For the past month, most of the professional sports world has been focused on the NFL draft and the intense NBA playoff series such as the Rockets vs. Warriors. Most people, however, have forgotten about the NHL playoffs.

Going into the playoffs, the heavy favorite to win the Stanley Cup was the Tampa Bay Lightning after tying an NHL record with 62 regular season wins.

They began their first round series with the Columbus Blue Jackets who were a wild card team. The Lightning then blew a 3-1 lead in the first game and were eventually swept in 4 games. The other three 1 seeds, Washington, Calgary, and Nashville, were all eliminated in the first round.

In the second round, the only major upset was when the Carolina Hurricanes, a wild card team, swept the New York Islanders in 4 games.

The series saw most of the favorites win, but it was not easy. The Boston Bruins had to come back from a 2-1 deficit over the Columbus Blue Jackets to win the series in 6 games. The San Jose Sharks and Saint Louis Blues both needed Game 7s to beat their opponents.

The NHL playoffs have been very entertaining as well, with there being 5 Game 7s through the first 2 rounds. In the first round, Carolina beat Washington in 2OT and San Jose beat Las Vegas in overtime after being down 3-1 in the series and 3-0 in Game 7. In the second round, Saint Louis beat Dallas in 2OT and San Jose won by a goal.

Currently, Boston is up 2-0 on Carolina and San Jose is up 1-0 on Saint Louis. Boston is the current favorite to win the Stanley Cup. San Jose is second to Boston after being the sixth most likeliest team to win the Stanley Cup before the playoffs.

The games are on NBC or NBCSN.