Deadline: Monday, May 2nd 7:00 PM EST

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Rules:

Correctly predict team to win series: +1
Incorrectly predict team to win series (team losses/eliminated): 0
Correctly predict number of games: +1
Incorrectly predict number of games: 0
Win by sweep: +2
Loss by sweep: -1

Bonus Question: Correct (+1) / Incorrect (0)

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Eastern Conference:

Atlantic Division:

Florida Panthers (1) vs. Washington Capitals (4)
Number of games:

Toronto Maple Leafs (2) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (3)
Number of games:

Metro Division:

Carolina Hurricanes (1) vs. Boston Bruins (4)
Number of games:

New York Rangers (2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (3)
Number of games:

Western Conference:

Central Division:

Colorado Avalanche (1) vs. Nashville Predators (4)
Number of games:

Minnesota Wild (2) vs. St. Louis Blues (3)
Number of games:

Pacific Division:

Calgary Flames (1) vs. Dallas Stars (4)
Number of games:

Edmonton Oilers (2) vs. Los Angeles Kings (3)
Number of games:

Bonus question predicted by the brand new, reigning, defending, undisputed Hockey Night In Canada Heavyweight Predictions Champion of the World Ed !: Who will have the most power play points in the Lightning/Leafs series?

Ed , RT , @admin , Foos , pduh , Lony , 🤯

Eastern Conference:

Atlantic Division:

Florida Panthers (1) vs. Washington Capitals (4)
Number of games: 5

Toronto Maple Leafs (2) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (3)
Number of games: 7

Metro Division:

Carolina Hurricanes (1) vs. Boston Bruins (4)
Number of games: 6

New York Rangers (2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (3)
Number of games: 4

Western Conference:

Central Division:

Colorado Avalanche (1) vs. Nashville Predators (4)
Number of games: 4

Minnesota Wild (2) vs. St. Louis Blues (3)
Number of games: 5

Pacific Division:

Calgary Flames (1) vs. Dallas Stars (4)
Number of games: 5

Edmonton Oilers (2) vs. Los Angeles Kings(3)
Number of games: 6

Bonus: Auston Matthews

Zap, you counted the Avalanche twice. Edmonton's facing L.A. in Round 1.

Apr 30, 2022 15:37:38 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Zap, you counted the Avalanche twice. Edmonton's facing L.A. in Round 1.

Colorado is so good they are playing two different teams at once! Thanks for the correction.

Panthers in 6
Leafs in 7
Bruins in 6
Rangers in 5

Avalanche in 5
Blues in 7
Flames in 6
Kings in 7

Bonus: Brayden Point

Eastern Conference:

Atlantic Division:

Florida Panthers (1) vs. Washington Capitals (4)
Number of games: 7

Toronto Maple Leafs (2) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (3)
Number of games: 7

Metro Division:

Carolina Hurricanes (1) vs. Boston Bruins (4)
Number of games: 6

New York Rangers (2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (3)
Number of games: 6

Western Conference:

Central Division:

Colorado Avalanche (1) vs. Nashville Predators (4)
Number of games: 4

Minnesota Wild (2) vs. St. Louis Blues (3)
Number of games: 7

Pacific Division:

Calgary Flames (1) vs. Dallas Stars (4)
Number of games: 5

Edmonton Oilers (2) vs. Los Angeles Kings (3)
Number of games: 6

Bonus question for round 1: who will have the most power play points in the Lightning/Leafs series? I say, Nikita Kucherov.

Florida in 5
Toronto in 7
Carolina in 5 
‘Rangers in 6 
Colorado in 4 
St. Louis in 6 
Calgary in 4
LA in 7 

Eastern Conference:

Atlantic Division:

Washington Capitals (4)
Number of games: 7

Tampa Bay Lightning (3)
Number of games: 6

Metro Division:

Boston Bruins (4)
Number of games: 6

Pittsburgh Penguins (3)
Number of games: 7

Western Conference:

Central Division:

Colorado Avalanche (1)
Number of games: 5

Minnesota Wild (2)
Number of games: 5

Pacific Division:

Dallas Stars (4)
Number of games: 6

Los Angeles Kings (3)
Number of games: 6

Bonus question predicted by the brand new, reigning, defending, undisputed Hockey Night In Canada Heavyweight Predictions Champion of the World Ed!: Who will have the most power play points in the Lightning/Leafs series? Lightning

Let's try to get more people involved. Only 5 is not much fun. For the bonus question, Ed wants the player, not the team.

