Part One: The Play-In Round; Eastern Conference
Saturday August 1st, 2020. Mark your calendars folks. That is the day the NHL playoffs will kick off. On the 1st (after exhibition games July 28th-30th) the playoffs will begin with a play-in round, consisting of the number 5-12 seeds of each conference. The 8 teams will square off based on their position in the conference when play was suspended. While it will take a little getting used to watching hockey in July and August with nobody in the stands, I believe the NHL playoffs will still provide the same high energy excitement and electricity that us as fans have come to expect. Let’s take a look at the matchups that will take place in Toronto this round for the 5-12 seeds of the Eastern Conference:
MON (+195) v. PIT (-240)
MY PICK: Pittsburgh -240
This one seems simple enough and even though the -240 line looks extremely unappealing I still don’t think I can bet against Sid the kid and Geno Malkin in this series. Pittsburgh dealt with injuries all year long and still managed a halfway decent year while Montreal did not have the same success. Now Pittsburgh is healthy and gets forward Jake Guentzel back, who was in the midst of a career season (20 G 23A in 39 games) before an awkward fall into the boards led to shoulder surgery and ultimately ended his regular season. The only hope the Habs have in this series is if Carey Price does his thing and steals 3 games, which seems very unlikely at this point. But hey, all of the losers in the play in round get a 12.5% chance at the number one draft pick a.k.a. Alexis LaFreniere so at least there’s something to look forward to.
NYR (+125) v. CAR (-145)
MY PICK: New York Rangers +125
I absolutely love this line. Can’t get enough of it. The Rangers were my diamond in the rough this year, while their 37-28-5 record isn’t anything to write home about, it was still good enough for 7th in the Metropolitan Div. and 10th in the Eastern Conference, making them the 5th most profitable moneyline team this year. This is partly due to the fact that they are consistently listed as the underdogs and still are playing above-.500 hockey. But that’s not the only reason I love this line. The Rangers are 4-0 in the season series against Carolina this year and yet are still listed as the underdogs in this series. The rise of Swedish superstar forward Mika Zibanejad and continued dominance of forward Artemi Panarin paired with the stellar goaltending trio of Igor Shesterkin, Alexandar Georgiev, and Henrik Lundqvist should be enough to propel the Rangers past the Hurricanes and into the first round of the playoffs.
FLA (-110) v. NYI (-110)
MY PICK: New York Islanders -110
The Islanders have faced a lot of off ice drama this season mostly surrounding their stadium, however lucky for them the hub cities take all that drama away and allow the team to focus solely on winning playoff hockey games. Their defensive style is best suited for the playoffs when each goal starts meaning more and more. The Panthers run-n-gun, high flying offense is very exciting to watch however oftentimes leads to the puck in the back of the wrong net, especially when you pair it with the struggles of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky this season. (23-19, 3.23 GAA, .900 SV%) who signed a 7-year $70 million deal with the Panthers before the season. This series is offense vs. defense and the saying isn’t “offense wins championships” but there is a similar saying about defense…
CBJ (+145) v. TOR (-170)
MY PICK: Columbus +145
I probably flip-flopped on this pick 3 or 4 times before making my decision. Toronto has been a completely different team since the firing of Mike Babcock and the young guns on the team have flourished under new coach Sheldon Keefe. But there’s a lot of pressure on the Leafs this year, the franchise still hasn’t hoisted the cup since the original six era and the live cam of a somber maple leaf square after the leafs lose another game 7 has become a yearly tradition. Luckily for them they aren’t facing Boston, yet. Before they get the chance to exercise their Boston demons, they have to face the Blue Jackets. Columbus has gotten bit by the injury bug pretty bad this year losing not one, but two starting goaltender. But those injuries had a silver lining that goes by the name Elvis Merzlikins. The rookie netminder posted a 2.35 GAA with a .923 Sv% and 5 shutouts. His stellar play in net combined with John Tortorella's relentless coaching style has kept the Blue Jackets afloat this year and in my opinion is a style of play better suited for the playoffs and matches up very well against the young squad from Toronto.
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