Eastern Conference: Round 1 - #1 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #2 WC New Jersey Devils

[Puck_Pun]

Well, TB advance to the second round. Not surprising, though the two teams gave us some entertaining games throughout.  I am certainly looking forward to them playing (as seems quite likely) Boston in the second round.

[MadDevil]

I hope somebody takes Kucherov's head off in the next round.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

19 hours ago, MadDevil said:

I hope somebody takes Kucherov's head off in the next round.

 

Well, I am sure someone on the Bruins or Leafs will try.

That is nothing new for Kuch...someone, somewhere will always try to take liberties with a goal scorer like him to get him off his game or prevent him from catching fire and burning'em with a run of offense.

Been going on all year.

 

Fortunately, even though the Lightning are not known for their goonery, they also won't be pushed around by Boston, Toronto, or anyone else, as even the star players stand up for themselves.

 

Congrats to your NJ Devils who, even in defeat still played a heck of a series.

With some tweaks to the defense, some more maturity up front, and hopefully, Cory Schneider finds his winning ways once again, I suspect the Devils will not only be back next season, but should be playoff relevant for the foreseeable future.

 

As for the Bolts moving on, right now, I have no preference whether they face Boston or Toronto.

Both would be satisfying opponents to face and hopefully to defeat......both are good enough in their own ways to pose some serious problems for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

 

New Jersey posed an offense and speed problem for the Bolts, I suspect Toronto would pose a similar one, while Boston poses the more defensive oriented one....and goalie Tuuka Rask who looks to be on his game, for the most part.