*Closed* 16 years of Champions Bracket [R1] - 8. TAMPA 2020 vs. 9. WASHINGTON 2018

[Tufted Titmouse]

Pick which team you think would win in a 7 game series:


Playoff stats

TAMPA 2020						WASHINGTON 2018
Player	GP	G	A	PTS		Player	GP	G	A	PTS
Nikita Kucherov	25​	7​	27​	34​		Evgeny Kuznetsov	24​	12​	20​	32​
Brayden Point	23​	14​	19​	33​		Alex Ovechkin	24​	15​	12​	27​
Victor Hedman	25​	10​	12​	22​		Nicklas Backstrom	20​	5​	18​	23​
Ondrej Palat	25​	11​	7​	18​		T.J. Oshie	24​	8​	13​	21​
Yanni Gourde	25​	7​	7​	14​		John Carlson	24​	5​	15​	20​
Blake Coleman	25​	5​	8​	13​		Lars Eller	24​	7​	11​	18​
Kevin Shattenkirk	25​	3​	10​	13​		Tom Wilson	21​	5​	10​	15​
Alex Killorn	24​	5​	5​	10​		Brett Connolly	24​	6​	3​	9​
Mikhail Sergachev	25​	3​	7​	10​		Matt Niskanen	24​	1​	8​	9​
Anthony Cirelli	25​	3​	6​	9​		Devante Smith-Pelly	24​	7​	1​	8​
Tyler Johnson	25​	4​	3​	7​		Jakub Vrana	23​	3​	5​	8​
Barclay Goodrow	25​	1​	5​	6​		Jay Beagle	23​	2​	6​	8​
Pat Maroon	25​	1​	5​	6​		Dmitry Orlov	24​	2​	6​	8​
Ryan McDonagh	22​	1​	4​	5​		Chandler Stephenson	24​	2​	5​	7​
Zach Bogosian	20​	0​	4​	4​		Andre Burakovsky	13​	2​	4​	6​
Erik Cernak	25​	0​	4​	4​		Michal Kempny	24​	2​	3​	5​
Cedric Paquette	25​	0​	3​	3​		Brooks Orpik	24​	1​	4​	5​
Luke Schenn	11​	0​	2​	2​		Alex Chiasson	16​	1​	1​	2​
Carter Verhaeghe	8​	0​	2​	2​		Christian Djoos	22​	0​	1​	1​
Steven Stamkos	1​	1​	0​	1​		Braden Holtby	23​	0​	1​	1​
Mitchell Stephens	7​	1​	0​	1​		Jakub Jerabek	2​	0​	1​	1​
Jan Rutta	5​	0​	1​	1​		Nathan Walker	1​	0​	1​	1​
Andrei Vasilevskiy	25​	0​	1​	1​		Travis Boyd	1​	0​	0​	0​
Braydon Coburn	3​	0​	0​	0​		Shane Gersich	2​	0​	0​	0​
Alexander Volkov	1​	0​	0​	0​		Philipp Grubauer	2​	0​	0​	0​
Player	GP	SV%	GAA	Gs_above_avg_po		Player	GP	SV%	GAA	Gs_above_avg_po
Andrei Vasilevskiy	25​	0.93​	1.9​	7.7​		Braden Holtby	23​	0.92​	2.16​	6.2​
						Philipp Grubauer	2​	0.84​	4.55​

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[Tufted Titmouse]

Updated look at the bracket (seeding done by reg season win%)

 

[JaegerDice]

The 2020 Lightning were the better of the two Lightning squads, while the Caps were a weaker version of the 16 and 17 rosters that got hot at the right time.

Tampa wins this easily imo. More high end talent. More depth. Better defense. Better goaltending.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

The 2020 Lightning were the better of the two Lightning squads, while the Caps were a weaker version of the 16 and 17 rosters that got hot at the right time.

Tampa wins this easily imo. More high end talent. More depth. Better defense. Better goaltending.

Yet the 18 Caps dominated the Lightning in the playoffs

 

[LightningStorm]

Yet the 18 Caps dominated the Lightning in the playoffs

The 2018 Lightning aren't in this poll. Besides, the 2020 Lightning were a bigger and more physical team than in previous years.

 

[banks]

That 2020 Lightning squad was near perfect. I expect them to go deep in this bracket. No offense to the Caps, but Tampa wins here.

 

[JasonRoseEh]

The 2020 Lightning were the better of the two Lightning squads, while the Caps were a weaker version of the 16 and 17 rosters that got hot at the right time.

Tampa wins this easily imo. More high end talent. More depth. Better defense. Better goaltending.

Yet the 2018 Capitals handled the Lightning relatively easily against a very similar team and hold the regular season advantage against them since then.

They absolutely do not beat this Capitals team easily.

 

[J T Money]

Yet the 2018 Capitals handled the Lightning relatively easily against a very similar team and hold the regular season advantage against them since then.

They absolutely do not beat this Capitals team easily.

The biggest difference between 2018 and 2020 Lightning was the coaching. Getting swept in 2019 ended up being the best thing to happen.

That said, I’d expect the Lightning to win in 6…so not an easy win.

 

[Paul4587]

I don’t think there’s a team post lockout that beats Tampa’s 2020 team. They would dismantle the 2018 Caps.

 

[These Are The Days]

Tampa in 5. That team had 2 bad games that they outright lost against CBJ and Boston that entire run. If Point isn't playing with his groin blown out, a 16-2 run is neither impossible or unrealistic for that group. Edit: I'll concede 16-3/16-4 because even they weren't perfect. But damn son they were close.


They have an argument of being the best champion of the last 20 years

 

[Master P]

Tampa ainec

 

[JasonRoseEh]

The biggest difference between 2018 and 2020 Lightning was the coaching. Getting swept in 2019 ended up being the best thing to happen.

That said, I’d expect the Lightning to win in 6…so not an easy win.

I'm a Caps guy and I think the 2020 Bolts win but anyone saying easily is kind of clueless. This is a tight series.

 

[Johnny Tomala]

Lightning are one of the best winners of SC in post lockout era. Capitals are in top 3 of the weakest one along with Blues and Hurricanes.