playoffs: 2017-2018 ECQF | Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) v. New Jersey Devils (C2)

[Shane Falco]

 

 

EASTERN CONFERENCE

QUARTER FINALS

 

 

 

 

SERIES SCHEDULE:

 

 

 

USEFUL LINKS:

 

NHL.com • TSN.ca

 

lightning.nhl.com • devils.nhl.com

 

Series Preview

 

 

 

 

 

Team Leaders:

 

[table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center]

[tr]

[td]Goals:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Assists:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Points:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]+/-:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]PIM:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]TOI/G (D):[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]TOI/G (F):[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

 

 

Lineup:^

 

J.T. Miller / Steven Stamkos C / Nikita Kucherov

Ondrej Palat / Brayden Point / Tyler Johnson

Yanni Gourde / Anthony Cirelli / Alex Killorn

Chris Kunitz / Cerdic Paquette / Ryan Callahan A

 

Victor Hedman / Dan Girardi

Ryan McDonagh / Anton Stralman

Braydon Coburn / Mikhail Sergachev

 

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Louis Domingue

 

—

 

Cory Conacher

Braydon Coburn

Slater Koekkoek

Andrej Sustr

 

^ Subject to change

 

 

Injuries, Suspensions, Misc:

 

F Adam Erne [iR] — Lower-body injury; Out indefinitely

 

D Jake Dotchin [DTD] — Illness

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team Leaders:

 

[table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center]

[tr]

[td]Goals:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Assists:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Points:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]+/-:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]PIM:[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]TOI/G (D):[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]TOI/G (F):[/td]

[td]N/A[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

 

 

Lineup:^

 

Taylor Hall A / Nico Hischier / Kyle Palmieri A

Michael Grabner / Pavel Zacha / Patrick Maroon

Blake Coleman / Travis Zajac / Stefan Noesen

Miles Wood / Brian Boyle A / Jesper Bratt

 

Andy Greene C / Sami Vatanen

John Moore / Ben Lovejoy

Will Butcher / Mirco Mueller

 

Keith Kinkaid

Corey Schneider

 

—

 

Damon Severson

Dalton Prout

 

^ Subject to change

 

 

Injuries, Suspensions, Misc:

 

F Marcus Johansson [iR] — Concussion; Could return for playoffs

 

 

[BlairBettsBlocksEverything]

I could see NJ stealing a game at home. Maybe fending off a sweep. But that's about it

[phillyb]

I could see NJ stealing a game at home. Maybe fending off a sweep. But that's about it

 

Nah, Devils got this. As much as I understand the pick situation, and realize some of our ex-players and captains are on that team, I still can't fucking stand them, idk why.

Fuck TBL. Devils in 6.

[Phil]

I couldn't possibly root for the Devils to win even a single game. Fuck them into oblivion. Bolts in 5.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

[phillyb]

Ugh, I know I know. I'm kind of torn, cause yeah, I hate rooting for the Devils, but I don't feel like that's a rivalry that's been in the forefront lately, whereas the Bolts have left a sting more recently (2015). IDK.

I also really like the Taylor Hall story and don't give a shit about rooting for our guys in different uniforms (but that's also not true cause I wanna see a healthy Rick Nash go full fucking beast mode in BOS), so IDK.

Fuck the Bolts.

[Phil]

I'm fine with fuck the Bolts. In the next round. For now I only want to bathe in Devils tears.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

[phillyb]

Brian Boyle > Callahan, Stralman, Miller, McDonagh

[SaveByRichter35]

Another 1st round draft pick for us if the Lightning win the cup > anything to do with anything else between the Devils and Lightning and whichever players play for either team

[Long live the King]

Another 1st round draft pick for us if the Lightning win the cup > anything to do with anything else between the Devils and Lightning and whichever players play for either team

 

Yes, followed by Stamkos and Hedman returning to their injury proneness next year and the Bolts missing the playoffs...

[SaveByRichter35]

Yes, followed by Stamkos and Hedman returning to their injury proneness next year and the Bolts missing the playoffs...

 

Exactly

[phillyb]

Yeah yeah, I know how the picks work.

[Morphinity 2.0]

Hall and BGBB will steal a game or two, but the Devils run will end.

 

Need Tampa to win the Cup so the Rangers can get that 1st!

[BlairBettsBlocksEverything]

Yes, followed by Stamkos and Hedman returning to their injury proneness next year and the Bolts missing the playoffs...

 

Here's the other side of it though.

