ECQF: (1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (WC2) New Jersey Devils | Tampa Leads Series 3-1

[Edmonton East]

Bleh. I wanted Bruins.

Tampa in 4, but happy to be wrong. Bolts have been coasting for months, are now healthy, have an absurd amount of talent post deadline, and the right coach to get them to flip the switch come playoff time. Only team in the East I really wanted to avoid. H2H Regular season success means diddly.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

Hearing Stamkos is injured ? True or not??

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Bleh. I wanted Bruins.

Tampa in 4, but happy to be wrong. Bolts have been coasting for months, are now healthy, have an absurd amount of talent post deadline, and the right coach to get them to flip the switch come playoff time. Only team in the East I really wanted to avoid. H2H Regular season success means diddly.

Maybe the Bruins didn't want the Devils.

 

[jkrdevil]

Head says Tampa in six, heart obviously rooting for the Devils.

How injured Stamkos is the big question. If he isn’t close to 100% or he reinjures himself, then it probably is an even series.

Also, Vaselevski’s form of late hasn’t been good. Another big factor. They way the two teams play both teams will get chances off the rush. So if either goalie is off their game it is a killer.

Devils will have to stay out of the penalty box. I don’t think they will be able to consistently hold Tampa off the board on the PP

 

[Hint1k]

Just like the Caps/Jackets series, depends on how well the Russian goalie does.
Bolts in six.

Not really. Vasilevsky does not need to face Kucherov and Johnson. While Bobrovsky has to stop Ovechkin. Active NHL Players - Playoff Goals per Game Leaders

 

[The Winter Soldier]

This series is going to be David vs Goliath. I don't think the Devils mind one bit being David.

 

[glenwo2]

I have a long history of picking NHL playoff series as well as NFL games and MLB playoff series and am very good at it. My picks for this matchup is as follows:

Lightning in 4 (sweep special)

Series is not ending in 4 on either side....C'mon..

 

[glenwo2]

Regular season is meaningless in the playoffs.

You're right, it is.


But also....Games aren't won on Paper.

If they were, then the Bolts would've swept the Devils in the Regular season.

See how that works?

 

[LeafSadist]

Tampa in 6.

 

[ScottyK]

Sweepsville comin’ up.

Youve been saying "fourrrrrrrrrrr" for a few days now.

 

[Venzio X]

Tampa in 4.

 

[NJ DevLolz]

Is Stamkos definitely gonna be ready?

 

[ScottyK]

This reminds me of the philly in 3 posts from 2012 lol.

Devils in 6 the forecheck an bottom 6 will wear out thier higher end fowards an D. Bolts cant bang for a long series like we can

 

[aar000n]

I dislike the Devils so go lightning.

 

[Hint1k]

Is Stamkos definitely gonna be ready?

100%. But you are worrying too much about the wrong guy. He has only 15 goals in his 50 play-off games.

 

[Linda Bacon]

head says Tampa in 6
groin area says Devils in 4

 

[dechire]

This reminds me of the philly in 3 posts from 2012 lol.

Devils in 6 the forecheck an bottom 6 will wear out thier higher end fowards an D. Bolts cant bang for a long series like we can

Uhh in the 2015 and 2016 playoffs they played 6+ games in 5 of their 7 series. Including every single series the year they reached the SCF. Maybe check out the Bolts' playoff history before making random claims. It's not there's any recent evidence of the Devils playing well through a long series.

 

[JustinZ]

Bleh. I wanted Bruins.

Tampa in 4, but happy to be wrong. Bolts have been coasting for months, are now healthy, have an absurd amount of talent post deadline, and the right coach to get them to flip the switch come playoff time. Only team in the East I really wanted to avoid. H2H Regular season success means diddly.

I think the Devils get one so I'm guessing Tampa in 5. I wanted to play anyone except Tampa. This team is absolutely stacked. I think a lot of Devils fans are tricked by that 3-0 record against them. It means nothing. I also don't think Tampa has Bern struggling lately I think they've just been bored. I expect them to come out flying.

 

[killa3312]

Tampa was the best team in the league for basically 90% of the season until they faltered late in the season. They still ended the year with the most goals in the league by far and the best goal differential. I think people are looking too much into their "struggles" and not nearly enough into how stacked their roster is. The core of this team has been deep into the playoffs in multiple occasions so we'll see if they're able to turn it on come playoff time.

 

[PenguinSpeed]

-Stamkos "might" practice next week. "Might" .... Tampa is in big, big, major trouble.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Apr 6
Steven Stamkos	Status: Out Stamkos (lower body) will miss the final two games of the regular season, according to Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who is not ruling out the star pivot returning to practice next week, Bryan Burns of the Lightning's official site reports.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[dechire]

-Stamkos "might" practice next week. "Might" .... Tampa is in big, big, major trouble.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Apr 6
Steven Stamkos	Status: Out Stamkos (lower body) will miss the final two games of the regular season, according to Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who is not ruling out the star pivot returning to practice next week, Bryan Burns of the Lightning's official site reports.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The Lightning don't need Stamkos to win a series(see: 2016) and he's not seriously injured. All these comments "worrying" about Stamkos are transparent. I know the Bolts are intimidating but don't worry. Stamkos will be fine.

 

[Emperoreddy]

This series is going to be David vs Goliath. I don't think the Devils mind one bit being David.

Not in the slightest. They thrive on adversity. It is prosperity they suck at.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Not in the slightest. They thrive on adversity. It is prosperity they suck at.

This is exactly why I like them here in the 1st rd.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Both likable teams with a lot of speed and skill. Definitely slanted towards Tampa but you never know. Hopefully it's a long series because it should be a good one

 

[HBK27]

Regular season is meaningless in the playoffs.

Disagree.

Devils played both Pittsburgh & Tampa well in the regular season. Both would (rightfully) be favored in a series vs. NJ, but the fact that the Devils won both series against these teams shows that they matchup rather well against them. Both Pitt and Tampa play a speed/skill game that NJ can hang with.

Not a coincidence that NJ did not do well in the season series against Boston & Washington - teams that play a slower, tougher game.

The team that wins a season series obviously isn't always going to go on to win the playoff series or even be favored. But that doesn't mean those games were meaningless. It shows to an extent how the teams match up and in this case gives the underdog Devils a bit more confidence heading into the series which is huge since they can't match the skill and depth of the Bolts.