Eastern Conference: Round 1!

Here we go!  The playoffs have finally arrived, and it took literally until the very last day of the regular season to find out the different matchups we’re going to get to see here.  It has been an incredible season with so many highs and lows for both teams and individual players.  And now it all comes down to this, the race to Lord Stanley’s Cup.  Now let’s take a closer look at our matchups for round one in the Eastern Conference.

Atlantic Division:

2) Boston Bruins vs 3) Toronto Maple Leafs:

Well now if this isn’t a story, we’ve seen a few times in recent years. I’d certainly say so, but maybe this time, we’ll have a different ending…or maybe not.  Toronto had come into this season as one of the sexy picks to win the Stanley Cup.  After all, they have some of the best young talent in all of hockey.  And they landed the biggest fish in the free agent market over the summer in John Tavares.  He certainly has not disappointed so far, setting all new career highs in just about every statistical category.  But so far, this regular season it hasn’t seemed to be enough against the big bad Bruins.

Boston will have won 3 of the 4 meetings the teams had during the regular season coming into this series.  And while the regular season counts for very little when it comes to the playoffs, you must wonder how deep in minds of the young Leafs the Bruins really are.  They took them out easily in the playoffs last season and that has carried over in the head to head matchups this season as well.  And for all the fire power the Leafs have up front, Boston still has the superior power play, which will make a difference in this series.  And while their PK’s are basically even through the regular season, I think the nod must go to Boston here when you compare the defenseman for each team.  Chara may be 41 years old, but he is still Chara.

Final Answer:  I have no choice but to take Boston here.  Aside from being the far more experienced team, they’ve shown nothing but dominance over the Leafs in recent years.  Not to mention they have a physicality that Toronto sorely lacks. I must take Boston in 6.

Atlantic Division:

1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs WC2) Columbus Blue Jackets:

In our premier Eastern Conference matchup, we have the 2^nd most dominant team in the history of the league in the Tampa Bay Lightning.  They are taking on a team who sold it all and bought the farm for their chance at glory this year, the Columbus Blue Jackets.  This is truly a David vs Goliath fight if there ever was one.

Tampa Bay has shown all year that they’re the best team in the league, hands down.  They won 62 games this year, 12 more than the next best team.  They have the leading scorer in the league in Kucherov with 128 pts, 12 more than the next best in McDavid.  They have three different 40- goal scorers in Kuch, Stamkos, and Point.  They’ve not only outscored their opponents but they’re not allowing a lot either.  They’re tied for 5^th in the league in least goals against as well.  When it comes to special teams, they’re the best there too.  The have the best PP in the league with a 28.2% of success.  And the PK is an even 85%, tied with Arizona for tops in the league.

When you look at all that Tampa has accomplished, how can the Blue Jackets even stand a chance?  Columbus is a team that has never won a single round in the playoffs.  They had the Washington Capitals on the ropes last year and then collapsed in what seemed to be their best chance in franchise history.  But now with the team they have assembled and the battles that they have had to go through just to make it into the playoffs…they have a punchers chance. 

They come into this series playing their best hockey of the year winning 7 of the last 8 games.  In those games they have also had 3 shut outs, leading one to believe that Bobrovsky has finally found his game.  Bob is the ultimate X-factor for this series as well.  He is the only active 2-time Vezina Trophy winner. Since March he has gone 10-5 with a .933 SV% and a 1.86 GAA.  Looking at how the forwards compare against the Lightnings, you don’t think they stand much of a chance.  But they have very solid players up and down their line-up.  

The key for them is that they play a team game and they’ll need to follow the lead of their coach in John Tortorella. They’re skilled and have great depth as well.  They must be physical at every chance and eliminate time and space from Tampa.  If they can do that…they’ll have a chance.

That said…I got Tampa…in Five. 

