This thread might get completely ignored because of the main 2021 season discussion thread, but it's worth a try.

This is for any discussion related to the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Hi. Who do you think will win tonight (Boston vs Washington)?

I'm picking Boston in 6 in the series ... tonight I'm gonna say Boston.

Boston tonight (3-2). I have Boston winning the series in 7.

Here are my predictions:

Round 1:

vs.
Toronto in 6

vs.
Edmonton in 6

vs.
Pittsburgh in 7

vs.
Boston in 6

vs.
Carolina in 4

vs.
Florida in 7

vs.
Colorado in 5

vs.
Vegas in 5

Round 2:

vs.
Toronto in 6

vs.
Pittsburgh in 5

vs.
Carolina in 5

vs.
Vegas in 6

Round 3:

vs.
Vegas in 7

vs.
Pittsburgh in 6

SCF:

vs.
Vegas in 6

Great quote from Garry Galley:

“He’s had a few disciplinary issues, he’s licked a few people.”

Well that was a rollercoaster ride of a period.

10/10 splits from Vitek Vanecek. If he's out for long, the series could definitely be shorter than expected.

Well it depends on how soon Samsonov comes back. Plus everything is unpredictable in the playoffs, and goalies are voodoo, so I wouldn’t write off the Caps yet.

Well it depends on Samsonov’s availability but if Anderson/Copley is their starter they have a higher chance of losing this series

I agree with your point, but by now it seems like if the caps put someone on the covid list, they just don't want to play them. Like you said, goalies and injuries are impossible to predict.

My playoffs predictions:
CAR vs NSH - Carolina in 5
FLA vs TBL - Florida in 7

PIT vs NYI - Islanders in 6
WSH vs BOS - Bruins in 7

COL vs STL - Avalanche in 4
VGK vs MIN - Knights in 5

TOR vs MTL - Toronto in 6
EDM vs WPG - Oilers in 6

2nd Round:

CAR vs FLA - Carolina in 6

BOS vs NYI - Islanders in 7

VGK vs COL - Avalanche in 7

TOR vs EDM - Toronto in 7

Round 3:

COL vs NYI: Colorado in 5

CAR vs TOR: Carolina in 6

Cup Finals:

COL vs CAR: Carolina in 7

Since it’s that time of year again, I’m going to guess who the first cup passes would be for each team if they win the cup:

COL - Landeskog to Johnson
VGK - Stone to Pacioretty
CAR - Staal to Martinook
FLA - Barkov to Yandle
PIT - Crosby to Weber
TOR - Tavares to Thornton
WSH - Ovechkin to Dillon
TBL - Stamkos to Savard
MIN - Spurgeon to Suter/Parise
BOS - Bergeron to Smith?
EDM - McDavid to Smith
NYI - Lee* to Greene
NSH - Josi to Rinne
WPG - Wheeler to Stastny/Thompson
STL - O’Reilly to Hoffman?
MTL - Weber to Price

*I’m assuming he’ll be with the team, like Stamkos last year.

St. Louis & Boston weren’t obvious. I went with Smith & Hoffman, since they’re the oldest players without cup rings.

Weber for Pens?

Maybe he means Yannick Weber. I doubt it though because he is a 7th/8th defenseman and he's only played two games this season.

Crosby has a history of passing it to the oldest player without a cup. I know he’s not a regular player by any means, but it seems like that’s what Crosby would do. If not him, then it’d probably be Colton Sceviour.

Martinook is a great character and all but I'm not sure if Staal gives it to him first. Reality is it's probably Slavin, Aho, or Svechnikov. Maybe even Hamilton.

Maybe Chara for WAS.

I would say that, but he already has a cup ring. If he doesn’t go Dillon, it’d probably be Backstrom or Chara.

Yeah Carolina was hard, because Staal & Riemer are their only player over 31 years old, which is crazy.

Already a very physical series, Ovi laying the body like he’s Scott Stevens

Unless you are an absolute legend, you're being traded off Carolina by the time you're 35.

Don't understand why Ovi thought the go ahead goal was his. They credited the goal to him, but watching it over and over again, I have come to a conclusion that it went of Lauzon's stick instead of Ovi. He was cellying pretty hard though, so he definitely made it seem like it was his goal. It's not a big deal, just I think it should have been credited to Dillon with the initial shot from the point.

The goal is now Dillon’s also the game is now tied

I’m still not convinced it wasn’t Ovie’s goal. From the replay, it looks like it could’ve been a double-deflection, and if Ovechkin felt the puck hit his stick, then that’s probably what happened.