Episode 7 - NHL Playoffs 2026 Eastern Conference Preview

The playoffs are here, the matchups are set, and we’ve got opinions. Big ones. Bold ones. Maybe even a couple that’ll get us chirped in the comments. Tonight we’re breaking down every first‑round series, who’s got the edge, who’s in trouble, and who we’re riding with as the chase for the Cup begins. Buckle up — it’s playoff season. 

Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Welcome back to a new episode, episode seven. It's a new episode, but it's also a continuation of the previous one. In the previous episode, we went over the west and now we are tackling the east. Jordan, ready to roll? 100%. Alright, we're gonna go off with the first uh matchup here, which I think is gonna be a very

Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins

SPEAKER_01 0:35

another exciting matchup, is Buffalo and Boston. Um two very different teams on very different ends of the spectrum for age and where they've been. Buffalo coming back into the playoffs for the first time in forever. Uh, Boston, who everyone thought would be good uh trailing uh trending towards a rebuild, still kicking around, having a great year. Uh, the head-to-head matchup for these guys was Boston actually dominated the series this year with 3-1-0. That being said, Buffalo, I think two of those losses were overtime or shootouts. Um, goals four per game, Buffalo 3.46. Uh goals four per game for Boston, 3.26. Uh, goals against 2.93 for Buffalo and a 3.05 for Boston. Uh power play percentage of 19.8 for Buffalo, 23.4 for Boston, penalty kill, 82 for Buffalo, and a 76 for Boston. Um, once again, another uh pretty evenly matched team. Like I said, though, two very different types of built teams. What do you see in this matchup, Jordan?

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Uh, I think it's I think it's gonna be a hard physical matchup. Like Buffalo's built big, right? Like you see what they added at the in the deadline there. They tried to add Paranko, that didn't go through, so they pivot to an even bigger defenseman in Stanley. I don't think he's been great since going over there. I'm pretty sure Buffalo fans are pretty pissed that they even have him, uh, from what I've seen. But uh he he's not a bad playoff player. Like you've seen it with Winnipeg, he's actually not horrible in the playoffs. Um, he's mean, he he goes like goes in front of the next protector goalie and stuff like that. Um, he's gonna come with a few mistakes, you're gonna just have to live with that. But uh they're a big, like mean team, and that plays right into what Boston is, right? Boston's always been a mean, hard to play against rugged team, and that's even more so, I think this year. That's kind of how they've had to uh win games and and prevail, is kind of be that team that never gives up, is very scrappy, just plays you right to the end. Reminds me a lot of Calgary from last year, where people, you know, kind of were surprised by them and they just never gave up. They just played right to the end with 100% effort all the time. Um, so that's kind of what I'm expecting out of this series.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

I agree. Uh Buffalo's a massive team, but the difference between them not only being massive is they are fast. They are fast and massive. Their fore check is deadly. As a Montreal fan, I've seen it more times than I want to. They're fast, they're in your face, and they're big. It it'll be interesting to see how Boston handles their uh for check. But when I look at this matchup, too, you know, Buffalo's the first time playoffs in a long time. They do have a lot of 14 years, yeah. They got great players and great positions here, you know. Their back-end defensive core, I love this defense core. I'm not the biggest Stanley and Shen fan who currently are listed on their third pairing, but they are big guys. But that top four defense, Dolen, Samuelson, power, and Byron is just absolutely unmatched, in my opinion, when you look at uh Boston side. Don't get me wrong, Boston's no slouch. They have McAvoy, Lindholm, uh Lowry's had a good year. Matt's a Zadoroff, but they're they're all spread out really. But McAvoy is their big guy on the back end there. And you look at Buffalo, and they got probably two or three big guys. So when I look at this team, defensive depth, I'm gonna give to Buffalo. When I look at the forward core, I'm giving more depth-wise. Once again, I think Buffalo is a they are a little bit built faster than Boston is. I do like some of the guys Boston has in their lineup, though. I really like Boston's fourth line. Janot, Curly, and Castillec.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Yeah, that's a great playoff hockey.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

That's a good fourth line playoff hockey team, which is why I think this I agree with you. This is gonna be a hard-hitting uh series if Boston can skate with Buffalo. That's gonna be the big if for me. I know Buffalo will be hard-hitting this entire series, but can Boston keep up with them? The star power aspect of this, obviously, there is no player on the ice better than Pasternak. Buffalo or Boston has that in the bag, they have the better power play because of him, but Buffalo has a really good penalty kill, so it's gonna be a really good battle between both of them. I think Buffalo's gonna have to figure out a way to shut down Pasty, Pasternak, Lindholm, uh, Geeky, uh, and Zaka there on the and the second line to Middlesead, Zaka, and Arvison, they're not the worst, but they're gonna have to figure out a way to shut down Pasternak, in my opinion. If you shut down Pasternak, you're gonna have a really good chance of winning the series. Um, the other big key factor for me in this one, Jordan, is uh goaltending. Yeah, does Swayman steal the series or does goaltending do uh Ukapeka, Lukinen, and uh Leon uh steal it? I'm assuming they're gonna go with Ukapeka as their starter to start this uh series. Uh I'm assuming that's what they're gonna go with. Uh he's had a great year, don't get me wrong, but Swayman is Swayman. That guy's proven he's got the swagger to steal uh to steal games before in the past. So you look at these lineups, and you it's gonna be a very interesting series. You you have to value, in my opinion, I think experience as well. I think Boston has more experience than uh Buffalo uh uh does. So for me, I I I know a lot of people have Buffalo here, Jordan, but I'm leading Boston on this series. I think Boston has the ability to weather the storm of the physicality. If they figure out a way to deal with the speed and Swayman plays as Swayman can, I think Boston might come away with the series.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

