LOS ANGELES – The 2018 Playoffs are here. I’ve been making picks in print or over air waves for about a decade. It was getting more challenging every year to pick first round winners. I don’t feel that way this year. I think there are about six to eight teams that could legitimately win the Stanley Cup. The later rounds will produce tough decisions. This round did not. 
EASTERN CONFERENCE –
PITTSBURGH vs PHILADELPHIA – The Battle of Pennsylvania. Two teams and fan bases that legitimately hate each other. The national media will shove the 2012 playoff series down your throat. They will use that series as a reason to give the Flyers a chance. They don’t have one. The Penguins are the two-time defending Cup champs. They Penguins have three dynamic scoring lines. The Flyers have one. The Penguins have Matt Murray in net. The Flyers have the traditional Flyer goaltending woes. The Flyers will try to take this series to the alley. The Penguins under Mike Sullivan have learned not to take the bait. Claude Giroux has had a great year. He is not Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. PENGUINS in 6
WASHINGTON vs COLUMBUS – This series is a requiem for two coaches Washington’s coach Barry Trotz and Blue Jackets’ coach John Tortorella. The goaltenders Washington’s Brandon Holtby (if he starts over his hot backup Phillip Grubauer) and Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky also have their careers on the line. The good news for both organizations is they aren’t playing the Penguins. The Blue Jackets play a more physical game than the Capitals. The Capitals put the puck in the net more often. Washington has the advantage down the middle. Columbus’ Pierre-Luc DuBois and Alexander Wennberg are talented but young. Washington’s Niklas Backstrom and Evgeni Kuznetsov have been thru the wars. Alexander Ovechin’s renaissance will not end in the first round. CAPITALS in 6
TAMPA BAY VS NEW JERSEY – Tampa Bay was the best team in the East all season. Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskly tired this spring. New Jersey goalie Cory Schneider lost his net. The Devils made the playoffs because of backup Keith Kinkaid’s stellar play. Tampa Bay’s secondary ( Yanni Gourde, Brayden Point) scoring is more lethal than Jersey’s primary scoring, save Taylor Hall. The Devils team speed will scare the Bolts. The Devils cannot trade scoring chances with the Lightning’s goal scoring assassins ( Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos). LIGHTNING in 6
BOSTON VS TORONTO – The Boston Bruins are the trendy pick tp win the East. They also have the toughest first round opponent of the four seeded favorites. The Maple Leafs are not happy just to make the playoffs. The want to advance. Both teams have top notch first lines. If Patrice Bergeron’s line can contain Auston Matthews’ line the Bruins’ depth with prevail. The Bruins have a rugged defense led by the ageless giant Zdeno Chara. Toronto goaltender Frederick Anderson has been historically good this year. Tuuka Rask has done the job in Boston. Toronto is gourmet cheese. Boston has the RAT BRUINS in 7
WESTERN CONFERENCE-
NASHVILLE vs COLORADO – The Nashville Predators have the best defense in the NHL. PK Subban , Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mayyias Eckholm rule the blueline. They also have an array of top end offensive talent ( Filip Forsberg, Kevin Fiala, Viktor Arvidsson). The Colorado Avalanche have a better Cinderella story than Walt Disney could write. Colorado is missing their top goalie Semyon Varlamov and top defenseman Eric Johnson. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon has a legit claim to the Hart Trophy. They Avalanche don’t have a legitimate chance to win this series. PREDATORS in 5
WINNIPEG vs MINNESOTA – The Winnipeg Jets have arguably the most talented team in the NHL. They are big, fast and can score. Rookie Kyle Connor has over thirty goals. He’s secondary scoring when you have guys like Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele. The Jets defense is huge and with a mean streak. Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck had more wins than American goaltender, ever. The Wild are scrappy. Minnesota got a career year from Eric Staal. Defenseman Ryan Suter is out for the year. They were overmatched with him. JETS in 5
VEGAS vs LOS ANGELES – The Vegas Golden Knights are a fabulous story. An expansion team won the Pacific Division. Goaltender Marc Andre Fleury gave Vegas instant credibility . William Karlsson led the other expendables who bought into Gerard Gallant’s a fast exciting brand of hockey. The Knights are now in the deep end of the pool. The NHL playoffs. Teams will not get the Vegas flu. Especially not the Kings. The Kings core has two Stanley Cup rings. Anze Kopitar and Dusty Brown looked washed up last year. This year the Kings infused their roster with youth. Kopitar had a career year and Brown lived up to his enormous salary. Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick have also returned to form. A newly healthy Jeff Carter makes the Kings a scary team. KINGS in 6
ANAHEIM vs SAN JOSE – The Anaheim Ducks almost missed the playoffs but they got hot at the right time and come into the playoffs on a role. The Ducks top nine forwards are stellar. Maybe the best combination of scoring, speed and size in the league. The San Jose Sharks won’t have Joe Thornton up front. They will have Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic on the back end. The Ducks defense will be missing Cam Fowler. If John Gibson is healthy Anaheim has the goaltending edge. If he’s not healthy don’t expect Ryan Miller to out duel the Shark’s Martin Jones. DUCKS in 7
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