R1 - Series Thread - Lightning (A1) vs Devils (WC2)

[transplant99]

Upset special.

Devils in 7

[jeffporfirio]

Palm trees and Hockey.
Lightning in 5

[activeStick]

There is chatter that Vasilevsky is tired from the number of games he's played. I guess we'll see in the playoffs if there's any merit to that. I tend to feel that playing too many games for a goalie impacts them mentally more than physically, which is why you see them let in uncharacteristic goals when overplayed.

I'll go with Tampa though, but in 7.

[Philly06Cup]

Tampa in 4. They're still a juggernaut. It's like they aren't sexy anymore since Kucherov and Stamkos slowed down a bit -- but look at the team. They have it all. NJ is a team that barely squeaked in.

[Erick Estrada]

Lightning in 6.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Philly06Cup

Tampa in 4. They're still a juggernaut. It's like they aren't sexy anymore since Kucherov and Stamkos slowed down a bit -- but look at the team. They have it all. NJ is a team that barely squeaked in.

And to me, New Jersey has decent depth but really only one star offensive player in Hall. Just a reminder, this is Taylor Hall's first playoff series ever, so he might not be ready for the heightened level of play. If you can shut him down, most of the New Jersey offense dries up. When your next two scorers after Hall are rookie Nico Hischier and glorified 3rd liner Kyle Palmieri, you are in tough to score enough goals against a more than capable Tampa defense and goaltender. Tampa also has offense in spades, so I just don't see a scenario where New Jersey takes 4 games from Tampa Bay.

It's a good story to see New Jersey in the playoffs, but I would be stunned to see them upset the Lightning.

[Huntingwhale]

On board the Devil's bandwagon. Hall's been a beast all year. 5 pts in 3 games so far in his first ever playoffs. Don't forget he had b2b MVP awarded to him when his Spitfires won 2 Memorial championships. He knows how to show up in big games.

Nice to see a Calgary boy doing well after escaping the stink from Edmonton.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Seriously. Taylor Hall is an incredible hockey player. It is pretty much single-handed. He caused all of their goals in game 1 and game 3. In game 2, he had six shots. If the Devils make this interesting it'll be because of him.

So much for the question marks about how he'd perform in the playoffs.

[endeavor]

https://imgur.com/gallery/G9Pfynq