I think this series reminds me of a lot of St. Louis and Winnipeg last year, where there was like a hundred hits thrown a game. Yeah, that's kind of what you're gonna what I'm expecting from the season uh series. Just a ton of hits. Boston's gonna put it in the corner and run those defensemen and hit them a hundred times and make Dolen not want to go into the corner and make power not want to go into the corner and Byron, right? Like some of these guys, you just not like they're not gonna want to take that kind of punishment. Yeah. Um you're gonna see if these younger defensemen, who I think are great. I think I think Buffalo's defense is great. I love Dolene's game. I think Power's a great second pairing guy. Uh Byron brings a lot, and uh Samuelson's a really good pair for Dolene. But will this young defense be willing to take the punishment of playoff hockey? That's my biggest question. Um goaltending is the other question. Um pl's been good this year, but you've seen stretches where he's not good. And for the first half of the year, he wasn't good. Like Buffalo, everyone's like, oh well, another another year wasted by Buffalo, right? They're they're done. And then they came on.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

They came hot late in the year, yeah. Like they didn't look good at the beginning.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Yeah, so so then he picks it up and goes on a run here. Well, what if he goes back to what he was before? Swayman's, you know what you're getting from Swayman. Swayman, uh, last time Buffalo uh Boston was in this uh playoffs, he stole a series for them. Like I just I give big credit to goaltending, especially in playoffs. I think it's the most important thing, it's the only thing that can actually like steal you a series, and that's where my big edge to Boston is. That's why when I was listening to the last podcast, and you guys were talking about who you kind of wanted for Montreal, and you guys said you wanted Tampa over Buffalo, I I couldn't agree with, I disagree with guys more. Like, I think you would rather, because of the experience and the big question mark in net.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Yeah, I think like for me, it's like the whole Tampa or Buffalo thing. I just we just didn't match up well with Buffalo during the year for some reason. We did better with Tampa. That being said, in this matchup here, too, like these teams are so they're pretty even as well. Buffalo, uh Buffalo did do a better job for goals against this year per se than Boston did. That being said, playoff hockey's playoff hockey. Experience is a big thing. Both these teams are gonna like to hit the the one big difference I think when I look from the east to the west, I think the east is gonna have way more gritty hockey playoff games than the west will. The west will have a couple series like that, but I think you're gonna get more to that with the east this uh this year. Both teams are rolling into the playoffs pretty even as well. Buffalo, you know, they had that huge massive run where they were just hotter than fire, but they they have mellowed out a little bit. They are 6-3-1 still going into the playoffs, and Boston's 5-3-2. It's going to be a really, really good series. Buffalo's gonna be at home to start this series. That building is going to be pumped. Boston's gonna have to weather a pretty impressive storm that's gonna be given to them just because of the excitement of being in the playoffs again. That team is gonna come ready to play for their fan base, the fan base is gonna be behind them. But um, at the end of the day, you know, I look at the teams back and forth. I agree that defense is nice on Buffalo, but they're gonna they're gonna take a beating uh from this Boston team, I think. So it'll be interesting to see who can weather the storm better and who can adjust to the playoffs. We know Buffalo hasn't had a lot of that experience, or has Boston has. And another thing to notice with Buffalo too, um, one of their big guys right now, Tage Thompson, he's gone quiet this last little bit. Yeah, um, I have him in fantasy. He's the reason why I probably didn't win one of my leagues. I'm not gonna hold that against him, but he did go quiet for a little bit as as per what he was doing pre previously. He's still putting up great points, he's still got nine points in the last ten, but he hasn't been a big game changer um as of late, as he did when he started the season or when he when they were on that big uh run, basically.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Yeah, yeah. I mean, if I was you, I'd hold it against them, but yeah, that's definitely fair.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Um, so for this series, I am I'm you know, the Montreal fan of me doesn't want to say it, but I'm gonna lean towards the Boston Bruins in this series. I'm gonna go Bruins and seven.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Yeah, yeah. I think the game you said it like game one, Buffalo's uh building is gonna be rocking. Uh they're gonna be so excited being back in the playoffs for 14 years. They have crazy fans there. You've seen it for a long time for their football team. It's the same for their hockey team. They they go they're diehards, they just live for it. They live for sports. There's nothing else to do in Buffalo, so you gotta cheer for your sports teams. Um my biggest worry is the team comes out and Boston weathers it, and then they get down on themselves. They blow their load a little too early, and Boston's gonna take game one, and it's gonna be a bit of a culture shock. Um, I have Boston winning this series in six. In six, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

It's gonna be a fun one either way. Um, I know I posted on my Instagram taking Buffalo in this one. Like in my head, I've gone back and forth with this one. Uh, it really is a crapshoot for me. Um, the more and more I think about it, the more and more I do like Boston just because of that experience. But Buffalo's no slouch.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

100%. When you first look at that matchup, you're like, Buffalo should win this matchup. I think this is a good matchup for them. A team that was just out of the playoffs too, missed missed it last year, had a top pick, and then you think about it as like, well, they're at before that they were a playoff team for many years in a row, they got experience, right? It just yeah, it slowly kind of changes your opinion on it. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Uh

