FILE - In this June 7, 2018, file photo, Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, of Russia, hoists the Stanley Cup after the Capitals defeated the Golden Knights in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, in Las Vegas. For once, Ovechkin and the rest of the Washington Capitals head into the NHL playoffs without having to hear _ and answer _ so many of those same, old same-olds. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin tonight with the Eastern Conference Wild Card Columbus Blue Jackets against the President’s Cup crowned Tampa Bay Lighting. All 8 matches will be set for tonight and tomorrow to kick off the quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Here’s what you need to know about the First-Round Match-ups for Wednesday night.
(WC2) Columbus Blue Jackets vs (A1) Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay has cruised throughout the season with the Florida breeze at their sails. Winning the President’s Cup with a remarkable 62-16-4. The only other team to win 62 games were the 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings, and that was before the “Loser Point,” era. Steven Stamkos (45 goals, 53 assists, and 98 points) along with Nikita Kucherov (41g, 87a, 128p) and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (39 wins 10 losses, 2.40 Goals Against Average, and .925 Save Percentage) have done more than their fair share to carry the Lightning to the playoffs. Head Coach Don Cooper has done a great job at guiding this team through some injuries mid-season and relying on the skilled depth scoring to making a push for the playoffs feel like Margaritaville. Don’t be surprised for a deep playoff run from Tampa Bay.
Columbus (47-31-4) eeked into the quest from some help of Montreal not being able to finish better down the line. On the same token, the Blue Jackets are playing well as of late going 7-3 in their last 10 games. Analysts weren’t able to pin who was going to make the Eastern Wild Card 2 spot, but with CBJ in control of their destiny and their core group gelling well as of late, their hot finish carries momentum into their playoff run. Artemi Panarin (28g, 58a, 87 p) has been the offensive backbone of Columbus setting up the goals for the rest of the team to execute. Cam Atkinson (41g, 28a, 69 p) has been the finisher while Sergei Bobrovsky (37-24, 2.58 GAA, .913 Sv%) has been the reason for years that CBJ is able to hang in games and grab points.
Tampa on paper is the easy favorite, but Columbus with their momentum to get in, will make this series interesting.
(M3) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (M2) New York Islanders
After the New York Islanders (48-27-7) lost out on former star captain John Tavares to the Toronto Maple Leafs it quickly look appeared that the Islanders were on a crash course again, but with the help of Matthew Barzal (18 g, 44a, 62p) and John Bailey (16g, 40a, 56p) muscling through the season. Brock Nelson with Anders Lee has also chipped in with at least 25 goals and 20 assists. The Islanders have found success in both goalies they carry in Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss. Backstopping at a combined 48 Wins, 2.15 Goals Against Average and .928 Save Percentage! The stars have aligned for the Islanders from a dreary offseason to a playoff berth.
The playoff perennial Pittsburgh Penguins skate in at 44-26-12 on the shoulders of the great Sidney Crosby (35g, 65a, and 100 p) and Jake Guentzel (40g, 36a, and 76p) have iced their own path to the playoffs to no surprise. Matt Murray has led their crew to 29-14 record, 2.69 GAA, and .919 Sv%. The Pens have a solid defensive core that causes zone entries to be a real problem, paired with their passing game and you have the recipe for wins and a playoff berth. Pittsburgh is battle-tested, experienced, and ready.
The Islanders are one of the feel-good stories and 2-1-1 against the Pens this year. The wins in this series are going to close. If Stanley Cup history can teach, a Game 7 is a high likelihood between these two foes.
(WC1) Dallas Stars vs (C1) Nashville Predators
After Colorado got off to a hot start it took Nashville (47-29-6) to almost the New Year to catch up and surpass the Avalanche for the Central Division’s top spot. From there Nashville and Winnipeg battled the rest of the season for the top. The Preds ran to finish winning 7 out of 10. Ryan Johansen (14g, 50a, and 64p) and Victor Arvidsson (34g, 14a, 48p) have been the big producers on offense while having the defensive presence of P.K. Subban and Kyle Turris doesn’t hurt either. Nashville is poised to run deep while facing a division rival Stars team they went 3-2 during the regular season.
