Fansided

Ranking each Stanley Cup playoff team’s chances of winning it all

By Adam Strangis

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 27: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was created with a smartphone.) The Stanley Cup is seen on display during the PreGame
TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 27: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was created with a smartphone.) The Stanley Cup is seen on display during the PreGame /
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TAMPA, FL – MARCH 10: The Lightning congratulate Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Louis Domingue (70) for a shootout victory during an NHL game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 10, 2018, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. (Photo by Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL – MARCH 10: The Lightning congratulate Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Louis Domingue (70) for a shootout victory during an NHL game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 10, 2018, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. (Photo by Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. Tampa Bay Lightning

First place in the Atlantic Division, 54-23-5

Why they can win –  Tampa Bay is just completely loaded. Offensively, they have Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Tyler Johnson. The Lightning also saw six players top 20 goals this year as they led the league in goals per game. Oh, they also just got Ondrej Palat back from injury. It’s some kind of luxury to be able to insert a player of that caliber back into the lineup at this stage of the game. One of the biggest compliments to their team is Stamkos flew under the radar all year long and still racked up over a point a game.

They were no slouches defensively either as they led the NHL in goal differential. Victor Hedman leads the defense and general manager Steve Yzerman swung a big trade at the deadline to bring in Ryan McDonagh on the back end as well. It’s truly a coin toss when picking between the Bolts and the Bruins for the favorite in the East.

Why they won’t – The Bolts are getting close to Washington Capitals territory. They always seem to play well in the regular season and look like they could be the eventual champion. They also haven’t been able to get the job done in the playoffs with this core of players. The pressure will mount in a hurry if they get down in a series. Other than taking the Penguins to the limit two seasons ago, Tampa has not lived up to expectations. It’s truly Cup or bust at this point and sometimes that can weigh down a locker room.

X Factor – Andrei Vasilevskiy: The 23-year old net minder will be a huge key to how far the Lightning go this year. While that could be said for every single team, Vasilevskiy enters these playoffs with a career postseason mark of 2.85 goals against average. That’s over .30 higher than his regular season mark. Giving up almost three goals a game in the postseason isn’t good enough and if he plays to that stat, the Bolts will be home earlier than they should. Still, at just 23 years old, he hasn’t hit his prime yet. There could be improvement coming for another one or two seasons.

First Round Matchup – New Jersey Devils; Devils won the regular season 3-0

Tampa Bay is going to get more than they want from the young Devils team but it would be a failure to not win this series. They have far too much depth at every position to lose to New Jersey, especially when the pressure is on to win the whole tournament this season. The Lightning will have to be on their games but should prevail to get into the second round.

Prediction – Lightning in 6

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