Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Matchups and Predictions

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00:00know basically what all the matchups are going to be in the first round of the Stanley Cup

00:06playoffs. There is still one yet to be determined and that's because we don't know who's going to

00:11get that spot between Montreal and Columbus here over the next two nights. But a lot of things were

00:16sorted away last night. The Leafs beat Buffalo 4-0. They clinched the Atlantic division. We

00:22talked about this for weeks. It was a big thing for them to do. Now they will face Scotty Ottawa

00:27in the first round of the playoffs. So big you know regional rivalry battle there with Toronto

00:34and Ottawa. It's gravy for them. Yeah oh it's absolutely gravy for them. But this is who they

00:40needed to play. They didn't want to have another year playing Tampa, Florida, Boston all these teams

00:47that they have a hard time with. Now they get Ottawa who hasn't been in the playoffs in seven years

00:51and they got a chance to take them down. The Penguins knocked them out. Remember when they went on their

00:56run against the Penguins and they almost beat the Penguins and the Penguins ended up winning the

01:00Stanley Cup that year. It's the last time they've been in. Last time Ottawa was there. Columbus beat

01:06the Flyers 3-0. Obviously that was in regulation. What does that mean? Columbus is still alive. They

01:13are hanging by a thread and they need Montreal to lose tonight. They cannot get a point. Montreal

01:20gets one point tonight against Carolina and they will get that last spot. Columbus needs them

01:25to lose and then beat the Islanders at home in regulation tomorrow night and they can still

01:31get that final spot. So you want Carolina to win that game tonight at the Bell Center is

01:35what I'm guessing and then you want to see them win that game tomorrow night at home.

01:39I have full disclosure. I'll let the future do the talking. I bet Columbus to make the playoffs

01:46back in December at like plus 750. So I'm rooting for Columbus to make it. Uh, I, and look, I, I think

01:54that Montreal can lose tonight. We've seen stranger things in the NHL. I mean, how many times have we

02:00seen this? I mean, remember the Penguins a couple of years ago, lost that game to Chicago last game of

02:04the year and everybody said there was no chance they'd lose. And that happens all the time in the NHL.

02:11So I don't think that's a walk in the park. It's just the one that's most recent on my memory. Uh,

02:17which is why I had to bring that one up for nothing's ever set in stone, uh, in the NHL, Tampa beat Florida

02:235-1. So Tampa will have home ice against Florida in the first round. They're beating their ass the way

02:30the Kings beat the Oilers' ass lately. They certainly are. And I think that that's going to

02:35continue on into the first round. I like Tampa in that series, uh, against the Panthers in the first

02:42round of the NHL playoffs.