The time has finally come. We started this journey back in October with 32 teams all vying for the same thing. A shot at the Stanley Cup, the richest prize in all of hockey. Now here we are, with 16 teams left standing.
There's some big questions coming into the playoffs this year. Can the Panthers repeat? Will somebody emerge from the East that doesn't play in the state of Florida? Will a Canadian team finally break the country's cup drought? All this and more will be answered in the coming weeks.
For now, the first round is here and here's how we see it going down.
Washington Capitals vs Montreal Canadiens
Washington has been the best team in the East most of the year, which comes as a huge surprise to some around the league. The Caps have had a lethal offense most of the year. The Caps cruised to 51 wins and having Alex Ovechkin break the goal scoring record. Oh and he did it while missing five weeks due to injury. As for Montreal, they weren't expected to be here. They were and are in a rebuilding youth movement. They shocked a few people by getting here, but that's where it ends. They are a young team, with a goal differential that's going to kill them. Youth maybe good and throw in a surprise in this round. At the end of the day the Caps skill and experience will win out.
Pick: Capitals in 5!
Carolina Hurricanes vs New Jersey Devils
I had more faith in the Devils at the outset of the season, because they were good and got off to a good start. Then injuries and poor play crept in and they have slipped. Facts are losing Jack Hughes to injury for the rest of the year is starting to show how much its hurting the Devils. To be fair, Carolina doesn't have all that much depth either in the scoring department. Goaltending hasn't been sparkling from either netminder in Carolina either. Expect this to be a sloppy, low scoring series. End of the day, Carolina has a little more depth to it than Jersey does. It'll be enough to get them on to the next round.
Pick: Hurricanes in 6!
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Ottawa Senators
Bragging rights in the Battle of Ontario! Plenty of star power on both sides of the ledger here in this series. One of the biggest factors here is going to come down to experience. Ottawa is behind the eight ball here in that regards. Most of the Sens roster hasn't suited up yet for this time of year, and we all know playoff hockey is a way different animal than what happens during the regular season.
Pick: Leafs in 5!
Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers
This series has us with the Battle of Florida! It a matchup of the last five Eastern Conference Champions and what will be a highly entertaining and very even series. Two outstanding netminders square off again in this series with Vasilevskiy taking on Bobrovsky. Scoring depth there is evident on both teams, at least out of their top six forwards. Here's one thing that concerns me for the Panthers. Matthew Tkachuk been out hurt since the four nations tournament. Aaron Ekblad is coming off a suspension that's almost over. Nothing against the defending champions, but this isn't going to help their odds at repeating. The Bolts have the top scorer in the league in Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning have depth a little more than the Panthers do and that's going to be a difference in this series.
Pick: Lightning in 6!
Winnipeg Jets vs St Louis Blues
Can the Jets do something that hasn't been done since 2013? That was the last time the President's Trophy winners went on to win the Cup. This would be a good stepping stone to be able to do that. They got the best goalie in the league this year in Connor Hellybuck. They have a well balanced and formidable offensive attack. Here's where it gets tricky, as they are playing one of the hottest teams on the planet. The Blues won 13 of their last 16 games to make the playoffs. At this time of year, you not only have to be good, it helps to be hot too. We've seen teams get hot at the right time and go on deep, unexpected playoff runs. I just have this feeling going into this series that its going to be the overall game that wins out here.
Pick: Jets in 6!
Colorado Avalanche vs Dallas Stars
This could be the most even matchup of the entire first round of the playoffs. Dallas went all in going after Mikko Rantanen, adding him to one of the deepest teams in the NHL. But here's where I give the Avalanche the advantage. They already had a good team. Now they go out and get Brock Nelson at the deadline. Oh and they get Gabe Landeskog back for the first time in two years. This is going to be an all out war of a series but at the end of the day, Colorado has a bit more depth to it.
Pick: Avalanche in 7!
Vegas Golden Knights vs Minnesota Wild
There was some excitement coming out of Minnesota, considering how good a start the Wild got off to. Problem is, they haven't looked anywhere near that kind of team since then. That's not to take away from anything that the Wild have done this year, they still a very good team. But they going up against a Vegas team who very much looks like a cup contender this year.. Look at the year that Jack Eichel has had. He's kept his hot play up from last years postseason. Sure, one could argue that there could be a question in the Vegas nets. At least in this round they can get by with it. Hopefully the opening round will help the netminders get their game in order for what's to come going forward in the playoffs.
Pick: Golden Knights in 5!
Los Angeles Kings vs Edmonton Oilers
For the fourth straight year, we get to do this again with Los Angeles and Edmonton. It has gone the way of the Oilers each of the last three seasons. Conor and Leon are two of the very best in the world and they both had seasons to back that up again this year. Even though Connor did miss some time with injuries. That's going to play a factor in this season. There's more faith in the health and depth of the Kings this year going into this series. This is going to be a battle all series and will go the distance, but the dragon will finally get slayed.
Pick: Kings in 7!
