There will be no shortage of great storylines in this spring’s edition of the best postseason in professional sports.
That’s right. The Stanley Cup playoffs get going tonight, and the first-round matchups are going to be downright amazing. Will the Pittsburgh Penguins be able to make it a three-peat or will they even get out of the first round in another heated battle with the Philadelphia Flyers?
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Is this the season that the Washington Capitals will finally break through, exorcise all of those playoff ghosts and live up to their potential?
Can the Nashville Predators take care of unfinished business from last season and again make to the Stanley Cup Final, but this time, finish by hoisting the Cup? Music City certainly deserved it with their support last season and that should be the place to be again this spring if you’re a hockey fan.
Then there’s the Cinderella story of the Vegas Golden Knights, who are ready to continue the magical expansion ride that’s lasted all season. All of these storylines and more are going to make for some great entertainment night after night this spring.
At the end of the day, however, I’ve already written the column that predicts the Bruins are going to win the Stanley Cup, so I’m committed at this point. The Bruins and Predators have played some very heavy, entertaining, big-boy hockey games the past few seasons, so a Final featuring the two of them, and PK Subban again facing the Bruins, would be great hockey theater.
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In the interest of full disclosure, I am not very good at giving the Stanley Cup playoffs the crystal ball treatment. Last season, I had both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators out by the end of the second round and Jonathan Toews winning a Conn Smythe on the way to the Chicago Blackhawks hoisting the Cup once again while defeating Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. Yeah, not so much.
Boston Bruins
With all that being said, here’s a quick Stanley Cup playoff preview of those teams that actually did qualify for the tournament:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
First round
Tampa Bay Lightning over the New Jersey Devils in five: The Lightning are a wagon at both the back and the front ends and it appears Andrei Vasilevskiy is getting his game back. That’s unfortunate for the Devils, who aren’t very deep beyond Taylor Hall and could be stuck in the middle goaltending-wise between Keith Kinkaid and Cory Schneider. Simply getting in was a big deal for Jersey.
Bruins over Toronto Maple Leafs in seven: This will be a difficult series for the Black and Gold and Toronto is probably the toughest of the matchups they could have had in the first round. Boston’s experience, their goalie advantage and their superior defensive corps will end up saving the day in a series that will go down to the wire.
Pittsburgh Penguins over the Philadelphia Flyers in six: The series will undoubtedly take a chunk out of the Penguins at the beginning of another playoff run and at some point in the postseason, the Pens will run out of gas. But Sid, Malkin, Phil and their cast of champions will have enough to take out the talented Flyers in an entertaining series.
Columbus Blue Jackets over the Washington Capitals in seven: I’ve picked the Caps to make it to the Finals two seasons in a row and I’ve been way wrong. I won’t get fooled again. This has all the makings of Sergei Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets stepping up to outwork and frustrate the Caps again to send them home way too early.
Second round
Bruins over Lightning in six.
Penguins over Blue Jackets six.
Eastern Conference Final
Bruins over Penguins in five.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
First round
Nashville Predators over the Colorado Avalanche in five: It’s a really nice step for Nathan MacKinnon and the Avs to get back into the playoffs and some winning hockey, but the Predators are a Music City hockey wagon that can’t be stopped. A quick series against Colorado could set Nashville up nicely for a long run.
Winnipeg Jets over the Minnesota Wild in four: The Ryan Suter injury is a killer for the Wild, who go up against high-powered Winnipeg, which finally has its next-level goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck. The Wild are a solid, consistent bunch in the regular season, but they are severely outgunned in this series.
Los Angeles Kings over the Vegas Golden Knights in six: It certainly was a magical season for the Golden Knights and their home-ice advantage absolutely turned out to be a strong one. Still, this isn’t the regular season anymore and teams aren’t going to be exploring Vegas in the playoffs. The Kings' star players and plenty of postseason experience will come into play in a strong way.
San Jose Sharks over the Anaheim Ducks in seven: The Sharks window has closed for Stanley Cup contention, but they will still prove to be a difficult out for a big, heavy Ducks team that still very much plays a playoff-style game. In the end, it will come down to Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski taking over and goalie Martin Jones getting into playoff mode. Anaheim is still pretty good, but not nearly as good as they used to be.
Second round
Predators over Jets in seven.
Kings over Sharks in five.
Western Conference Final
Predators over Kings in six.
Stanley Cup Final
Bruins over Predators in seven.
Conn Smythe Trophy winner
Brad Marchand
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