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens

SPEAKER_01 12:48

going into matchup two. Now, this is gonna be obviously the matchup that I'm looking forward to the most. Uh, the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Montreal Canadiens. Um, this is going to be fun. If you've watched the last two matchups these guys had recently going into the end of the year, they were playoff hockey games and they were filled with penalty minutes and fights and hits and everything like that. Uh, throughout the year, Tampa Bay was 2-2 against Montreal, and Montreal's 2-1-1. Pretty even going across the board there. Goals 4, Tampa Bay 3.5, Montreal 3.42. Uh, Tampa Bay a little bit edge in the goals against department at 2.78, Montreal at 3.05. Power play percentage, advantage to Montreal at 23.4. Surprisingly, Tampa's only 21.41. They got a lot of firepower, but they're a little bit lower than I thought they would be. Uh Panny Kill, though, they're at 82.5%, and Montreal sitting at 78.2. Uh, I'm gonna let you dive into this one first on your thoughts because I'm probably gonna ramble on a little bit about the Canadians more. So I want to hear your thoughts, Jordan. Let's hear.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

I think that Montreal is a fun, fun team. The biggest question mark for me is they're still juggling their lineup this deep into the season. They just moved Kapanen off that second line. You know, Slavkowski's been back and forth. Texas off on the first line, then he was scratched, then he was on your fourth, now he's up on the second. Like there's just a lot of moving parts there. Um, I think your defense is great. If you have Domson left, you feel great about them, right? Then you got you got Domston Matheson as your top, then you can have left uh Hudson with Ghoulie, and then you know, I think uh runbacker should be in the lineup from what I've seen. And playoff hockey is a big guy. Jackai, I think, also is kind of built for playoff hockey, as long as he can kind of stay out of the box and be smart about it. He's big, hard to play against, can kind of give a beating in front. Um, obviously, you you we've well documented in podcasts before the big question in net for Montreal. He's been uh Dolwich has been playing really good recently. Uh I think he uh he needs to have a huge series and continue that going. Can he? That's a big question.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Uh you flip across uh the pond and you look at Tampa Bay, and this team is deep. They have uh Hedman out right now. I think he's gonna come back at some point in the series.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

Hopefully not.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Radic has been yeah, Radish has taken a big step this season. He's been great. Ryan McDonough is built for playoffs, he's been there pretty much every year of his career. He knows exactly what he's doing there. Cernek, another guy that's just always in the playoffs. Like they have a very experienced back end. Um you you got points, you got Kucherov, like those top uh two guys right there really drive your drive your offense five on five, and then your second waiver coming at you with Hagel and Gensel and Sarrelli, who's no slouch. Then, you know, they have the classic Tampa Bay third line with Gord and Paul and Gregenson. Like it's just it's a lot. It's a lot coming at you in waves, and then just cherry on top, Mr. Gets to the finals every year, Corey Perry's on their fourth line.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

So he's a secret agent for Montreal this year, actually. You know, he's gonna sabotage them.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah, yeah. You can hope. Maybe his old uh senile and uh turns the puck over a few times. Yeah. But my my biggest thing for Tampa, goalie. They got Vasileski. Probably best goalie in the league. Best goalie in the league, best playoff goalie in the last decade. Maybe him and Babrowski have an argument there. I give it to Vasileschi. He's big, he's hard to play against. You saw it like last couple years where he was dealing with injuries and stuff coming to playoffs, and he kind of looked weathered and beaten down. He doesn't look that this year. So, what are your thoughts on uh on this series with Montreal?

