10 best match-ups in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

With apologies to Bruins-Maple Leafs, this is the best intra-divisional tilt of the first round. The last time these two teams met in a playoff series, they combined for an unfathomable 56 goals in six games. Tempers flared, Marc-Andre Fleury melted down, and the Flyers prevailed after squandering most of a 3-0 series lead. Both teams are different now, with only three Penguins (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang) remaining from that team, and the Flyers having fully abandoned their tough-guy style in favor of a skill-based attack. Philly has plenty of firepower, led by Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier, but the Flyers are a high-risk, high-reward team, and they have major questions in goal. Brian Elliott will get the nod, but he doesn't inspire much confidence. The Flyers' only chance is to try and run and gun with the Pens, but Pittsburgh excels at doing just that. It might not be a long series, but it promises plenty of offensive pyrotechnics. 

Okay, so the Capitals aren't the Penguins, which means there is actually a decent chance that Bobrovsky comes out and plays like his normal, regular season self, and the Blue Jackets make this a long, difficult series, and possibly spring the upset. Of course, there's also the distinct possibility that Bobrovsky's playoff demons aren't limited to Pittsburgh, and that he's just got major issues all around when the calendar turns to April. Either way, Columbus doesn't have an alternative, so they're going to ride with Bobrovsky no matter what happens. If he's on, Columbus actually looks like a very interesting choice to win the series. If he isn't, Washington could make short work of the Blue Jackets. The most interesting outcome here would be a series dominated by Bobrovsky, and a Penguins win over Philadelphia, which would set up a true second round reckoning for the Columbus goaltender. 

The Kings are back in the playoffs, and back to their usual stingy ways, having led the league in goals against, with a mere 203 given up. If this series was a wedding, though, the Kings would be the groom, because everyone is going to be looking at Vegas. The Golden Knights rank in the top-10 in both goals for and goals against, and their home games in this series should be a surreal environment. If Marc-Andre Fleury can outplay Jonathan Quick, Vegas has a very good chance to win. And frankly, as much as the Kings' general consistency in the 2010s is to be admired, does anyone outside their fan base actually want to see them win here? Vegas is the story, and a Kings win, while very possible, would be a letdown for many.

Sure, I just said above that Penguins-Flyers is a better intra-divisional match-up, but that doesn't mean that this one isn't excellent as well. Boston does what it always does— prevent goals — but Toronto is not intimidated by their Atlantic Division foe. The Leafs have plenty of punch up and down the lineup, and while Tuukka Rask and the B's have a "been there, done that" vibe about them, Toronto's youth and speed will put them to a significant test. The individual battles should be fascinating, with Patrice Bergeron trying to check Auston Matthews, and Brad Marchand trying to turn an entire country against him five minutes into Game 1. Rask has been good to very good this year, but not at his world-beating best. If Matthews and Mitch Marner are the two major stars for Toronto, and Marchand and Bergeron the big guns for Boston, this series might come down to which "other" star, Toronto's James van Riemsdyk or Boston's David Pastrnak, has the bigger series.

The Golden Knights might not be facing immense, crushing pressure, but they did just author the most incredible expansion season in North American sports history, and their fans are primed for bigger and better things. Unlike the last two seasons in Pittsburgh, the net is Fleury's, and while constantly looking over his shoulder might have created a different kind of pressure, the weight of expectations will be squarely on the shoulders of the man wearing number 29. Vegas has plenty of balance, though Jon Marchessault's injury has clouded things some, but they will go as far as Fleury takes them. He's coming off a career-best season, and had the second-best playoff run of his career, statistically speaking, last year. Perhaps the post-season demons have been banished for good. One bad game, though, and there will be questions.

"Come on, Chris, you're reaching," you say. "Nashville was the league's best team this season, there's no way Colorado can beat them," you say. Then you stop for a second and think back to last year, when the eighth-seeded Predators obliterated, humiliated, and generally wiped from existence the top-seeded Blackhawks. So stranger things can happen, to say the least. Plus, Colorado has the best player in the series in Nathan MacKinnon, whose 97 points were fifth in the league, and whose 1.31 points per game mark was second to Connor McDavid, trailing him by a mere hundredth of a point. Colorado needs to steal one of the first two games in Nashville, and they need Jonathan Bernier to hold up. Semyon Varlamov's injury was a big blow, and Erik Johnson's minutes won't be easily replaced. But like I said, stranger things have happened, and this series has my antennae up. 

Toronto isn't the only Canadian team in the post-season — hi Winnipeg — but since the Jets might as well be northern Minnesota's team (kidding), the Leafs will carry the hopes and dreams of almost all Canadians in these playoffs. Good thing for them that they don't have a half-century of championship futility, a rabid fan base with expectations that rarely reflect reality, or a brutal path just to get to the Eastern Conference Finals, starting with what should be a war against Boston. Could the Leafs reasonably challenge for the Stanley Cup? Of course. Are they still likely a year "early" on that schedule? Most likely. Still, that won't tamp down expectations at all. Toronto has plenty of skill, and if they win a few series, that would be an objectively solid playoff run. Unfortunately for them, nothing less than a triumphant march to a Stanley Cup will do. Have fun, guys!

One imagines Barry Trotz with a devil on one shoulder, and an angel on the other. The devil, of course, is dispensing bad advice, advice destined to lead Trotz's Capitals to ruin. The angel, on the other hand, has pure motives, and is mapping out a clear path to playoff glory. The million dollar question is, which goalie is the angel telling Trotz to start? He says he's picked his netminder, but as of this writing, he hasn't said publicly who that will be. Philipp Grubauer seems to be the better choice, as his last 27 starts have been superb, but Holtby has been around the block a time or two, and while his post-season record is a very mediocre 29-30, his save percentage in those games is a sparkling .932. Choose carefully, Barry, for your job may hang in the balance.

The Jets have Patrik Laine, the most exciting young goal-scorer in the league. They have a talented cadre of forwards, led by Blake Wheeler. They have a goalie in Connor Hellebuyck who made a major leap forward after last season. They have a cozy, raucous arena full of die-hard fans. Also, you'd be hard-pressed to find many casual hockey fans that can name more than four or five players on their team, tops. The Jets had the second-highest point total in the league, and are plenty dangerous. They deserve to be treated with respect, but because of their location, they don't get much attention. Thrashing a Wild team that is without Ryan Suter would go a long way towards getting Winnipeg on the radar. Plus, fans of the sport in general deserve to see a few series play out at Bell MTS Place. The Jets ought to be taken seriously as is. A first-round win will go a long way towards earning them respect — and fear.

The Lightning are loaded, and if Steven Stamkos is healthy enough to play in the first game of the series, the Devils could be in big trouble in a big hurry. Still, New Jersey is young, fast, and they have a bona fide star in Taylor Hall. The Devils don't have the firepower to keep up with Tampa Bay, but then again, no one in the East outside of Pittsburgh does. The Bolts would doubtless love to make this a quick series, given that their second round tussle with Boston or Toronto figures to be a protracted war, but New Jersey might have it in them to make life more difficult than Jon Cooper wants it to be for his charges. This could be a statement series for Tampa, or it could be a pretty tense six-game affair. Either way, it stands as a pretty interesting battle between an upstart team, and a potential powerhouse.