathew Barzal(Seattle 2013-2017) got hot as the Qualifying Round finished off. He was the WHL playoff MVP when he led the Thunderbirds to a WHL Championship in 2017 and would love to do the same with the Islanders. Thomas Hickey(2005-2009) is with the team but the defenseman has yet to appear in a postseason game.
Philadelphia Flyers:When Carter Hart(Everett 2014-2018) left the Northwest for the pros he took a lot of award hardware with him. He's dialed in for the Flyers as they went 3-0 in the round robin. Is there more hardware in his future? Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Nate Thompson(Seattle 2001-2005) chipped in with a goal last week and is a veteran presence for the Flyers.
Tampa Bay Lightning:Big game player Tyler Johnson(Spokane 2007-2011) is at it again with two markers during the round robin. He's our third 'double-Northwesterner' in the playoffs because he not only played for the Chiefs but is a Spokane native. A potential injury to Victor Hedman, could give defenseman Braydon Coburn(Portland 2001-2005) a chance to step up.
Vegas Golden Knights:On his way to becoming a top NHL defenseman, Shea Theodore(Seattle 2011-2015) had a great round robin with four points in three games. Winger Keegan Kolesar(Seattle 2013-2017) is in the bubble with the Golden Knights.
Washington Capitals:Mount Vernon, WA native T.J. Ohsiewill be a key player for the Capitals again this year. Defenseman Brendan Dillon(Seattle 2007-2011) was brought in to shore up the blue line along with the physical Radko Gudas(Everett 2009-2010).