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Well, you know, the Montreal fan of me obviously believes that this team can we beat this team. Uh, we've proven it this year that we can beat this team, and we've proven it these last two games that we are not going to back down to this team in any way whatsoever. That we will match their physicality, we will match their grits, we will stand up for each other and fight right to the bitter end of these games. Um I'll start from the back end and I'll work my way out. So, yes, Vaskoleski is the best goaltender in the league for me. He's probably gonna win the Vesna this year. So there's there's that. You're not beating him, you're not getting the edge of them for goaltending. Um Dobesh has taken the reins here in Montreal as you're starting goaltender. Yeah, he's a he's a rookie going into the playoffs. It's it's it's gonna be a lot of pressure on the kid, especially Montreal Bell Center. It's something that he's never experienced before. I can definitely see Montreal going to Fowler at some point this series. They're gonna they're gonna keep it um like they're gonna keep their eye on it, obviously. If Dober struggles one or two games, you have to go Fowler. I know he's won the starting position, but at the playoffs, you you gotta try to figure out who your hot goaltender is. Um working our way up to the defense there. I agree with what you said. I was way more confident going into the series with uh Noah Dobson on my back end. I think with Noah Dobson on our back end, I think our defense is better than Tampa Bay. I still do believe our defense can uh take on theirs. I know Rogers has had a great year. Uh Hedman might be back. McDonough's uh uh veteran that has experienced playoffs before. That being said, I don't think without um Hedman there too, like they don't have Elaine Hudson, in my opinion. Yes, Lane Hudson is much smaller on that back end, but Lane Hudson is a huge game changer for Montreal. They're gonna have to really uh match him well with what they have when they have the last change and all that kind of stuff. But I wish Dobson would be back. I don't know if he is gonna be back. They said two weeks he gets evaluated again. It looked like he blocked a shot with his hand, it's probably broken. Who knows if there's actually surgery involved? We're not gonna get any of that information at this time because of playoffs. But with him in the lineup, I feel much more confident. Looking at that line though, Struble and Jack Eye are a question mark for me. Having both of them in a lineup is dangerous, they could easily get taken advantage of, and they could easily lose their way. Struble and Jack Eye are gonna be looking for the big hits, like they're gonna be looking for the rough stuff, they're gonna be looking for the after-curricular activities when the puck's frozen already. You know what I mean? So they could get taken advantage of, they could take some bad penalties. I'm a little nervous with them. Uh, Alexander Carrier is expected to return to the lineup. Uh, he practiced today. I do agree. I'd love to see Ryanbacker in here. Uh, we only saw him for one game, but in that one game, he he looked like a pretty confident player. He he's a bigger guy, he needs to learn still to really fill out and use his body, but he had a great first pass, he skated really, really well, and he used his very long stick at the blue line to really break up some plays coming in. And I think those three key opponents are better than sometimes what Struble, Carrier, and Jack I will provide. So I expect to see Rhinebacker in the uh lineup as well. And then looking up front, I I agree, but I disagree with uh with uh Tampa Bay being deeper. Um I think they have deeper players that have more experience in this reign of the world of going into the playoffs and stuff like that. But I do like Montreal's matchup for their bottom six, just because the line of Evans, Deno, Anderson, that is gonna be a really key line, I think. I I still think Gallagher draws in the lineup, but once in a while here, too. I'll talk about that in a second. But that line, I think, is gonna be the line that's gonna come out there and really start to shut down guys. Dano is a great two-way center, and so is Evans. To have both those guys in your bottom six, yes, they may not produce as much offensively as you expect them to, but they will shut down other teams really quickly. And Anderson is he struggles sometimes during the season, but he's a pest in the playoffs. Absolute pest. Um, you mentioned yeah, Capan and come down the lineup. They are they're trying to spread out those um those two lines a little bit more. Uh Alexander Texier, he came in the lineup once or twice. He was hurt for a little bit of those times when. came out um and and slovkowski moved up and down the line up or move up and down the second line more middle of the season to try to get like demodoff and kapan really going and when he did that line was very dominant i don't see we i don't think we are gonna see those three caufield suzuki and slovkowski split up uh this series at all i think that's so you wouldn't want to keep them together yeah i'm not keeping them up uh just just for reference like when uh goals four per 60 minutes that Slavkovsky caufield line is one of the best in the league and they're actually similar to hegel Soreli and Kutroff when they're together and right now Tampa Bay has Hegel Soreli and Kutrov split up actually so I I'm keeping Slafkowski where he is with Suzuki and Caulfield uh the three the year those three had is just it's game changing for confidence wise going into Caulfield 50 points Suzuki with over a hundred or fifty goals sorry for Caulfield Suzuki a hundred points Slafkovsky no slouch either he had 30 goals this year and he dominated major aspects of the game with his size and his drive which is why I think Slafkowski is going to be one of our most key players in the playoffs coming up here. The way he can use his body and his drive to dominate and set those two guys up with is just it's incredible. I'm not the biggest fan of the third line right now I'll be straight up honest with it Bull Duke I have not liked him this year and Kirby Dak I mean I'm predicting he gets hurt this series he's he's made out of glass unfortunately he can never stay healthy and this series is going to be a very tough one to be in yeah um I would love to see Gallagher draw into the lineup at some point here uh I think he provides that grit even though he is on his uh you know his old uh later years of his career yeah he's on his last legs you can tell he's too it's nice that they're giving him a couple rest days here and there um my big X factor in this series honestly Jordan is it's gonna be does Tampa Bay's goaltending shut down the firepower of the Montreal Canadiens and can Tampa Bay keep up with the Montreal Canadiens or will Montreal skate them into the ground that's what it's gonna be for me I think in this series um obviously the home side of me wants Montreal to win we do have a better power play percentage but they have struggled recently on their power play I don't I think it's gonna be a special teams battle between the two of these guys when they go on the power play and the Pellet kill you got to be careful with Kuchoff that being said Kutroff hasn't been scoring a lot lately in these last playoff performances that he's had he's he's been more of an assist guy um the Tampa Bay four core like you said they've got big names all over there you got Point Hagel Sorelli Gensel you got Kuchov all those guys not a lot of them having the same years that we're used to you know what I mean some of them are having a little more down years playoffs come around though you never know they might spin it up but uh I'm gonna go with just my opinion on this I'm giving the edge to the Montreal Canadians for offense I'm giving the edge to Tampa Bay for uh defense currently just because we don't have Dobson in the lineup I'm giving the edge to Tampa Bay with goaltending but I'm giving the edge to Montreal with speed and I think that like the good old saying speed kills I think Montreal speed and that building is what's going to power this team to take on Tampa and beat them. I know I've rambled on a little bit there but that's that's what I kind of have to say right now.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Speed does kill 100% I just wonder if Montreal would be better if Slovkowski was on that second line to give Demon someone to play with more the biggest thing is I don't know who you would put up on that first line with Cole and Suzuki. It would probably be again but like you need someone that plays similar to um Slap though, right? Like you need a bigger body that can kind of be more of a power forward. Yeah um I think a an X factor in this series as much as I think Habs fans have kind of been disappointed with how he's been since coming over in the trade is Bulduk. You kind of saw it in St. Louis he was he was pretty good for them. He's a bigger guy he kind of should be built for playocke like he should be able to take that next step here use his body get to the neck get to the dirty areas not be afraid um you kind of need that I think you need that from him um Doc is pretty much non-existent like you said you think he gets hurt either he gets hurt or he gets pulled out of the lineup at some point in time I haven't yeah I just don't see him I just I feel so bad for him he's had so many chances and he's just never taken advantage of it. It's unfortunate but it's like at some point in time like you gotta you gotta be able to cut the cord right like yeah you see the skill there too and it just never translates for an extended period of time or even over a full game.