 

If they win the cup this year, we get the 30th this year. But if they don't that pick drops to mid-20s' I believe, depending on which teams end up in the final 4 (does it still work that way? conference final teams pick last 4)

 

so are we better off getting a bit higher of a pick this year and a 2nd rounder next year (potentially still another first rounder if they win the cup) or do we pick 30 this year and hope like hell they suck next year (they probably won't so regardless it's still probably another late first)

[Long live the King]

Here's the other side of it though.

 

If they win the cup this year, we get the 30th this year. But if they don't that pick drops to mid-20s' I believe, depending on which teams end up in the final 4 (does it still work that way? conference final teams pick last 4)

 

so are we better off getting a bit higher of a pick this year and a 2nd rounder next year (potentially still another first rounder if they win the cup) or do we pick 30 this year and hope like hell they suck next year (they probably won't so regardless it's still probably another late first)

 

So best case {extremely unlikely, requires Nashville, Winnipeg, and Tampa all to lose in the first round} we'd pick 21st this year. More likely Tamp makes it to at least the 2nd round, and we'd be looking, at best at the 25th to 27th pick.

 

So we have about a 5 spot difference for this year in the 26th pick versus 31st pick. The big difference is them winning the cup because that gives next year's pick a 31 spot difference. 2nd rounder to a 1st.

 

Now come's the "fantasy" part. If they win the cup next year, we get 2019 pick 31 instead of 62; however, if they win the cup this year there is a chance they shit the bed next year (remember they failed to make the playoffs last year without Stamkos) and the first rounder is now in the 2019 lottery and top 15 minimum. I'll trade those 5 spots this year for next year's "fantasy" any day.

[Phil]

Brian Boyle > Callahan' date=' Stralman, Miller, McDonagh[/quote']

 

Not in that fuckin' jersey.

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

There is no lottery protection or some bs with the conditional 1st? It is the 2019 Tampa's 1st round pick even if they would win the lottery? If they win the cup this year obviously.

[Stephen]

Brian Boyle > Callahan' date=' Stralman, Miller, McDonagh[/quote']

 

Because he is a man of character! Before his fight against cancer!

[Phil]

There is no lottery protection or some bs with the conditional 1st? It is the 2019 Tampa's 1st round pick even if they would win the lottery? If they win the cup this year obviously.

 

Dunno. CapFriendly has this on it:

 

*Condition: 2nd round pick becomes a 1st if Tampa wins the Stanley Cup in 2017/18 or 2018/19.

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

Hmm, I guess they trusted themself so much they felt it was no need for a lottery protection.

 

Fun fact: Devils swept the regular season series against Tampa. This could be closer then most people think.

[Vodka Drunkenski]

In a perfect world, Tampa wins the cup and then completely shits the bed next season, wins the draft lottery and we get the first overall pick. Unless that pick is lottery protected

[Pete]

Would be really hard for a team with Stamkos, Hedman, Point, Kooch and Vas finishes dead last or in lottery position

[SaveByRichter35]

Would be really hard for a team with Stamkos, Hedman, Point, Kooch and Vas finishes dead last or in lottery position

 

Injuries. But I agree, slim chance to none.

[Long live the King]

Would be really hard for a team with Stamkos, Hedman, Point, Kooch and Vas finishes dead last or in lottery position

 

Last year they missed the playoffs with Stamkos hurt. Injuries happen. Stamkos and Hedman both have had injury plagued careers.

[Pete]

And they are way deeper now than they were. If Hedman goes down, they have McDonough. If Stamkos goes down, they have Point. There's a lot of depth on that team. It will be very hard for them to finish out of the playoffs.

 

EDIT: Fixed all my voice to text typos.

[Long live the King]

And they are way cheaper now than they were. It had been closed down, they have McDonough. If Stamkos goes down, they have Point. There's a lot of depth on that team. It will be very hard for me to finish out of the playoffs.

 

Last year they had Point and Drouin. As we know, McD isn't exactly an Ironman either. Sergachev will for sure eat more minutes, but Girardi, Stralman, and Coburn will all be a year deeper into their 30's. We've seen the drastic differnce a year can make for aging Dmen (Klein). Point looks like he'll be consistent, but will Gourde's production hold up? They saw Tyler Johnson score 72 points one year. "the Triplets" seemed scary at one point, but Johnson hasn't scored more than 50 points since and has his own health issues. Will Miller's scoring increase next year, or will he be the Miller that frustrated Ranger fans. Lot of questions in Tampa. Its a long season in which anything can happen. Boston, Toronto, and Florida (If the can get some consistent goal-tending) won't make it easy on them. Maybe I've had too much Kool-Aid, but I don't for a second believe Tampa is a lock to return to the playoffs next year...