Here are my predictions for the Quarterfinal of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Eastern Conference
(A1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs (WC2) Columbus Blue Jackets: The 2018-19 Lightning are going to go down among the greatest regular season teams ever, but will it translate to when it matters the most? Time will tell. The Blue Jackets are a team that is under some pressure with their President of Hockey Ops looking like he's heading to the Big Apple to take the same position with the Rangers and a coach that might be handed a pink slip. The Bolts are an amazing offensive team led by Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Brayden Point. Their defense is very good too led by Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Mikhail Sergachev, and Braydon Coburn. Andrei Vasilevskiy is one of the better net minders in the game right now. The Blue Jackets offense is very good led by Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Cam Atkinson, and Josh Anderson. The defense is solid led by Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. Sergei Brovovsky is someone in a contract year, but never has had playoff success in his career. That said, the Bolts are the better team and I think they win a short series.
Prediction: Lightning in four games.
(A2) Boston Bruins vs (A3) Toronto Maple Leafs: Second year in a row where these two Original Six teams hook up in the first round. The Bruins are a team that's very deep offensively led by Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pasternak, and David Krejci. The defense is solid too led by Torey Krug, Charlie McAvoy, and Zdeno Chara. Tukka Rask has been solid in net after a slow start to the season and Jarosalav Halak was very good backing him up. The Maple Leafs are loaded offensively with Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Nazem Kadri, and William Nylander. Their defense is better with the acquisition of Jake Muzzin to go with Morgan Reilly and Jake Gardiner. Frederik Anderson is a good goalie, but has not gotten the job done in the postseason as a member of the Leafs. This should be a great series between these rivals and these are two great
coaches too and I like the better and deeper team and that is the Bruins.
Prediction: Bruins in seven games.
(M1) Washington Capitals vs (WC1) Carolina Hurricanes: The reigning champions go for their title defense against a team that has not made the playoffs in a decade. The Capitals are great offensively led by Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznestov, and TJ Oshie. Their defense is deep led by John Carlson, Dmitry Orslov, and Matt Niskanen. Braden Holtby exercised demons in goal in the cup run last season after he was benched to start last years playoffs. The Hurricanes are solid offensively led by Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teräväinen, Justin Williams, and Micheal Ferland. Their defense is good too led by Dougie Hamilton, Justin Faulk, and Jaccob Slavin. Petr Mrazek has been solid in goal and has had some playoff success with the Red Wings several years ago. That said, the Caps are still the reigning champions and they have the experience unlike the Canes, in which should be a fun series to watch.
Prediction: Capitals in six games.
(M2) New York Islanders vs (M3) Pittsburgh Penguins: The Islanders are the biggest surprise of the league this season due to the fact they lost now former face of the franchise John Tavares in free agency. The Penguins have been up and down throughout the season with a ton of injuries and inconsistent play. The Isles offensively are led by Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal, Josh Bailey, and Brock Nelson. The defense has been better than expected led by Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, and Ryan Pulock. The duo of Thomas Greiss and Robin Lehner has been much better than anyone could have hoped this season in goal. The Penguins are loaded offensively led by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and Phil Kessel. Their defense is solid led by Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin, and Justin Schultz. Matt Murray has the experience in goal and has thrived for the most part. The Pens are the better and more experienced team and I like them in what should be a competitive series.
Prediction: Penguins in six games.
Western Conference
(P1) Calgary Flames vs (WC2) Colorado Avalanche: This is a sneaky good series. The Flames are overpowering offensively led by Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Brady Tkachuk, and Elias Lindholm. Their defense is good too led by Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, and Noah Hanafin. The goaltending duo of Mike Smith and David Rittich is not great or playoff tested though. The Avalanche are great offensively led by Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Ratenen, and Gabriel Landeskog. Their defense is sneaky good led by Tyson Barrie, Samuel Girard, and Erik Johnson. Semyon Varlamov has played in playoff games before, but he was hurt during last years playoffs. So much talent in this series on both sides, but the better team is the Flames, who should win a competitive series.
Prediction: Flames in six games.
(P2) San Jose Sharks vs (P3) Vegas Golden Knights: This series was pretty much a given a while back, so these teams weren't playing well heading into the playoffs. The Sharks are very good offensively led by Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier, Logan Couture, Evander Kane, and Joe Pavelski. Their defense is deep led by Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Marc-Édouard Vlasic, and Brendan Dillon. Mark Jones had a down year this game, but has thrived in the playoffs in the past. The Golden Knights are very good offensively led by Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, Alex Tauch, and Max Pacioretty. Their defense is solid led by Shea Theodore, Nate Smith, and Colin Miller. Marc-Andre Fleury is back from injury and was solid in the Knights playoff run a year ago. This should be a good series, but the Sharks are not fully healthy as they have guys recovering from injuries such as Karlsson and Pavelski, so give me the Knights to steal this series.
Prediction: Golden Knights in six games.
(C1) Nashville Predators vs (WC1) Dallas Stars: These two teams are familiar with each other being in the same division and are both well coached with a ton of big name players on their respective rosters. The Predators are very good offensively led by Filip Forsberg, Viktor Avridsson, and Ryan Johanssen. Their defense is loaded led by Roman Josi, PK Subban, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm. Pekka Rinne is widely known for his regular season success, but playoff struggles although if Rinne struggles, Juusi Saros is one of the better backup goalies in the league and has had some success in playoff play. The Stars are very good offensively led by Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Alexander Radulov. The defense is solid led by John Klingberg and Miro Hiskanen. Ben Bishop has been solid this season in goal as he'll start in the postseason and backup Anton Khudobin has been awesome too. That said, the better team is the Predators and I think they win a short series.
Prediction: Predators in five games.
(C2) Winnipeg Jets vs (C3) St. Louis Blues: This is the best series of the first round as the Jets have been very good all year and the Blues had a remarkable turnaround to get to this point. The Jets are loaded offensively led by Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor, and Patrik Laine. Their defense is very good led by Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Dustin Byfuglien, and Josh Morrisey. Connor Hellebuyck didn't have a great year in goal, but he is reliable. The Blues offense is great led by Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn, and David Perron. Their defense is very good led by Alex Pietrangelo, Vince Dunn, and Colton Parayko. Jordan Binnington has been a revelation in net and Jake Allen has the playoff experience too. That said, I don't trust Binnington when the lights are the brightest and the Jets have the home ice advantage so I like them to win a classic series.
Prediction: Jets in seven games.
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