Metropolitan Division:

2) New York Islanders vs 3) Pittsburgh Penguins:

Boy oh boy, this will be a fun series here.  To start the season who would have thought that the Islanders would have even sniffed the playoffs, let alone lead their division most of the year.  But here we are, they didn’t hold on to the top spot but they’re sitting here with home ice through the 1^st round against the battle tested Penguins.  And if anyone knows how a team should play against Pittsburgh, its Barry Trotz.

The key to this series for the Islanders is to keep playing their team game.  Barry Trotz came over from Washington immediately after winning the Stanley Cup last year and turned the worst defensive team in the league into arguably the best one.  They allowed a league low 191 goals against.  When it comes to special teams though, they’re just … not that good.  They have the 29^th ranked PP and they PK is 17^th, playing a team like the Penguins, they must be better.

The Pens are a team who has had their struggles this year but still find a way to get it done.  Early on they had struggles in net from Matt Murray and they just couldn’t win many games. But since the trade deadline they have been on a roll.  They have a 12-4-4 record since then and they’re PP has been clicking with a 24.5% success rate. But the PK on the other hand has only been at 77.5 in that time. Once again though, Crosby has topped 100pts in a season and Jake Guentzel has even hit the 40-goal mark. 

This really is a “styles make fights” type of series and it should be about as even of a series as we can get.  Can the defensive prowess of the Islanders shut down the battle tested warriors that are led by Crosby and Malkin? Time will tell.  For me, I love a good upset, but I’m going Pittsburgh, in 6.

Metropolitan Division:

1) Washington Capitals vs WC1) Carolina Hurricanes:

And now for our last matchup in the East and it is another David vs Goliath scenario…though not as bad as Columbus’s odds.  We have the up-start Carolina Hurricanes (didn’t I tell you they’d be a better team this year!) facing off against the reigning, defending, Stanley Cup Champions of the Wooooooooorld, The Washington Capitals!

The Hurricanes have been a fun team to watch all season long.  They play a fast, high flying style of hockey which is backed up by a top-5 D-core as well.  The questions that they have always had have been in net.  But it seems they may have found an answer in the combo of Mrazek and McElhinney.  It seems that Mrazek should get the start as well, its not like he hasn’t earned it either. He’s played 40 games this season, and 10 since March.  In those last 10 he has gone 8-2 with a .942 SV% and a 1.8 GAA.  He also has a history of playing well against Ovi and his Capitals.

As a team the Canes don’t score a lot though, but they trend into the right direction.  They outshoot everyone and they’ve done that all year and they typically don’t allow many shots either, being ranked 1^st and 3^rd in those two categories respectively.  And they’re tied with Tampa for 5^th in GA this season as well. On special teams they rank 20^th on the PP and 8^th on the PK.  They will need to take advantage of their PP chances in this series.

As for the Caps, we know what they’re all about.  They have a power house of a team and have for nearly a decade.  Led by their captain, The Great 8, they will have their eyes set on a Championship repeat.  In net they have Holtby, who after a shaky start has found his game again, especially since the trade deadline.  Since then he has gone 11-3-1 with a .921 SV% and a 2.2 GAA. Combine that with the 12^th ranked PP and the 24^th ranked PK…and now you have an intriguing series.

Though I have been riding high on the Bunch of Jerks bandwagon and love seeing Mrazek play well, I don’t think they’ll have enough to get through the Caps this time.  Though it won’t be easy at all, I have to put my money on Washington.  They just have been there over and over, and this is the first time in a decade that Carolina has made the playoffs.  This will be a great learning experience for this young team. The future is bright, but Washington in 6.

And with that we have a nice break down of all the first round of the Eastern Conference series.  And once again, my picks.  Boston in 6, Tampa in 5, Pittsburgh in 6, and Washington in 6.  No crazy upsets this round, things should go as expected, though it won’t be easy for anyone.  Am I right here or am I completely out of my mind with some of these? There is only one way to find out and that’s by watching how all the games play out.  But we’ll all know soon enough.  We’ll reconvene with all these teams in round two, until then keep an eye out for the other half of my break down where I examine the Western Conference.