Anybody’s guess in Eastern Conference
Seeding means nothing in the giant game of rock, paper, scissors that is the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Top-seeded Tampa Bay lost all three meetings this season against eighth-seeded New Jersey, Toronto beat Boston three out of four times and records don’t matter when Pittsburgh and Philadelphia meet in another battle of Pennsylvania. The Penguins are the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions while the Lightning and Bruins are among the best teams in the NHL — and yet there isn’t one obvious team to beat.
“In the East, anybody can beat anybody,” said Devils defenceman Ben Lovejoy, who won it all with the Penguins in 2016. “When we’re playing our best game, I think we can beat anybody, and I think that the opposite is true. We have to be dialed in no matter who we’re playing, and we’ve done a really good job of that against the best teams in the league this year.”
LIGHTNING VS. DEVILS
The East’s top team for much of the year, Tampa Bay hopes Steven Stamkos is healthy after dealing with a nagging lower-body injury late in the season. Stamkos, 100-point scorer Nikita Kucherov and top defenceman Victor Hedman make the Lightning a scary opponent. The Devils aren’t scared. They have Hart Trophy candidate Taylor Hall, star rookie Nico Hischier and enough veteran playoff experience to not look out of place.
“We’ve been in a playoff spot all year long and we’ve earned the right to be here, so that’s what we understand as a group,” said Devils centre Brian Boyle, who went to the 2014 final with the Rangers and then the next year with the Lightning. “We believe in what we have. The way we play, our foundations, systems, are what got us here.”
BRUINS VS. MAPLE LEAFS
Plenty has changed since Boston beat Toronto in seven games in 2013.The Maple Leafs added Mike Babcock as coach, Andersen in goal and have young stars Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
“It’s a very exciting team, a very dynamic team,” Maple Leafs deadline addition Tomas Plekanec said. “A lot of young talent on this team.” The Bruins can go punch-for-punch with the Maple Leafs and just about anyone in the league. Led by the top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, they have handled injuries to Bergeron, Rick Nash, captain Zdeno Chara and others and just keep clicking.
CAPITALS VS. BLUE JACKETS
Despite losing several key players last off-season, the Capitals won the Metropolitan Division for the third consecutive year. Their reward: a matchup against Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin and the John Tortorella-coached Blue Jackets.
At the very least, it probably won’t be a short series. PENGUINS VS. FLYERS These two teams don’t like each other, which should make for some fireworks in the first round. Since they last met in 2012, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins have won the Cup twice, but something about Philadelphia-Pittsburgh makes for good games.
“They’re really fun games to play,” Flyers MVP candidate Claude Giroux said. “They’re not easy games to play, but it’s easy to get up and play some hockey when you know you’re playing the Penguins.”
Nashville finished seventh in the league with 261 goals without any player scoring 30. The Predators’ ultra-balanced attack is fueled by a group of speedy, play-making defencemen who combined for a league-best 206 points (56 goals, 150 assists). Pekka Rinne’s 2.31 goals-against average was third among goalies playing 40 or more games.
Nathan McKinnon entered the MVP discussion by leading