SPEAKER_01 27:03

Yeah who knows maybe he proves this all wrong here but um yeah no I I I agree with you on that bullduke I really do hope he steps up to the plate because we are going to need it um I think honestly too Jordan it'll it'll come down to Tampa can they shut down Coke allfield Suzuki and Slovkowski they are a very strong first line and are not just strong in the offensive end Suzuki is no slouch the defensive end he's probably gonna win the Selkie this year he is great in all areas of the game and his vision I mean the John Cooper himself has said that he wishes he has left uh Suzuki on his team there's not many players like him in the league you know so I think the series is gonna be hard hitting a lot of fighting a lot of grit in it it's gonna beat the living hell out of both teams I think this is the series to watch in the east which sucks that there's no Saturday game for this it's absolutely ridiculous in my opinion um I'll just a touch on your Suzuki uh for the Selkey thing I think the only reason he wouldn't win it is because he doesn't kill penalties for them because they want to keep him healthy. He he has been though killing penalties he oh he has been of late he has been yeah he has been I mean we do have he does he did more so at the beginning of the year but then when we required to know they did lean up on it a little bit but he has killed them before that has done it.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Yeah that's the only thing I could see stopping him from winning it is all I'm saying. He's not like the main penalty killer right whereas that might make people like oh I don't know but he's definitely has a great 200 foot game he's very underrated there. I think his vision is underrated he sees things on the ice that uh a lot of guys don't um and it's it's really nice to see him kind of come into a zone over the last couple seasons and it seems like Cole's really brought that out of him too. There's a great chemistry there and then slaps obviously mixing into that too. I think their first line as a full unit is better than Tampa's I agree. I I truly agree to that yeah my my biggest question is it's further down the line up yeah right question mark 100% yeah but they just like like the second wave of Gensel and Hagel against like to me Demodov and like New Hook and Texas I know new hook's been playing better but like I I can't give the edge to those guys I just can't do it. Yeah right it'll also depend what kind of Demodov we get seen times where Demodov has struggled this year but then there's times where Demodov's a he's an ankle breaking game changer and he just is so elusive it'll also depend to how these lines are utilized in my opinion too like if some of our lines can easily get pinned into our own end and we're gonna struggle the way I look at it is this team has scored very easily this year as compared to years in the past if they can keep that up while also sticking to a decent decent defensive game they do play a weird defensive system you know a lot of teams play more of a zoned area Montreal plays man to man if it if they get running around in their zone too much and start losing their uh their assignments that's when things get all fucky for them if they can play to the potential that they have been playing I think they could surprise people in this series obviously they're a huge underdog right now but uh at the end of the day Tampa's gonna have to find a way to shut down that first line that's gonna be the key to it uh I think too if Montreal steals a game in Tampa I think that is what's gonna be the game changer for the series if Montreal steals game one or two and they get the whole mice advantage then they're going forward with the Bell Center I don't know it'll be difficult for Tampa to I I don't I don't think Tampa's gonna be able to shut down that top line completely yeah but my biggest thing for Montreal is they need depth scoring behind that first one.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

Yep I agree right they also you know Montreal also too they like you said at the beginning of this is it it's the goalie which which goaltenders do we get this year I everyone you know we look at our record a little bit with Montreal and we always we see the high goals against we gotta remember too we had Montabeau in net for half the year and we forced Montabeau in that net for half the year. When Dobesh came into this he's been a pretty uh tender for them and the team seems to play well in front of him too like going 29 and 10 and having a goals against of 2.78 save percentage of 901 is pretty good because when you compare it to Montembeau you know he's got 872 save percentage almost a three and a half goals against he played over 20 games this year so what I'm hoping for is that the stats are gonna are a little skewed just because of that but I'm hoping for Montreal to come into this with the confidence they've been playing with all year long and do not back down. That's gonna be the big thing it's gonna be harder though Dobson. The guy led the league or well yeah I think he led the league with shots blocked that's a huge loss you're not gonna be able to replace it you're you're just gonna hope that you get past these guys but um I think they can do it. So who you got I got well I'm going halves but I am saying this game the series is going seven I I think this is going to be a very deadly series but I think Montreal's gonna be able to pull it out they're gonna steal home ice here.

SPEAKER_00 32:51

Yeah I uh I came into this before we talked thinking Tampa is winning this series uh in six pointing to Dobson missing uh Vasquezki with the pretty big edge in net to me and then one thing not talked about is Cooper the uh coach right like you don't really talk about a lot of coaches but I think Cooper's one of the best in the league uh you've convinced me a little bit to give Montreal another game but I'm gonna go Tampa and seven Tampa and seven that's fair I mean it's gonna be this I think it's gonna be a dog fight it's gonna be a dog fight this is one of the this is the series that everyone's saying is whoever comes out of the series is winning the East we've heard it's said multiple times now uh about this series they're very strong teams they've been strong the whole season they're both coming into the playoffs on a pretty big high as well and the one thing I will say sorry one more thing is don't forget like a lot of people forget everyone says Montreal's young Montreal's young Montreal's young well that is true to a point as well you gotta remember we like we still have guys that have been in the playoffs quite a bit Suzuki Caulfield this is a second run for Slavkowski um Anderson Gallagher Evans we still have a lot of good veterans on this team that knows what it takes in the playoffs and some of them were even here for that 2021 uh series and they learned from some of the best leaders in the in in hockey with Weber and uh Kerry Price.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