Dallas (43-32-7) has really rebounded to the surprise of the league. When the owners publicly called out the captains and lead players out and fanned their dirty laundry in the air (not to mention the revolving door of coaches the past 5 years), it should’ve been a dark time and the imminent rebuild was coming. Now we’re talking about a team who help the Wild Card spot for most of the season after that incident. Tyler Segin (33g, 47a, 80p) and Alxander Radulov (29g, 43a, 72p) have done a great job at keeping the Stars in line and helping them positions themselves to a playoff spot. Ben Bishop (27-15, 1.98 GAA, .934 Sv%) being healthy again and looking like his former self is solid for the Stars to make an upset appearance against the Preds.
Even though the Preds have the season series in hand, the Goals For and Goals Against have been 14 apiece per team. The feeling is the wins will sway to whomever’s goalie is hot!
(C3) St. Louis Blues vs (C2) Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg (47-30-5) has played strong all season long and then faltered slightly toward the last 10 games going 4-5-1. That doesn’t discount that the Jets are a complete team looking for a better quest this year. The difference will be if Patrick Laine will actually show up and compete as to where he was a ghost on the rink in last year’s playoff run. The Jets have quite the quartet in Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and P. Laine. They all have at least 50 points, 20 goals, and 20 assists! Stopping the offensive show is a high flying task of any defensive set against them, not to mention St. Louis too. Connor Hellebuyck hasn’t waiver much in form all season going 34-23, a 2.90 GAA, and a .913 Sv%.
St. Louis (45-28-9) hasn’t had much luck against Winnipeg going 1-2-1 and with those games being a high scoring affair. The Blues may have found the key in their rookie goaltender in Jake Binnington, he’s 24-5-1 with a blistering 1.89 GAA, while sporting a .927 Sv%. Ryan O’ Reilly finding new life being traded from Buffalo has cranked out a 28g, 49a, 77 point season. Not too far behind Ryan is the long time Blue, Vladimir Tarasenko going 33g, 35a, and 68p. The Blues can boast depth having 10 players on the roster posting at least a 30 point season.
The test will be how St. Louis matches up against a notoriously hard-hitting defense in the Jets. Sustained zone entries have been an issue, but if they can rely on their depth to put shots on net, getting to the goalie may prove to be a brief task. On that flip side, if Winnipeg can crack the code of the fountain of youth in St. Louis’ net, the series will be a quick one.
(P3) Vegas Golden Knights vs (P2) San Jose Sharks
San Jose (46-27-9) started slow, got hot, and then misfired toward the end going 3-6-1. Momentum is everything going into the Stanley Cup, but Vegas (3-5-2) didn’t help their case as they both clinched their spots early and slumbered to the end. Regardless of what the off-season holds, San Jose led by the defensive juggernaut of Brent Burns (16g, 67a, 83p) complemented with an impressive cast of 7 other players recording 51 points or more this season which are Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture, Timo Meier, Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane, Kevin Labanc, and ageless Joe Thornton. Everyone thought that Erik Karlsson would’ve stood out, but they have had a solid core for most of the season. Especially rallying around Kane’s tough personal life through the season. Matt Jones (36-19, 2.94 GAA, and .896 Sv%) has been okay, but he needs to get on track and hot if San Jose is going to make a deep run for Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Vegas Golden Knights (43-32-7) has seen it’s fair share of ups and downs along with struggling depth production, but Jonathan Marchessault (24g, 34a, 59p) and William Karlsson (24g, 32a, 56p) have been the mainstay of this team playing all 82 games. Vegas is clamored to make a deep run again, but that’s only if Paul Statsny can support the other wingers and provide a solid 2 way game against the Sharks. On that note, if Marc-Andre Fleury can be in his classic playoff form there is no doubt they at least make it to the Second Round.
The Sharks are 2-2 on the season against the Knights, but the losses have been lopsided victories. This is one series that I can’t put my finger on. Vegas has the potential upside, but San Jose has the production proof that they can score. Both San Jose (25-11-5) and Vegas (24-12-5) play well at home, but the Golden Knights (19-20-2) have not played well on the road as opposed to the Sharks (21-16-4). Lastly, if Vegas can’t steal an away game, the Sharks will be the ones to move on.
Make sure dinner and the drinks are all ready to be served, because this is going to be a wild ride! All games will be aired on the NBC network and their affiliates.
Editor’s Note: The Thursday Stanley Cup Playoff Games will have their own primer.