🤯 , pduh , RT , @admin , Foos , Lony , Ed , CM Punk'd

Panthers in 6
Leafs in 7
Bruins in 6
Rangers in 5

Avalanche in 5
Wild in 7
Flames in 5
Oilers in 6

Bonus Question: Mitch Marner

Panthers in 6
Leafs in 7
Bruins in 6
Rangers in 5

Avalanche in 6
Wild in 7
Flames in 6
Oilers in 5

Thanks for running this Zappy, and congratulations to Ed for taking out the regular season!

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Eastern Conference:
Florida in 5
Tampa in 6
Carolina in 5
NY Rangers in 5

Western Conference:
Colorado in 4
Minnesota in 6
Calgary in 5
Edmonton in 7

Bonus: Victor Hedman

LET'S GO LEAFS!!!

Leafs just killed off a five minute major, after that needless check from behind by Clifford.

And had better scoring chances than Tampa in that time.

Clifford for sure getting suspended. What a fucking idiot.

#43 on the Leafs and getting suspended in the playoffs. Name a better duo.

SHORTHANDED GOAL!!!

3-0!!!

Boy, our penalty kill is pretty, pretty, pretty good.

NOW 4-0!!!

If I were the Leafs I would simply do that 15 more times.

Kings/Oilers was a wild game. If that’s a sign of things to come you’re gonna want to watch that series. Draisaitl is an absolute bitch though. Really annoyed that he got away with several penalties then drew one by literally falling into a defender. Tampa tried the same thing against the Leafs tonight and it almost worked for them. If diving is going to start changing playoff games they’re going to have no choice but to actually hand out embellishment penalties, which will just piss everyone off.

Mike Smith is such a loose unit. He'll make a bunch of crazy good saves and then do something as ridiculous as throwing the puck into the slot from behind the net that led to the GWG for LA.

May 3, 2022 7:28:50 GMT @admin said:

Mike Smith is such a loose unit. He'll make a bunch of crazy good saves and then do something as ridiculous as throwing the puck into the slot from behind the net that led to the GWG for LA.

This is why I picked the Kings to win. The Oilers are a “score your way out of trouble” team. That’s very hard to do in the playoffs when everyone you’re facing is giving that extra 10% and working at their highest level. Mike Smith finished the season strong but he’s always been the type of goalie to do something stupid and then all bets are off for the next few games while he tries to get out of his own head.

I also refuse to count out Jonathan Quick just yet. He played pretty good last night and has that championship experience that never quite goes away.

The Kings could totally get blown out in Game 2 but I still wouldn’t count them out. They’re going to take Edmonton the distance and I won’t be surprised if they pull it off.

But I also picked Boston to beat Carolina because Andersen is out and they still got blown out 5-1 last night so what the fuck do I know?

May 3, 2022 15:37:07 GMT RT said:

May 3, 2022 7:28:50 GMT @admin said:

Mike Smith is such a loose unit. He'll make a bunch of crazy good saves and then do something as ridiculous as throwing the puck into the slot from behind the net that led to the GWG for LA.

This is why I picked the Kings to win. The Oilers are a “score your way out of trouble” team. That’s very hard to do in the playoffs when everyone you’re facing is giving that extra 10% and working at their highest level. Mike Smith finished the season strong but he’s always been the type of goalie to do something stupid and then all bets are off for the next few games while he tries to get out of his own head.

I also refuse to count out Jonathan Quick just yet. He played pretty good last night and has that championship experience that never quite goes away.

The Kings could totally get blown out in Game 2 but I still wouldn’t count them out. They’re going to take Edmonton the distance and I won’t be surprised if they pull it off.

But I also picked Boston to beat Carolina because Andersen is out and they still got blown out 5-1 last night so what the fuck do I know?

Smith and Khudobin are like watching one of my beer league hockey games.  Edmonton had every opportunity at the deadline to make an upgrade.  The vets in LA can still go.  Maybe not elite numbers anymore, but Doughty still eats minutes, expect him to play 30 minutes of regulation time, and Kopitar is still putting up decent numbers.  Mix in LA's youth and a rejuvenated Quick this has the makings of an "upset."

