East Round 1

The Napkin

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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SoSH Member
Jul 13, 2002
28,699
right here
Toronto (A2) - Tampa (A3)
Tuesday, April 18: 7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Toronto SNE, SNO, SNP, CBC, TVAS, ESPN
Thursday, April 20: 7 p.m. Tampa Bay at Toronto SN, CBC, TVAS, ESPN
Saturday, April 22: 7 p.m. Toronto at Tampa Bay TBS, SN, CBC, TVAS
Monday, April 24: 7:30 p.m. Toronto at Tampa Bay TBS, SNE, SNO, SNP, CBC
*Thursday, April 27: TBD Tampa Bay at Toronto TBD
*Saturday, April 29: TBD Toronto at Tampa Bay TBD
*Monday, May 1: TBD Tampa Bay at Toronto TBD

Carolina (M1) - Islanders (WC1)
Monday, April 17 7 p.m. NY Islanders at Carolina ESPN2, SN360, TVAS2
Wednesday, April 19 7 p.m. NY Islanders at Carolina ESPN2, SN360, TVAS
Friday, April 21 7 p.m. Carolina at NY Islanders TBS, SN1, TVAS
Sunday, April 23 1 p.m. Carolina at NY Islanders TNT, SN360, TVAS
*Tuesday, April 25 TBD NY Islanders at Carolina TBD
*Friday, April 28 TBD Carolina at NY Islanders TBD
*Sunday, April 30 TBD NY Islanders at Carolina TBD

Devils (M2) - Rangers (M3)
Tuesday, April 18 7 p.m. NY Rangers at New Jersey TBS, SN360, TVAS2
Thursday, April 20 7:30 p.m. NY Rangers at New Jersey TBS, SN360, TVAS
Saturday, April 22 8 p.m. New Jersey at NY Rangers ABC, ESPN+, SN1, City, TVAS
Monday, April 24 7 p.m. New Jersey at NY Rangers ESPN, SN360, TVAS
*Thursday, April 27 TBD NY Rangers at New Jersey TBD
*Saturday, April 29 TBD New Jersey at NY Rangers TBD
*Monday, May 1 TBD NY Rangers at New Jersey TBD
 
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cshea

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,252
306, row 14
I think this will be the year for Toronto. Tampa is 14-15-5 since the ASB, with a -6 true goal differential. They finished up 13 points behind Toronto.

They've played a lot of hockey the past 3 years so maybe once it became clear that they had nothing left to play for, they throttled it back. We'll find out if they can flip the switch.
 
MiracleOfO2704

MiracleOfO2704

not AWOL
SoSH Member
Jul 12, 2005
9,557
The Island
I think their biggest problem is forward depth. Point-Stamkos-Kucherov at the top with Killorn-Cirelli-Colton will be okay, but they’re without Tanner Jeannot to start (and it may be a blessing in disguise), and will try to get by with a bottom 6 of Hagel-Paul-Eyssimont and Maroon-Bellemare-Perry. That just isn’t good enough.

Contrast it to the Leafs, whose centres will be Matthews, Tavares, and O’Reilly, and Marner, Bunting, Nylabeer, and a surprising Calle Jarnkrok on the top 6 wings. Matthew Knies has also been injected after Michigan’s Frozen Four loss, which bumps miscast Alex Kerfoot back into the bottom 6, where he’s more likely to have a positive impact with the likes of Sam Lafferty, Zack Aston-Reese, David Kampf, and old friend Noel Acciari.

Defensively, I might actually like Toronto’s 1-6 a bit more than Tampa’s. Hedman and Sergachev are both good, but they rotated a lot of guys in (it sorts out to Rasmus Sandin out, Erik Gustafsson/Jake McCabe/Luke Schenn in) around Morgan Rielly, TJ Brodie, Mark Giordano, and Tim Liljegren. No one reaches the heights of Hedman, but I think their top 6 doesn’t get down to the likes of Ian Cole or Taylor Raddysh.

The wild card is goaltending. Vasilevskiy is a known quantity. Ilya Samsonov’s been good enough over the course of the year, but can that be enough? Moreover, if he’s not able to handle the Lightning, plan B right now may likely be Joseph Woll, who is statistically their best goalie this year, but in limited time.

All in all, this has set up perfectly for the Leafs to do something they haven’t done in nearly two decades, but with Kyle Dubas out of contract (that we know of, because executives rarely have extensions that are heralded like players and coaches), a loss could be catastrophic.
 
Huntington Avenue Grounds

Huntington Avenue Grounds

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Jul 17, 2008
1,901
Lunenburg, MA
Devils are a year ahead of where I hoped they would be. Getting a 2014 Lightning vibe from this group: young and in it for the experience but not quite ready to do any serious damage. Now go out there and prove me wong, win a series and use that as a springboard for the next 4-5 years.

Beating the Rangers will be the cherry on top of this surprising season.
 
Ferm Sheller

Ferm Sheller

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SoSH Member
Mar 5, 2007
20,918
I guess I really don't know who I'm rooting for (read: rooting against) in this NY-NJ series.
 
B

bsl394

New Member
May 17, 2022
425
I enjoy watching the Leafs lose in the playoffs almost as much as I enjoy watching the Bruins win.
 
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