First of all Eagle, I definitely have a tonne of respect for your team as well, I had you first in our division, so I definitely consider myself to have gotten the toughest possible matchup.
As for that matchup, I agree you have the best forward in Beliveau, who I will not hide my enthusiam for, if I could get a draft pick earlier for a change I would absolutely select him, just a fantastic captain and first line center, and Plante, if you look at our little vote, you will see I have him first all time.
That said, I think there are a couple advantages to exploit for my team to beat yours, first of all, while I don't consider your team soft, players like Johnson, Ivanov, Bonin, Pronovost and even Beliveau shouldn't be considered soft, I think my team brings more overall grit to the table, and I think the physicality of the Mets can definitely cause some players on the Falcons to second guess themselves IMO.
Line-up wise I think my first line, is a touch worse than the Beliveau line, however, one of the best aspects of Trottier is that he was so strong defensively as well as offensively, so while they might not quite have the firepower of the Beliveau line, I think they are superior defensively (Kerr was also great both ways IMO) enough to make up some of the difference.
I think my second line does outclass yours for sure, Modano is not in Federko's league, even with Modano's cup, Federko is still the better PO performer IMO. Jagr obviously creates a mismatch IMO, add on the toughness and skill of Alf Smith (who forced Tommy Phillips to switch wings in the pre-NHL era in order to get a shot with Ottawa) and I don't think Drillon and Middleton can be considered the equivalent of the wingers that Federko has, just making it even more of a mismatch.
I think our 3rd/4th lines are actually remarkably similar, but I feel with the second line difference I have that it will tilt the overall forwards (no matter if the series is best on best or using checking lines against the top lines) into the favour of the Metropolitans.
I think I also have the defensive defensemen to contain your forwards, and while Ivanov and Johnson (especially, very underrated player) are great defensive players, I feel I can exploit your other four in the defensive end to a greater degree than you could exploit my lesser defensive defenseman, which is only the rover Barney Stanley.
With this in mind, I think I have the definitive edge going into the goalie battle, now, I am a huge Plante fan as I said earlier, but I consider Gardiner to be easily top 15 all time, and probably around 9th or 10th, with some outstanding peak value (3 of the first four first team all stars, as well as a second team, in the 4 years of all star teams before he died, and carried his team to a cup) against some very stiff competition goaltender wise, is very impressive to me, he was widely considered the best goalie of his time, so while Plante's obvious longevity advantage is there, I don't know if his peak value is significantly higher than Gardiner's to the degree that it can make up for the advantage among forwards and defense that I have.
When it comes down to it I see the key matchups being that no matter if the series is best on best or checkers vs. scorers, that my second line has the advantage if they face off against the Falcons second line or if they face the 4th line of the Falcons, that they will outperform the Falcons second line. The second key matchup, is which of my first two lines gets to face the Pronovost/Murphy pairing, I think I have the forwards on both the top too lines to exploit that matchup, and in the end, I don't think Plante will be able to hold the fort for longer than Gardiner, who will have an easier time, and could steal the series on his own if necessary anyway.