Raanta was excellent for Carolina last night.  Boston had all the scoring chances early in the game especially the first 10 minutes of the first period.  Carolina eventually got to their rhythm, which is just endless fore checking, creating turnovers in the neutral zone, and effortlessly skating all around the ice with tons of speed and quickness.  The Hurricanes defensemen are all agile and active.  It creates beautiful cross ice passes, which causes quality scoring chances.  Eventually they become too much for the opponent. 

I'm glad that the Leafs got off to not only a good start, but a dominate game one. Unfortunately, both teams deserve to go far, this is more like a conference final series, not round one.

Boston is going to feed off their home crowd and keep the series interesting. I literally based my pick off Andersen being out and nothing else, so if I’m wrong it is what it is because Carolina has insane defence, but even if Boston goes down 2-0 I won’t be worried because I would fully expect that series to be tied going into Game 5.

May 3, 2022 23:10:05 GMT Zappy said:

I'm glad that the Leafs got off to not only a good start, but a dominate game one. Tough matchup, Leafs/Lightning, this is more like a conference final series, not round one. Unfortunately, both teams deserve to go far, this is more like a conference final series, not round one.

Like I said in the other thread, the 2 and 3 seeds get fucked over in this current playoff format. I hate it, and not just because the Leafs usually end up on the dogshit end of a 2/3 match up. It sucks from a fan perspective.

The Rangers should not be playing the fucking Penguins. Minnesota has arguably their best season ever and their reward is playing the BLUES in the first round. Edmonton/LA is the only match up that I’m fine with, but that’s rare. LA overachieved this year but how often does that happen? The overachievers are usually in wild card spots.

Ooooo I do NOT want to face the Rangers if the Leafs move on. They are the new Boston.

Ryan “Roman Reigns” Reaves.

OOOOOO AAAHHHHH

May 3, 2022 23:10:05 GMT Zappy said:

I'm glad that the Leafs got off to not only a good start, but a dominant game one. Unfortunately, both teams deserve to go far, this is more like a conference final series, not a round one.

Please, I'm trying to not bemoan my hatred of the playoff format anymore. :lol:

Matthew Tkachuk is trying to punch his way to a Stanley Cup

Well, that Rangers/Pens game was quite a ride. Three OTs, about 150 shots, and the Pens winning.

Everyone knew we were going to be riding Igor during the playoffs but even those who were exposed to the Hank years probably couldn't have foreseen him making SEVENTY NINE saves and still somehow lose.

I try to avoid blaming refs too much in any sport I watch, and the Rangers offence was really poor in overtime, but honestly fuck those refs. The game shouldn't have even gone to OT, the disallowed goal was complete horseshit. The story of tonight's game should be Kakko and Chytil combining for the clutch game-winner.

Good teams, especially if you think you are a legit contender to win the Cup, should not be blaming the refs, regardless of how bad they are, for a loss. One word that describes game one, disappointment. Rangers were on fire in the first period. Absolutely dominated it looked like the Penguins had no chance. Their saving graces was DeSmith who was outstanding. After the Rangers second goal in the 2nd period all the Rangers had to do was just keep on playing their game and continue to limit the Penguins high quality scoring chances. The Penguins seemed to have no response.

All of a sudden one line changed the game. Rust/Crosby/Guentzel tied up the game in the 2nd as well as a third goal late in the period. You cannot allow 25 shots and three goal periods. There is no excuse for that. Can't be taking stupid meaningless penalties especially while on the penalty kill.  Can't rely on Shesterkin to make every highlight reel save, that is not fair and not a recipe for success for any team.  The Rangers looked like a completely different team in the second period. So, before the awful call in the third period the Rangers already lost the game by themselves.

In overtime the Rangers could not solve third string wanderer Domingue so once again its on the Rangers, not the refs. Tip of the cap to DeSmith and Domingue who came into the overtime cold. That is difficult to say the least for a cold goaltender in a playoff game anywhere.

I love Kaako taking the puck to the net hard in the third period and stopping with the puck, not skating by, to keep the play going.  He was absolutely pushed into the goalie by the Penguins player, which is on the Penguins not the Rangers.  I wished Gallant was a little bit more upset, however, both Gallant and Strome said the call could have gone either way.  Show some spine don't allow the refs to make bad calls.