So it'll be a very interesting series but yeah Montreal got some seasoning last year kind of got their feet wet kind of know what to expect a little bit more um as it comes to high end skill both teams have it both teams are very fun to watch it's gonna be a very good series yeah one last thing I'm gonna say too just another low key pointer everyone seems to forget this too because a lot of people are saying you know Tampa's got the better skill Tampa's got the better skill Montreal is one of the only teams if not I think they are still the only team this year with four players over all I think 60 points or something like that. Or some there's there's yeah they because they got Suzuki at 100 Caulfield 88 Hudson 70 Slackowski 73 and Demidoff at 62. I think they're one of the only teams with that many depth pieces that high in scoring so it'll be interesting. Let's move

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Ottawa Senators

SPEAKER_01 35:15

on a little bit here like I said that was gonna be a long one yeah uh Carolina Carolina and Ottawa uh there's not much I'm gonna say about this one to be honest with you but I will say uh Carolina's 2 1 and 0 Ottawa's one two and oh in the series head to head goals for Carolina 3.57 um uh Ottawa 3.36 Carolina's got a 2.9 goals against Ottawa's got a 3.01 goals against power play percentage pretty even Carolina 25 Ottawa 23 and a half PK 80.4 for Carolina and 75.6 for Ottawa uh looking at this matchup you know Carolina is the better team in the standings per se and even on this head to head card here but uh they're the hotter team going into playoffs at 72 and 1. That being said Ottawa's right behind them at 63 and 1. Um I was talking to one of my buddies today and the best way I can put this is I I've never been a big fan of Carolina. So my analogy for them were they are white plain rice. Rice is delicious but there's no flash with this team whatsoever. They're boring and they play a boring style of hockey whereas Ottawa is more like you know like some fried rice you know rice once again still very good but with a little bit more zip to it. I think that this is gonna be my upset series. I'm rolling with Ottawa in this one I it sucks to say as a Montreal fan I'm not a fan of Ottawa I don't like Brady DeChuck that being said I just I don't know I I I'm never convinced with Carolina they're on paper they're great they added even some more depth this year when they signed healers but I just I don't know I for some reason when playoffs come along I never have a good feeling about Carolina.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

How about you I think that Carolina is just very on the same plane all the time just very much know exactly what you're gonna expect from them. There's not a lot there it's not super fun to watch it's a pretty boring brand of hockey they win games obviously they but they know how to win they've been there before they keep getting to the conference finals they did add a goal score in Ealers my biggest thing that I look at is their power play did take a significant step forward this year with Ealers on it which has been a huge question mark for them in previous years and Ottawa's penalty kill is not good. It's not there and it is very brutal that that's a big that's that's the big uh if if Carolina's power play can stay as effective as it has been and Ottawa's penalty kill doesn't step up that's that's the deciding factor to me right there.

SPEAKER_01 38:05

Yeah no that's fair like I look at this team and I will say too though if Ottawa even gets mediocre and that's the key word mediocre goaltending they win a lot more hockey games. It's been the story all season long Allmark once again struggling rhyme is I mean Rhymer's Rhymer like you're not you know what you're gonna get with them. But if Ottawa struggled this year heavily with goaltending again they just can't seem to get the big saves when they matter you know what I mean but um if they can figure a goaltending situation out here like if Almort can get hot that's what they they really need uh I give the edge right now obviously to uh Carolina and Frederick Anderson and even Bussy's been having a great year as his backup so if he if something did happen to him he's fine but I I I do like the Ottawa Senators defense core more so than I like the defense core for Carolina which is a hot take and my I know it is it is a hot take like you have Gossip and Niktion on like the third pairing for Carolina I just for some reason like how the defense meshed with Ottawa um that being said on paper yeah Carolina's a powerhouse they're more deep than Ottawa is uh Ottawa I think has obviously like I mean you got to chuck already as it is but I think they have the more grit definitely than they definitely do Carolina does which is why I think that playoff hockey's gonna benefit uh Ottawa a little bit more they're also a hot team it's gonna it'll come down to what goaltender shows up for them they need to have mediocre goaltending if they don't they're they're cooked they're done I'm uh I'm a little worried for Ottawa that all mark might have to take like a mental health game off mid-series or something I don't know I mean he he has had the hit he's just he's he's had he's had a rough year and he has it's been talked about all season about how he's taken he's needed to take games off here and there and if he does have to do that again there they're like you just because Reimer can't have it here yeah Rhymer's not the goaltender that you need you need all mark in there and he's been battling his own demons all year it seems like right so if he if he's not a mentally 100% in the game or there yeah you're gonna lose you're gonna struggle because you need him like yeah for me the big X Factor for Ottawa is him. He is the X Factor he has the capability of playing really really well he has the capability of stealing games but this this year he just hasn't seemed to be in it.

SPEAKER_00 40:49

He's been struggling with stuff on or and off the ice so the goaltending position is such a mental game yeah and to see what he's gone through this year and even to play as many games as he had is honestly kind of like hat off to him. He obviously wants to be there for his team as much as all those rumors went out about him lying like you know ratting out his teammates and all that stuff. Like it's just a lot of crazy stuff and just a lot of stuff that you know doesn't help with what he's been going through this year. Hats off to him. I just hope that he's able to for Ottawa's sake keep it together through these playoffs and go on a run here for them.

