EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION (1) Tampa Bay Lightning ver
sus (4) New Jersey Devils The Lightning backed into the division’s top seed when the Boston Bruins lost to the Florida Panthers on home ice in the final game of the regular season. That life line is good news – at least on paper – as Tampa avoids the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. The Lightning boast the league’s No. 1 offence led by Nikita Kucherov’s 100 points, while Norris Trophy candidate Victor Hedman anchors the blue line in front of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Devils are paced by Taylor Hall, who will be making the first playoff appearance of his eight- year career. The former Edmonton Oilers winger’s 93 points this season were 41 more than New Jersey’s second- leading scorer. Keith Kincaid took over the crease as the Devils pushed for the playoffs before securing the second wild- card spot in the Eastern Conference, but veteran netminder Cory Schneider remains in the picture should he falter.
Head-to-head season series: Lightning 0-2-1; Devils 3-0-0
Pick: Lightning in five
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(2) Boston Bruins versus (3)
Toronto Maple Leafs
All but locked into the division’s No. 3 seed for weeks, the Leafs watched as the Bruins and Lightning jockeyed for first. Boston blew a chance to clinch top spot over the weekend with that loss to Florida, setting up a meeting between the league’s fourth- and seventh- ranked clubs. Toronto’s young lineup featuring Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander earned valuable experience in last spring’s first-round loss to the Washington Capitals, while Boston’s roster led by veterans Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara is battle-tested. The Leafs won three of four meetings this season, but there wasn’t much to choose between the clubs. Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen and Boston counterpart Tuukka Rask have near identical save percentages at .918 and .917, respectively. While there’s been plenty of turnover on each side since the teams’ last post-season meeting in 2013, neither fanbase will soon forget how Toronto blew a 4-1 lead in the third period of Game 7 that paved the way for Bergeron’s dramatic overtime winner.
Head-to-head this season: Leafs 3-1-0; Bruins 1-2-1
Pick: Leafs in six
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