My vote is for Db.

Man's got some serious advanced stats knowledge.

Most likely matchups ranked from best to worst

MIN - STL
TBL - TOR
CAR - BOS
CGY - NSH (Based off tonight's game)
COL - DAL THIS AND CGY ARE INTERCHANGEABLE, TOP PLAYS NSH.
NYR - PIT THESE ARE
FLA - WSH INTERCHANGEABLE DEPENDING ON WHO PLAYS PIT
EDM - LAK

Imagine VGK having cap to do this

Fwiw DAL and NSH have equal points, and DAL has much easier games than NSH coming.

I'd say CGY-DAL is more likely than CGY-NSH, although I've probably just jinxed it haven't I.

I was assuming they both go 1-1... Just for sake of it being easy. But either way they become interchangeable. I switched my Rankin up a bit.

Idk I feel Carolina vs Boston may not be that great as people think

Mainly because well Freddie has a bad history against the Bruins especially in clutch games....

That and Boston seemingly loves to play the Canes

2020 won 4-1
2019 won 4-0

And in the 2020 games Halak was the one in net except for game 1.

They will once they trade Pacioretty

In all this playoff hubbub, Panthers have stolen the President's trophy from the Avs.

They also got themselves that curse and will not be making it any further than the 2nd round after sweeping PIT/WSH. TB will end their season.

i feel like car-bos will be kinda boring. defensive slog, and andersen is missing part of the first round so it might be kyochetkov starting game 1. flames have the advantage on the preds but it will be a war. lucic is goated, nobody can touch him, i wonder if nashville dresses harpur as well, to go with mccarron, because the flames have 3 guys in that weight class in lucic/gudbranson/zadorov, and while guys like jeannot and borocop are solid enough, calgary’s boys are bigger. they are also better players, so they get more minutes than you’d like to give a guy like harpur or mccarron, so calgary would take that line matchup anyway. saros injury is a big question mark though

I hope the NHL appreciates Steven Stamkos as much as Tampa does.A broken leg, torn meniscus, blood clot and core injuries kept him from being the top 5 goal scorer he was going to be.The captain didn’t care and became an elite playmaker instead. Hockey Hall of Fame one day.

— Andrew Weiss (@WeissHockeyTalk) April 27, 2022

Steven "Elite" Stamkos.

Or in EA games terms.

Steven "Franchise" Stamkos.

When we find out what happened to Saros LMK... may change who I want to play in the playoffs

Idk to me after watching these past few Panthers game are they even gonna make it past the first round....

To me I think we see either Pit (with Jarry) or Washington pull off the greatest upset in NHL history next to CBJ sweeping the record tying Lightning and win in 4 games. Or maybe Florida steals a game or two and loses in 5 or 6

As man Bob and Playoffs (other than 2019) are just not the greatest duo and their PK is not the greatest rn. Plus Ekblad could miss a game.

Dallas’s fate is in Arizona’s hands (1/4 of the possible clinching senarios), the same team that has the conditions on the 4th round pick from the Wedgewood trade, that turns into a 3rd if they lose.

Sorry Vegas, but your fate seems to be almost shut closed.

Juuse Saros leaves game barely able to put weight on his left leg - anyone else feel like they are gonna puke?

— Lyndsay Rowley (@LyndsayRowley) April 27, 2022

John Hynes has no update on Juuse Saros.

— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) April 27, 2022

They've just won 13 games in a row after one smashing defeat against TB and now BOS. But overall I think that team is just way too good to lose.

Or to be more precise, i don't think WSH or PIT have it in them to beat them.

Metropolitan just sucks compared to the Atlantic this year.

With SO win, DAL magic number is down to 1️⃣. Any one point gained by #TexasHockey over final two games will clinch playoff spot and eliminate @GoldenKnights.#LAKings clinch playoff berth. ✅#preds clinch playoff berth, after all that. ✅ Saros injury potentially looms large.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 27, 2022

Rittich szn

I really hope Saros is OK, bec. if not, that takes away a brilliant 1st round series-Nashville doesn't go down without a fight come playoff time

This was probably his best one of the night

One of many game-saving stops from Jake Oettinger tonight.This one has Colorful Moment written all over it. 🥶NHL x @PPG pic.twitter.com/1c04eDcVU9

— NHL (@NHL) April 27, 2022

Yeah but remember Tampa tied an NHL record for most wins in a season back in 18-19 and got swept by the CBJ who were a wildcard team.

Florida to me is in a very similar boat. They are winning a bunch but have some issues that can be a game changer in the post season (i.e. special team defense and goaltending)

Bob is a big wildcard and in the past (other than in 2019) he has shown to not be the greatest playoff performer. Heck was their #3 last year. If they win the president trophy I feel Pittsburgh or Washington may pull off another big upset. Wont be a clean sweep but I feel a 6 game exit could happen unless Bob finds that 2019 magic.

Steven Stamkos on @AM34 scoring 60: “It’s really difficult to do and he's making it look pretty easy.. Probably took it a little close to the wire for his comfort. But amazing player, amazing goal scorer, and a guy who is going to score a lot more in this league."

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) April 27, 2022

CBJ also charged on a lot for that playoff series spending like hell on Duchene and Dzingel, and TB had a clear issue with grit as well. You could say that Torts beat Cooper in his own game.

That was an extremely valuable learning experience for TB which lead to two cup wins afterwards.

I don't think FLA is making the same mistakes.

Faksa blocked a shot with his face though! #warrior #leadership #toplinetalent #theREALmvp

Felt: that. pic.twitter.com/w2HW0zSW5a

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) April 27, 2022