SPEAKER_01 41:29

Like I said for me on this one I'm picking underdog in this I am going Ottawa and seven for this one um I do think obviously though I'm not crazy Carolina is the better team on paper. They have the better power play now like you said with adding healers Ealers has been a great ad for this team and we've seen how good of an ad it is seeing how Winnipeg has struggled without him not able to fill those what he provided last year. That being said though me and you we've watched a lot of uh jet hockey in the playoffs healers disappears a lot sometimes he does he does he does struggle in the playoffs the last playoff Matt Brown he had he was a little bit better for Winnipeg uh he he he was more involved but he has a history of disappearing um you look over that lineup they like that first line of Svetch to Caro Jarvis is great you got Stecovin on the back uh on the second line with them you have a veteran and stall they have great depth don't I uh Carolina on paper here looks absolutely like a powerhouse but they do every year they put up regular season wins every year they just can't seem to figure out their playoffs so I'm going underdog with auto one seven just uh a for the hell of it and B I just I think that they're a faster more uh more uh young team that's gonna get a lot of uh confidence as the series goes yeah I think Ottawa got some good experience last year against uh Toronto I think they definitely put up a good fight here they've been playing good brand of hockey of late um like I said at the beginning I just I'm very worried about their penalty kill against a better Carolina power play and you know Ottawa with some of these guys like cousins Nick Cousins that is and Brady Kachuk you you know they're gonna take penalties you know you know that's inevitable and I think it might uh it might bite them in the long run I got Carolina and six Carolina and six eh yeah that's fair 100% uh it could go both ways in this series as well I don't think it's gonna be the most exciting series to watch though that's for sure this next series though

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers

SPEAKER_01 43:38

I think is going to be pretty exciting we got Philadelphia versus uh Pittsburgh a huge rivalry matchup they had a great head to head uh match this year uh Pittsburgh was 2 0 2 Flyers 2 2 0 pretty even uh throughout the front that being said when Pittsburgh lost they lost an extra timer shootout Um goals for Pittsburgh 3.52. Uh Philly 293. Goals against though. Pittsburgh was pretty high at 3.10. And a goals against of 294 for Philly. Power play percentage for Pittsburgh 24.3. Power play percentage for Philadelphia was lacking. 15.5. Penalty penalty killing for Pittsburgh is 82.6 and penalty killing for Philadelphia is 77.6. Jordan, what do you see in this series when you look at the rosters and this head-to-head card?

SPEAKER_00 44:34

The first thing when you're reading up the stats, when you said goals against or Pittsburgh is 3.1, I'm like, yeah, that makes sense. They got Skinner. So there's that. Um just pure like nostalgic for me for this Pittsburgh Flyers uh matchup. Like it's just it brings me back to my childhood. This these guys always went at it, you know, when I was growing up. He had the Crosby's and you know, the Carters and guys like that. And it's just it was very fun to watch then. And I'm excited for them to get after it again. Um for me, I'm very surprised Phil I'm I'm surprised both teams are here, but I'm very surprised Philadelphia is here. Um beginning of the season, you wouldn't have thought either of these teams would be put in playoffs, but you definitely thought if there was one of these teams that would be, it would be Pittsburgh, purely based on Crosby and Malkin, right? And they brought in some guys. Carlson, yeah. Um Latin. Carlton, yeah. Carlton's been really good recently, very good for them. Um, Pittsburgh's also had some young guys that have uh stepped up and played really well for them. Like this Connor Dewar, uh, is a young kid. I think he's 18 years old. Guy guy just plays in every situation. He feels like he doesn't get nervous. He you can ask anything of him. Yeah, yeah, just just able to have a guy like that in your lineup at that young of an age is goes a long way. Um I just I just don't know what we're gonna get from this series completely, but I'm excited to see it. What about you?

SPEAKER_01 46:12

Yeah, uh, I agree. I don't know what we're gonna get with these guys, they are gonna battle. Uh, I do think that um Philadelphia uh has for guys that are gonna bang more than uh Pittsburgh will, but Pittsburgh won't back down. Uh going into this, you know, you look at overall firepower and veterans, and it's obviously Pittsburgh. There's no one comparing to Sidney Crosby, even Malkin's still having a great year. They got Ricard Raquel with him as well. You got Carlson and Letang on the back end. The question mark for me on uh Pittsburgh's side, yeah. What Stuart Skinner shows up. We've seen what he does in playoffs sometimes, right? It's just god awful. Uh, you look over at uh Philly, though, I agree. I would never expect this team to be here, but a lot of young guys stepping up for this team. One of them not being the greatest Mitchkoff, I expected way more of him. He is borderline bus territory for me right now. He has not impressed me whatsoever. He's invisible on the ice. We'll see what he could bring in the playoffs here. But Trevor Ziga Ziegress is fitting right in at home. He's been a great ad for them. Yeah, he's been great at for them, and I know it's been a very small sample size, but Porter Matone has been great since joining this Philly team. He like fits the Philadelphia like vibe. He's got six assists and four goals in the last nine games.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

He has that style, right?

SPEAKER_01 47:41

And and he's averaging only 17 minutes of ice time because this team rolls. They are the definition of rolling like four lines kind of thing. They're their top two lines are very similar in ice time. But Porter Matone playing with uh the Vorak and Kaneki, he's got four power play points. I've really loved what I've seen of Matone. He's a big he likes to throw his body around too. He's not gonna shy away from that. So going into the playoffs, obviously, this team doesn't have a lot of experience in it. It's cool to see him in here. Um they do have decent goaltendings with Dan Vladar. You know, you know, I mean he played in Calgary there for a little bit, I believe, right? Yeah, um, but the goaltenders don't really shock me in this. I think it'd go either way. I think the depth-wise, I like Pittsburgh's depth better, I like Pittsburgh's veteran presence better. I'm gonna lean to Pittsburgh on this one. I think this is gonna be uh uh a more simple series, but it'll be fun. It could turn very bloody, very fast, too, for all for all we know.

