Stanley Cup Playoffs 2015: Updated NHL Bracket Tree, Scores and Highlights

Game-winning goals. Huge saves. Giant hits. Overtime thrillers. Bitter rivalries. The NHL playoffs have offered sports fans just about every form of drama you could want thus far. And things are only going to get better.

So to ramp up for the upcoming action, let's take a look back at each result and some of the top highlights thus far. It's everything you could want short of a full playoff beard.

Conference	Matchup	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Western	St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild	MIN 4-2	STL 4-1	-
Western	Nashville Predators vs. Chicago Blackhawks	CHI 4-3	NSH 6-2	CHI 4-2
Western	Anaheim Ducks vs. Winnipeg Jets	ANA 4-2	ANA 2-1	-
Western	Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames	CGY 2-1	VAN 4-1	CGY 4-2
Eastern	Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators	MTL 4-3	MTL 3-2	MTL 2-1
Eastern	Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Detroit Red Wings	DET 3-2	TB 5-2	-
Eastern	New York Rangers vs.Pittsburgh Penguins	NYR 2-1	PIT 4-3	-
Eastern	Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders	NYI 4-1	WSH 4-3	NYI 2-1

Playoff Highlights

It's hard to argue that the best playoff game to this point has been the Game 1, double-overtime thriller between the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators that ended like this:

The story of that game, however, was Blackhawks backup keeper Scott Darling, who entered the game at the start of the second period after Corey Crawford gave up three first-period goals and left his team trailing 3-0. The Blackhawks fought their way back, however, in large part because of Darling's 42 saves.

And none were better than this stop on Ryan Ellis when the Blackhawks were trying to kill off a third-period power play:

After the 4-3 win, Darling got the start in Game 3 after Crawford was poor for the team in Game 2, and he again led the Blackhawks to a win, this time of the 4-2 variety. He has now stopped 77 of 79 shots sent his way, an impressive mark.

Now he'll be in net for Game 4, and both head coach Joel Quenneville and Darling talked about that decision with Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times:

"

“It’s tough to make a change when you like everything about the game,” Quenneville said. “He played so well. Very deserving. I think it was an easy choice.”

Darling has handled the pressure as well as anyone could have expected so far.

“There’s expectations every time you step in the net,” he said. “Nobody holds themselves to a higher standard than I do. I want to be the best every time I play. I’m just trying to do my best.”

"

If the Blackhawks advance in this series, it would appear Darling will ultimately be a huge factor. 

Of course, sometimes a goalie needs a little help. Jake Allen of the St. Louis Blues was certainly thankful for David Backes in Game 3 against the Minnesota Wild:

St. Louis would go on to win that game, 4-1, and even the series. But who knows what might have transpired had Backes not made his heads-up play. 

But hey, enough about the goalies. Kris Russell of the Calgary Flames has a game-winning goal he'd like you to see from Game 1 of the team's series against the Vancouver Canucks:

Calgary has the opportunity to take a stranglehold on this series at home in Game 4, as they could go up 3-1 in this series. They may need another dramatic goal or two like the one Russell provided to put the Canucks away, however. 

If there is one series that has provided plenty of dramatic goals, it is the Montreal Canadiens' with the Ottawa Senators. The Canadiens may be up 3-0 in the series, but it's been a hotly contested affair. In Game 2, it took this goal from Alex Galchenyuk in overtime to get the win:

In Game 3, Dale Weise was the overtime hero:

Of course, he was also the reason the game even went into overtime, according to the NHL on Twitter:

Weise seems to enjoy saving his heroics for the postseason, per ESPN Stats & Information:

We're not done with the late-game heroics, folks. Jakob Silfverberg gave the Anaheim Ducks a 2-0 series lead over the Winnipeg Jets with this clutch goal:

Meanwhile, superstar John Tavares gave the New York Islanders a 2-1 series lead with this timely overtime finish:

It's going to be hard to top the first couple of days of the NHL postseason, but this year's first round looks like it will feature a slew of seven-game series, which is always a thrilling way to kick off the playoffs. More unlikely heroes will emerge, more highlights will amaze and more drama will commence. 

Enjoy the ride, folks.