From travisyost: Previewing the likely first-round playoff matchups for Canadian teams. MORE:
all missing time. Gardiner’s loss is the most important; Toronto’s blueline is relatively thin on talent relative to the rest of their roster and his “week-to-week” status is alarming this deep into the regular season.
Toronto clearly has the talent to skate with any team in the league, but the Bruins are a particularly difficult matchup and it’s looking increasingly possible they will hold home-ice advantage, too. Either way, this could be one of the two best first-round matchups we have. - Likely opponents: Tampa Bay Lightning , Washington Capitals
Washington poses a much more interesting matchup. The Capitals look like they’ll grab the top spot in the Metropolitan Division – the weaker of the two divisions in the Eastern Conference – but they haven’t looked nearly as strong as they have in prior years, including their Stanley Cup win in 2017-18.
The interesting aspect of the Dallas matchup is that the Jets have largely outplayed the Stars over their four games, except when it comes to special teams. The Stars have put six power-play goals on the Jets, and that’s bad news from a couple of angles – namely that Winnipeg has intermittently had issues staying out of the penalty box and their kill rates have been underwhelming most of the season.
I think everyone recognized that the win/loss record was a bit cruel for a team that was seemingly playing well on most nights, but there is no doubt that the Blues have been a much better team since the calendar year turned. In fact, the Blues are the fifth-best team in the NHL in 2019, now playing at a 115-point pace.
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