SPEAKER_00 48:42

You know what I mean? I'm very interested to see how Ziegris holds up in a playoff style, like he's a smaller dude, right? Playing first line center, like that's gonna be interesting. Like you said, Mitchkov, absolute disappointment. Guys, is like pretty much invisible on the NHL ice, and I don't think it's gonna be any different in these playoffs. You're not gonna notice him, you're not gonna see him. Um, their goalie and Vladari's had a great season after coming over from Calgary. Um, he's a big dude, he is usually pretty square to the puck, just lets out a lot of rebounds. At least when he was with Calgary, he did. Not probably great for playoff style hockey when there's gonna be a lot of traffic in front and guys there. But if they're gonna win, he has to steal them in the series, I think.

SPEAKER_01 49:28

100%. I agree with that too. Um, I'm gonna go with Pittsburgh as the winner in the series, and I'm gonna give it to them probably in uh see, I'm going back and forth between five and six, to be honest. But I'm going to give it to them in six. I think uh I think Philly can uh squeak out two wins here. Who knows? Like Mitchikov has been a little bit hotter on lately. I still don't think he's gonna do much in the playoffs, but they are the hotter team going into the playoffs. They're 7-3-0 on Pittsburgh's 500 rolling in. So uh I think Philly can steal a couple games, but overall, I think the veteran presence of Pittsburgh takes over six games for me.

SPEAKER_00 50:07

Yeah, ultimately, this is like Philadelphia is the team that Crosby has the most points in his career against. I think just adds to that total and probably dominates this series being in the playoffs for the first time in like what four years? Probably a little bit of rejuvenation there.

SPEAKER_01 50:24

Um much longer all those guys have too, right? Like Carlson, Latang, Malcolm, him.

SPEAKER_00 50:30

Yeah, I don't think uh Philadelphia will have an answer for Carlson, especially with how he's been playing of late. Like of the last couple months, you could probably say he's a top five defenseman in the league with how great he's been playing. It's been very impressive there. Um, so ultimately, I'm gonna give the edge to Pittsburgh. I think Skinner will hold up okay enough, and they're gonna take it in five.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

That's fair. Um, overall looking at the East,

Eastern Conference Favorite and Dark Horse Pick

SPEAKER_01 51:00

who do you have? I know, like I said, it's the first round. We did it for the West, though. So who do you have coming out of the East if you had to pick a team?

SPEAKER_00 51:08

Uh if I have to pick a team, like I think Montreal and Tampa and Buffalo and Boston are gonna beat up on each other so much, whoever gets through that. I feel like I lean from the other side. I think this is maybe Carolina's year to get to the cup finals. If it's gonna be any year, it's this year. If not, they need to really take a look in the mirror because honestly, you get past Ottawa and you have Pittsburgh or or Philadelphia waiting there for you, you should be able to handle business there. They do have the easiest path to the that should be able to handle business, and then you should be getting a pretty beat-up team, whoever you're playing against. So that's fair. That's I'm I'm gonna go Carolina Dark Horse. Um, Dark Horse. Uh probably Boston. I'm gonna go Boston as the as the dark horse. Like, I have them beating the Sabres. I think uh Swayman can really get hot and really um maybe put them on a run here. Uh Tampa and Montreal beat each other up in that series, then they have to play Boston who has a hot goalie. I don't really know if they if Boston can beat either of those teams, but uh if I have to pick someone, I'll go with Boston, unfortunately. That's fair.

SPEAKER_01 52:30

Uh my dark horse, I'm gonna go first, is gonna be Ottawa. I think Ottawa is gonna be my dark horse. Uh, I did also lean a little bit towards Pittsburgh. Uh, I'm gonna go with uh Ottawa's dark horse here. If they get on a roll, they could be scary. Uh and I think that whoever comes out of the Habs Tampa series is gonna be the team that makes it to the Stanley Cup final. So I'm gonna say Montreal just because I have to and because I want to.

SPEAKER_00 52:58

So if you if you didn't say Montreal, I probably would have ripped you, so that's good. Yeah, Montreal gotta stay loyal.

SPEAKER_01 53:05

I I truly do think that Habs Tampa series is going to be more than likely percentage-wise, the team that comes and goes to the final there.

SPEAKER_00 53:15

Uh yeah, that's a that's match watch, must-watch TV that series. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:19

Uh uh and overall for the whole playoffs. I mean, we're gonna we'll break it down again after uh round one for the second round and stuff like that, then we'll recap what we talked about here. But uh, I can very easily see that whoever comes out of the Colorado series and whoever comes out of the the Tampa Bay Montreal series, they have a very good chance at meeting in the uh in

Outro

SPEAKER_01 53:41

the finals here. So it'll be a very interesting playoffs. I know I'm excited. I know I'm sure you're even though Calgary's not in it, playoff hockey is still playoff hockey, it's fun to watch.

SPEAKER_00 53:51

Honestly, not having a dog in the fight, you just get to sit back and watch a bunch of games every night and flip it like the the way they schedule the games, you're able to just flip at intermission between games. You don't have to watch the intermissions, you don't have to watch commercials. It's honestly beautiful as a fan. That's fair of just hockey.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

So I, on the other hand, will be shitting my pants through this whole first round watching structured all Canadians play. That being said, if you want to stay in touch with some playoff content, make sure you follow the rink on all of our social media: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. It's gonna be mainly in Instagram and TikTok throughout the uh playoffs. I'm gonna be posting a lot of uh cool things that I can do for the playoffs with them, and maybe, maybe we'll do a couple of uh live uh stuff in the first round. But uh it's gonna be fun. I can't wait. Thanks for joining me today, Jordan. Uh playoff hockey's here. I can't wait. Let's go.