I'm very close to being a chalk-playing bitch! 3 of these picks will be wrong.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (WC2)
Tampa in 5- Bob steals a game. Should be entertaining but Tampa is just too good.

Boston Bruins (A2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (A3)
Boston in 5- Wanna say a sweep but Boston will do something stupid one game and give Toronto a lot of PP time. Andersen has been playing poorly. Hope this series gets nasty.

Washington Capitals (M1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (WC1)
Washington in 6- Business as usual for Washington

New York Islanders (M2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (M3)
Pittsburgh in 5- The Pens are peaking at the right time. Murray is playing well.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Dallas Stars (WC2)
Nashville in 4- Meh

Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3)
Winnipeg in 7- Would love to see the upset here. I don't think Hellebuyck is good enough to win a Cup.

Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (WC1)
Calgary in 6- A series I have absolutely no time for.

San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P3)
Vegas in 7- If San Jose only had a goalie…. Wish this series wasn't played in the Pacific Time zone.

_________________
Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Go Islanders.

_________________
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

I will be at least slightly shocked if Tampa doesn’t run roughshod straight to The Cup.

_________________
Not a mult.

Western
-------------------------
Flames
Sharks
Preds
Blues

Eastern
-------------------------
Bolts
Bruins
Caps
Pens

Western Conf Finals
-----------------------------------
Sharks v Blues

Eastern Conf Finals
-----------------------------------
Bruins vs Pens

Stanley Cup Finals
----------------------------------
Sharks vs Pens

Stanley Cup Champs
----------------------------------
Pens

I think all of the lower seeds in the West have a legit shot in Round 1, but from there, it's a toss-up.

Either way, barring injury, I don't see anyone in either conference beating the Bolts.

_________________
Not a mult.

People said that about the 2010 Capitals and then they got goalied in the first round. I certainly don't think that's going to happen this year, but I don't see why they can't drop a best-of-seven to Boston, Pittsburgh, or Washington, or get goalied by the Isles in the conference final. I'm still a little skeptical of the Bolts; they should have won one by now but they haven't.

_________________

As expected, Jacket already getting throttled by the Bolt. 3-0 end of 1. Sheesh...

Nice to see playoff hockey at Nassau.

_________________
Not a mult.

OMG Laine scores for the Jet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_________________
Not a mult.

Uh-oh!!! Now 3-2!!!

_________________
Not a mult.

...then fucking Dubinsky gets 4 for high-sticking

_________________
Not a mult.

Jackets shorty!!!

3-3

_________________
Not a mult.

_________________
Not a mult.

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Jackets steal Game 1!

_________________
Not a mult.

Did the Nashville PA announcer just call Big & Rich "gender-bending" ???

_________________
Not a mult.

I hate the Predators.

_________________
Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

I hate Dallas a little less.

_________________
Not a mult.

Nice win by the Blues!

_________________
Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Jackets up 2-0 in the first

_________________
Not a mult.

Yes. YES. You gotta love this from the perspective of keeping any team from bumping off the '13 Hawks as the best season of a generation.

Drop in on Pens-Isles if you haven't yet, the Nassau crowd is electric. They're erupting over Pittsburgh icing it.

_________________

The Nassau Coliseum really is the platonic ideal of an NHL venue: it's a dank old building (even with the recent cosmetic work) full of ornery suburbanites listening to shopworn Rolling Stones and Rush songs through a crappy p.a. system. Sucks that they'll have to play any further rounds in Brooklyn with their slushy PVC-cooled ice and their dead crowds.

_________________

Don’t care as long as they advance.

_________________
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Jackets 3-0.

If this holds, I sure hope there isn't a repeat of last year...

_________________
Not a mult.

Great Christ, Jackets just smothering the Bolts - should have been the other way around.

5-1. Game is over at this point.

_________________
Not a mult.

Tampa has Columbus right where they want em, once the Bluejackets return home and remember, "oh, yeah, we're Columbus, we don't win playoff series"

Vegas took a 3-0 lead and chased Jones 6 minutes in...and then proceeded to cough up that 3 goal lead by the end of the 1st period.

Jets-Blues tied 3-3 after 2 periods. Jets out-hitting the Blues 62 to 37 in the series. Blues PP zero for 6 in the first 5 periods, Jets 2-4. Laine's scored as many goals in the last 2 games (2) as he did in the previous 20.

Columbus is looking great. Vasi is letting in soft goals and everything Torts is touching is turning to gold. Very happy with the Blues as well. What a turnaround this season. Looking forward to the Toronto/Boston tilt today.

_________________
Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Kucherov probably getting a phone call. Tripping someone and the boarding them as they are in knees is not a good look.

NHL Player Safety
‏
Verified account

@NHLPlayerSafety
Follow Follow @NHLPlayerSafety
More
Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov will have a hearing tomorrow for Boarding Columbus’ Markus Nutivaara.

10:37 PM - 12 Apr 2019

_________________
Not a mult.

Hey look - It’s Mike Smith! Didn’t know he was in Calgary; thought he was out of the league.

Makes me want to see the Flames lose now.

_________________
Not a mult.

Suspended for Game 3.

_________________
Not a mult.

I thought he’d get two but the NHL is loathe to suspend stars in playoffs. On the other hand, Nazir Kadri might of started his vacation tonight.