Author Topic: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)  (Read 16244 times)

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Offline mellongraig

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2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« on: April 07, 2019, 08:25:41 AM »
Well, the regular season has concluded and we are now going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And is this the year where a Canadian team will finally end its Stanley Cup drought? We shall see, but here is the first round matchup:

Eastern:
(A1) Tampa Bay vs. Columbus (WC2)
(A2) Boston vs. Toronto (A3)
(M1) Washington vs. Carolina (WC1)
(M2) NY Islanders vs. Pittsburgh (M3)

Western:
(C1) Nashville vs. Dallas (WC1)
(C2) Winnipeg vs. St. Louis (C3)
(P1) Calgary vs. Colorado (WC2)
(P2) San Jose vs. Vegas (P3)

I also do think the playoff system has been broken given that Montreal had 96 points and didn't make it, yet three teams below (Vegas, Dallas, and Colorado) had fewer points and made it. While they will use the current format again for another year, it's prediction time to determine which teams should move on to round 2 (and in how many).

Offline TPIR_rules

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2019, 12:17:11 AM »
Here are my first round & Stanley Cup Final predictions:


Tampa Bay over Columbus in 5
Carolina over Washington in 7
Boston over Toronto in 6
NY Islanders over Pittsburgh in 6
Calgary over Colorado in 6
Dallas over Nashville in 7
Vegas over San Jose in 6
St. Louis over Winnipeg in 6


Stanley Cup Final: Boston over St. Louis

Offline wink87

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2019, 06:48:41 AM »
Columbus stuns the Tampa Bay Lightning by coming back from a 3-0 first period deficit to win 4-3.

Offline mellongraig

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2019, 10:03:36 AM »
I didn't expect that coming and I do think it will be Tampa Bay's wake up call for game 2 to rebound.

Meanwhile, NY Islanders, St. Louis, Dallas, and San Jose also take game 1 last night.

Offline SeaBreeze341

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2019, 06:56:57 PM »
Quote
I didn't expect that coming and I do think it will be Tampa Bay's wake up call for game 2 to rebound.

We'll see.  Columbus has never won a playoff series since hockey has been created.  This is the same team that more or less gave up last year to the eventual champions, while being happy doing so.  They didn't want to face the Pens, thinking that Washington would struggle against Pittsburgh.  Too bad they didn't.

Tampa Bay should be okay, but I think if they survive, they'll have their hands full against Boston.  Doesn't help that the President's Cup jinx is live and well

Still surprising that Columbus won.  Not a shocker since they took 2 from the Caps last year on the road and had control only to lose out
"Times change; people change" -- Casey Affleck

Offline FieldsFan336

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #5 on: April 11, 2019, 10:01:45 PM »
Leafs take game 1 of their playoff series against Boston 4-1.  Mitch Marner had 2 goals including one on a penalty shot
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Offline mellongraig

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2019, 07:16:08 AM »
Washington and Calgary also won their game 1 series last night as well. All Game 2 series matchups goes tonight and tomorrow.

Offline mellongraig

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2019, 09:51:29 PM »
Wow, what a big win by the Leafs tonight with a 3-2 score and a 2-1 series lead against Boston, and Mitch Marner does it again with two blocked shots in the final seconds.

They did lose Nazem Kadri for the rest of this series due to cross-checking (with an attempt to injure).

Offline bigblue999

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2019, 09:43:10 PM »
Tampa Bay Lightning, Presidents Trophy winners and tied for most wins ever, are swept by the Blue Jackets! Who knew!!
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Offline mellongraig

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2019, 10:09:00 PM »
Wow, I really have no words to describe this... it is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest upset in modern NHL post-season history. With a 62-16-4 record and out in round 1 like this? Wow! I'll bet there will be tons of brackets busted after this...

And the Islanders also move on to round 2 with a sweep of their own, knocking out the Pittsburgh Penguins (although this one wasn't as shocking compared to the Columbus one).

Offline UltraPrice

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2019, 12:03:38 AM »
With Colmbus winning a playoff series for the first time in their 19 year history, all 31 teams have now won a playoff series. 

Offline FieldsFan336

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #11 on: April 19, 2019, 09:57:38 PM »
YEAH!  Leafs beat the Bruins 2-1 and can close it out at home on Sunday!
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Offline mellongraig

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #12 on: April 20, 2019, 12:53:46 AM »
Weird that Game 6 will be in the afternoon at 3:00 pm Eastern when it could have easily had been on a Sunday night, unless if NBC wants the ratings when they usually have Sunday NHL regular season games.

Unfortunately the Flames are the first Canadian team to head for the exits (and shocking too), as the Avalanche move on to round 2 by winning 5-1 and the series 4-1. The Jets may go too tomorrow night unless they win Game 6 on the road to send it back to Winnipeg for Game 7 (which in their series all games have been won that way).

Both conference champions are out in Round 1 - who would have thought this? 8-O

Offline PatrickRox80

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #13 on: April 20, 2019, 10:11:45 PM »
The Jets fall to the Blues, leaving the Maple Leafs as the last surviving Canadian team.

Offline mellongraig

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Re: 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Will the Canadian drought end?)
« Reply #14 on: April 20, 2019, 10:36:13 PM »
Slow start and not getting enough shots on goal cost them, in fact I thought the series was more even or a slight advantage on the Blues.

I'm hoping that the home crowd will help the Leafs cruise to round 2 for the first time since the 2003-04 season, but they have to win Game 6 first.