This Lightning vs Maple Leafs series has the potential to be the best of the first round. Two teams who finished with a lot of points play each other in what should be a fun series to watch. Auston Matthews has been the best goalscorer while Steven Stamkos still is producing at the age of 31. This series kicks off at 7:30 PM on Monday from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
The Lightning look really strong and they’ll only get stronger in the playoffs. Vasilevski becomes better in the playoffs and he’ll be really hard to beat. For the Lightning, they have to play hard hockey and push Toronto backwards. They have guys who bring physicality and can hurt the Leafs. They’ll have a full complement of players including Stamkos who has 106 points this season. Kucherov, Hedman, Point, and Stamkos will make life tough for this Maple Leafs defense. I feel that the Lightning have to be disciplined in this series. The Leafs have the best power play so taking fewer penalties is probably a good idea for Tampa. Another thing Tampa has to do is keep the Leafs top line in check. They have to limit the amount of chances Marner, Matthews, and Bunting get. Can Tampa Bay win this series and get a step closer to winning their third straight Cup?
The Maple Leafs had a great regular season but they have to show that skill in the playoffs. The main point for them is getting the goalies to perform. Jack Campbell hasn’t been great recently so they might go with Erik Källgren. This team has to be prepared to play hard hockey and be ready to play aggressive. The defense has to protect their goalie and stop high scoring chances for the Bolts. Also, this team has to figure out a way to get past the Cat, Vasilevski. He will get better in the playoffs so they have to be creative and get pucks past him. This team can’t ask Matthews to do everything and need to show depth for a deep run. If they want to win, they have to show depth. Can the Maple Leafs do that?
I believe that the Tampa Bay Lightning will win this series in seven games. The Leafs goaltending hasn’t been great and I feel like that will really cost them. To me, Tampa seems stronger and just the better team overall. Also, we don’t know if Marner and Matthews will be able to produce in this series. The pressure is really on them and they have to perform. It will be an end to end series but I feel that the Lightning will edge Toronto.
Two Atlantic Division foes meet in the 1st Round of the playoffs. Can the two time defending champs knock out the Maple Leafs or will Toronto knock out Jon Cooper’s Lightning? We’ll find out starting Monday from Toronto, Canada.
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