NHL Playoffs

Hello, for my blog my blog I  will be telling you some of my predictions for the playoffs. I’m only going to do the Eastern conference this time.

Washington vs. Florida

Florida in 5

I really like Washington, they’re my favourite team, but Florida is so good and I don’t think that Washington has a chance. They did win game one and outplayed Florida, but last night Florida smoked them 5-1. I think we my be seeing a lot more of these games, I hope not but we probably will. Last year we saw Washington win game one and then it went all downhill from there. Boston outplayed them for the rest of the series and Boston won the series 4-1. This series will probably be the exact same thing. Ovechkin is still playing at a really good level considering how old he is. He is 36 years old and scored 50 goals! That is unreal for his age and I think he will continue to play at this level next year and hopefully the year after that. He has led them all the way this year but I think this will be the end of the season for the Capitals.

Tampa vs. Toronto

Tampa in 6

I keep going back and forth with this one but I think we will see the same old Leafs once again. They could probably have a 7-1 lead and still blow it. They can never seem to hold onto a lead and have playoff success. But Tampa on the other hand, is always a really good team. They have won two Stanley cups in a row, and they are still really solid this season. They have tons of playoff experience so they should be used to the fast paced and rough action of the playoffs. Toronto is still a really good team, but Tampa is better in my opinion. Toronto has a really good roster led by Matthews and Marner. This year (even though he is twenty six), Michael Bunting has had a really good rookie season. He is on the top line with Matthews and Marner, so that is a really good line. The rest of the forwards are all right. If Wayne Simmonds could learn how to not take a penalty, they might have been even better.

Carolina vs. Boston

Carolina in 5

This series is similar to the Washington and Florida series. Carolina is a super good team that can perform all the time. They never seem to slow down and always have the momentum in their favor, no matter what team they are playing. Boston is the Capitals in this series. They are still a really solid team, but they are the underdog. Carolina already has a 2-0 lead in the series and I think they will keep this going. Carolina’s goalies have gotten injured so that is a problem, but Carolina is still really good, so I don’t know how much this will actually change the series. I didn’t hear how long they are injured for, but hopefully they can come back soon and one of them are able to help out their team. I think that Boston might be able to squeak out a win but Carolina will outplay them and they will win the series.

New York vs. Pittsburgh

New York in 7

Pittsburgh had a slow start to the season with Crosby being injured for a little while. But once he came back, they began to dominate. New York had been good the whole season. They have Igor Shesterkin who is a lock for the Vezina trophy. He has been playing unreal this season, and I think he will continue this for the rest of the playoffs. Not only Igor is really good though. They have Zibanejad, Panarin, Fox, Strome and a bunch of other really good depth players. They recently drafted Lafrenaire recently and I’m thinking that he will turn out to be a pretty good player. I don’t think he will be a franchise player like McDavid or Mackinnon, but I think he will be really solid. he may be a player at the level of someone like Tomas Hertl or someone like that. If he can develop well they will continue to be just as good, maybe even better. Pittsburgh on the other hand is getting older and aren’t playing at the level they used too. Malkin and Letang have expiring contracts, so unless they sign a team friendly deal, the big three that won those Stanley Cups may be broken. This will be a really good series and I think both teams are really good, but I think New York is better.

Well, that is the end of my blog and I hope you enjoyed. Next week I will be doing the western conference. Some of the series’ may be done, but I will tell you what I predicted before anyway. Here is a link to the NHL playoff bracket so you can track the games and see who is winning every series.https://www.nhl.com/stanley-cup-playoffs