Elliott’s rust puts Penguins in driver’s seat
There’s a reason the Penguins beat the Flyers in all four meetings this season, outscoring them 20-11 ... they’re better. Have been for the past few years.
The Flyers have gained scoring depth as this season has gone on, partly because Claude Giroux stepped up his performance from merely very good to great on an every game basis, sparking Travis Konecny to do almost the same. The lines have better balance, and sooner or later Oskar Lindblom could score a goal, too.
Meanwhile, the Flyers power play is starting to click, good timing since the Penguins’ penalty kill slipped down the stretch, allowing goals about 30 percent of the time in March.
That still doesn’t match up with the otherworldly Penguins power play, with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist ... well, you’ve heard about them before.
So for starters, the Flyers have to stay out of the box. They did that quite well this season, but they have to be almost perfect about it against Pittsburgh, which will be trying at every turn to incite the Flyers’ more primal, penalty-taking instincts.
Beyond that, the series might come down to goaltending, with Matt Murray coming off a mediocre campaign but pledging he’s ready to go. As for the Flyers, Brian Elliott is going to be as ready as can be, what with two games under his belt after missing seven weeks. He’s going to be a bit creaky trying to get up to game speed, a huge disadvantage for the Flyers. THE PICK » Penguins in 6.
As for the rest of the NHL Playoff matchups...
While the Flyers weren’t picked by many to win a playoff spot, everyone and all their relatives would have bet against the Devils making it.
But then, there were a lot of people who never thought Taylor Hall would be a Hart Trophy candidate. The left wing Edmonton export has had a marvelous season, with 39 goals and 93 points ... and his nearest teammate, rookie Nico Hischier, had
Vegas Golden Knights left wing Tomas Tatar (90) collides with Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom during the third period of a game last week.
41 fewer points. So Hall is obviously a go-to guy, and people like Kyle Palmieri and Patrick Maroon are having solid seasons.
Cory Schneider is another reason. He’s dayto-day but will probably make a go of it. But he’ll have to channel some oldtime Martin Brodeur for this team to get past the top-seeded Lightning. The dynamic duo of Nikita Kucherov (39 goals, 100 points) and Steven Stamkos (27 and 86) will drive any and every goalie crazy. And they’re only part of the story of a deep forward corps. THE PICK » Lightning in 6.
Believe what you want, but the Blue Jackets didn’t seem to want to put themselves in position to play a first-round series with Pittsburgh. What they succeeded in by losing on their last day was get the Capitals, the annual postseason disappointments.
The Capitals still have Alex Ovechkin lighting the lamp from his left-circle podium, 49 total this year. And Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nick Backstrom still act as first lieutenants. From the blue line, John Carlson became the best scoring defender in the NHL. But the Caps don’t have the depth of recent seasons (remember Justin Williams?), and goaltending is a shambles as Braden Holtby somehow lost his confidence lately.
All of which means ... Columbus was right to land softly. Sergei Bobrovsky and a cast of grinders are going to be a very tough out. THE PICK » Blue Jackets in 6.
Should be a seven-game classic. Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and recent arrival Rick Nash (day to day with concussion symptoms) present a lot of problems for opposing defenders, but the Leafs are loaded. Flyers castoff James van Riemsdyk, for example, finished with 36 goals. And he’s only supporting-cast material to a youthful collection of scorers in Mitch Marner (69 points), Auston Matthews (63) and William Nylander (61).
They’ll be hard-pressed to overcome Tuukka Rask’s net presence, however, which is why this should go down to the wire. THE PICK » Maple Leafs in 7.
It took the Avs all 82 games to lock down a playoff spot, getting in with a win over St. Louis and 95 points. That’s a real achievement for a team that almost doubled its point total from the season before. Nathan MacKinnon continued to climb the ladder of the league’s elite with 39 goals and 97 points, and he’s now getting help from an able supporting cast with Mikko Rantanen leading the way.
But they’ve drawn the President’s Trophy winner and Stanley Cup favorite. Start with Filip Forsberg
The ramblin’ gamblin’ Knights finished with 109 points. Even with the loosened expansion draft allowances, not bad for a first-year team. GM George McPhee played that draft like a card counter, and coach Gerard Gallant makes it work.
But it’s the players that pulled off this mini-miracle, beginning with William Karlsson, who scored 43 goals and was a plus49.
As for the Kings, they got (yet another) career year out of Anze Kopitar and still have Drew Doughty on defense and Jonathan Quick in net.
When it Vegas ... go for the long odds. THE PICK » Kings in 7.
The Jets came into their own, led by a multitalented attack that produced a Western Conference-best 277 goals. Blake Wheeler and 44-goal man Patrik Laine fuel this club. Highly paid goalie Steve Mason has been hurt off and on and Connor Hellebuyck is manning the net.
Since the Wild’s top defenseman Ryan Suter is out with a broken ankle ... this series shouldn’t be close. THE PICK » Jets in 5.
Two very solid and even teams, with the Ducks much better balanced than in recent seasons. Like the Preds, they have four scoring lines. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are still topflight producers, and the goals are going to have to come with goaltending up in the air (either oft-injured John Gibson or Ryan Miller).
The Sharks as usual count on Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture to score and got a nice boost from Evander Kane. THE PICK » Ducks in 6.