A National Hockey League season that ended Sunday with a game that had meaning now heads to the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The up and down season with stunning winning streaks and infuriating losing skids ended much as one would have expected with major and minor exceptions.
The Vegas Golden Knights were clearly the stunning exception to the season, winning the Pacific Division going away and setting marks across the NHL’s record book.
The less stunning exception was the turn around this season by the Colorado Avalanche, who last season had 48 points to show for their efforts. This year the Avs are playoff bound and looking to build off a solid season as a wild card winner.  
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Eastern ConferenceÂ
Tampa Bay Lighting vs. New Jersey Devils
Head-to-head the Devils took the season series 3-0-0. Cannot imagine Bolts head coach John Cooper being pleased by that heading to the first round. The Devils come in with Nico Hischier and Taylor Hall leading the offense. For Tampa, Steve Stamkos and a host of a others lead the way.  Andrei Vasilevskiy will carry the Lightning net duties while the Devils will look for a number one.
Tampa in sixÂ
Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said he thought his team had lost some of its passion coming down the stretch after the final game loss to the Florida Panthers. The Bruins have the poster children of the Geritol age but the post season is here and loss of passion may be the deciding issue.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Cassidy said. “Two Original Six teams. … We both exited in the first round last year, probably learned some lessons. They’ve got a great coach that I’ve always looked up to and tried to learn from. I think, both good goaltenders. It should be a terrific series if both teams are on their game, and that’s playoff hockey right there, a lot of speed, probably a lot of physicality.”
The Bruins have veteran leadership but the Leafs have been solid all season and want to get past the first round and the Bruins may be the fist big team to fall.
Leafs in seven
Washington Capitals vs Columbus Blue Jackets
Talk about a series of tension and simmering angst. The Caps have invested their essence in the playoffs and they need to make a run at the Stanley Cup Final to make it all worthwhile. If they get past the Jackets, their nemeses in the playoffs may await them in the form of the Pittsburgh Penguins. A good first round performance can give them a lift over a difficult Columbus opponent. But getting out of the first round may be a tall order.
“To be honest with you, we don’t think about what’s happened in the past,” captain Alex Ovechkin said. “We have a different team right now. We have something new going on here.”
The Blue Jackets in the playoffs on the wild card and can make noise in this first round series. Head coach John Tortorella, not known for his calm demeanor, will need to pull a rabbit out of his hat. He has Sergei Bobrovsky in net and that may be all he needs to out duel the Caps’ in net.
Blue Jackets in six
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Philadelphia Flyers
You can imagine a Sith Lord saying, “Good, good, let the hate flow through you.” as you ponder a Flyers-Pens match up. Is Philly the city of champions this year? Eagles, Villanova and Flyers? Philadelphia has been in playoff mode for weeks after being chased by the Florida Panthers for that last wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins have sitting in a playoff spot for months and really it was a fiat accompli they would be here. This one comes down to goalies and who carries the most passion, read as hate, in their game.
Flyers in seven
Western Conference
Nashville Predators vs Colorado Avalanche
The feel good story of the NHL season is the Avs. Hard to comprehend the magnitude of the turn around led by Jarod Bednar behind the Avs’ bench. But they went from 48 points to the second wild card in one season. But they have a tall order in front of them with the Predators. Pekka Rinne has been exceptional in the Preds’ net and the Avs come in with Jonathan Bernier in net, solid goaltender with good pedigree but he has to back stop the Avs past the Predators who have the experience of last season’s run to the Final. Any other opposition but Nashville and we might have put the Avs into the second round.
Predators in five
Winnipeg Jets vs Minnesota Wild
The Jets have ben a remarkable team this season, setting franchise and personal records all season. Connor Hellebuyck has been outstanding in the nets and Patrik Laine is all everything this season and the Jets are gassed up for the run. Their fans want something more than a one and done first round loss. This may be the season for the Jets, Head coach Paul Maurice has kept his club steady even during the skids and kept them grounded during the euphoric runs.  The Wild need to overcome slow starts from the past and make a case for moving on. This Hellebuyck’s coming of age and he will out duel Devan Dubnyk.
Jets in six
Los Angeles Kings vs Vegas Golden Knights
Everyone loves the Knights. They are the amazing story of the era in the NHL. Castoffs and salary cap busters on their old clubs, the roster is replete with skaters selected from the expansion draft and a few acquired over the season. The Kings enter this matchup with a roster of well-known and well-worn players like Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar. But the series, like many, will come down to goalies. Jonathan Quick in the LA net and Marc-Andre Fleury in the Vegas side. Quick won the Jennings trophy for regular season goals against mark. Fleury was injured a few times this season and comes into the post season with as much experience in playoff hockey as anyone would want. This is the upset series
Kings in seven
Anaheim Ducks vs San Jose Sharks
Simply put this comes to two items, the home ice and the goalies. John Gibson has been shelved six times this season because of injury. The Ducks got where they are, second in the Pacific Division, because they have Ryan Miller as a back up; Miller pitched four shutouts over the campaign including the win that pushed the Ducks into the second slot. The Sharks have Martin Jones in net and they trust him. The Sharks faded a bit down the stretch and pushed the Knights to get within three points of the Pacific crown before dropping back to third, one point back of Anaheim. Of the eight first round series, this is the most difficult to handicap. It will come down to home ice with the Ducks holding that advantage and the goalies with that as a toss-up if Miller stays hot.
Sharks in seven
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