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2019 Double Shifted Playoff Predictions-Eastern Conference Edition

2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS-EASTERN CONFERENCE
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The Tampa Bay Lightning have been the NHL's most dominant team this season.
It's been a great year for hockey.

Scoring is way up, plenty of stars have performed at an unbelievable level, and, as usual, there's been surprises. With the playoffs only a few months away, let's look at Double Shifted's playoff predictions after the trade deadline has come and gone.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
1- TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
The Lightning are having one of the best seasons in NHL history this year and there's no reason to believe they're going to slow down anytime soon. Their league-best power play is paired with a great penalty kill, and the offensive prowess of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point has helped the Lightning light up their opponents on a nightly basis. Kucherov in particular has been a special player to watch, and his 106 point total will undoubtedly increase. Defenseman Victor Hedman has 41 points and 32 assists, and goalie Andrei Vasilevsky is one of the best in the league.
WC2- COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
The Blue Jackets decided to hang on to Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin at the trade deadline and try to make a playoff push. They acquired Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel from the Ottawa Senators in hopes of further igniting an offense as well as Adam McQuaid from the New York Rangers. Panarin has 73 points in 62 games, while Cam Atkinson and Pierre-Luc Dubois round out Columbus' top three scorers. Seth Jones has also been able to contribute offensively. It will be interesting to see if a clearly disillusioned Bobrovsky can overcome his playoff struggles in the last part of the season. They're currently two points out of a playoff spot, and they'll have to beat out Max Domi and the Canadiens and a streaking Philadelphia Flyers team that's been really hot of late.
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David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Patrice Bergeron form one of the deadliest lines in hockey.
2-BOSTON BRUINS
The Bruins have one of the best lines in hockey with Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron, who have lit it up for a combined 201 points so far this year. Charlie McAvoy and Torey Krug have really stepped up, but the Bruins need to add more secondary scoring to hold off the Toronto Maple Leafs for the #2 seed in the Atlantic. The addition of Charlie Coyle should help but he hasn't registered a point in four games with the team so far. Tuuka Rask has been good in net, sporting a 2.29 GAA. The Bruins have been too hot as of late to fall a spot but Tampa is out of reach.
3- TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
John Tavares is having a career year after signing in free agency with Toronto. The Leafs will be looking to make a deep run this year before having to deal with the monster contract that Mitch Marner is going to get (he's currently leading the team with 57 assists as well as 81 points). Marner, Tavares, Auston Matthews (30 goals and 30 assists) are having great offensive seasons, and defenseman Morgan Rielly is a Norris Trophy candidate. With 63 points and a +31 rating, Rielly leads a defense that got stronger just before the deadline when the Leafs pulled the trigger on a deal with the Los Angeles Kings for Jake Muzzin. Muzzin has looked strong for the Leafs so far. Jake Gardiner cannot afford to choke in the big moments like he did last season. Frederik Andersen's .924 save percentage is good enough for eighth in the league, but he looked shaky in the earlier stages of the season. 
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The New York Islanders, led by coach Barry Trotz, have been the biggest surprise of the season. 
Metropolitan Division
1- WASHINGTON CAPITALS
Here they are again. The defending champions are once again at the top of their division, and captain Alexander Ovechkin is one of the biggest reasons why. Ovechkin is still as hungry for goals as ever, and he has a great opportunity to hit 50 goals (he currently sits at 45). After winning the NHL's hardest shot competition at the All-Star game, John Carlson has 10 goals and leads Capitals defensemen with 57 points. Neither Evgeny Kuznetsov or Nicklas Backstrom has hit 20 goals this season, but each has topped 40 assists. The Caps' most significant deadline deal was in a trade with the Kings for veteran forward Carl Hagelin. T.J. Oshie has missed a significant amount of games but still has 42 points. The Capitals look like a safe bet to make another deep playoff run.
WC1-CAROLINA HURRICANES
Last year I picked this team as the surprise team to make the playoffs. It looks like that prediction was only a year premature. Sebastian Aho is having a breakout year, registering 73 points in just 65 games. Fellow Finn Teuvo Teravainen has 43 assists, and new captain Justin Williams has been productive with 42 points. Andrei Svechnikov has had a good rookie season. The defense group led by Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, Justin Faulk, and Jaccob Slavin have been solid but the goalie situation continues to haunt the Hurricanes. The Scott Darling experiment failed miserably, and Peter Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney are not going to be winning a team championships. The Hurricanes will make the playoffs but won't be able to hold off Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
2-NEW YORK ISLANDERS
No one saw this coming. The Islanders were picked by many to finish last in their division and near the bottom of the league. Mathew Barzal is leading the team as pretty much expected, but no player on the Islanders has topped 60 points yet and only four have hit 40. However, the Islanders have been getting production from all across their roster. Jordan Eberle and Ryan Pulock have 30 and 31 points. Brock Nelson and new captain Anders Lee both have hit 20 goals. In the crease, Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss have split time. Both are top four in the NHL in save percentage and goals against average. Coach Barry Trotz has done a great job with this team, and a 6-1 win against Toronto was a nightmare for John Tavares but a dream for Islanders fans, whose team's win convinced many of their legitimacy. 
3-PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
For all the great things we've heard all year about Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Marner, and Point, Sidney Crosby is still playing hockey and his 83 points are more than any of them have. Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and Phil Kessel all have at least 60 points. The Penguins have awaken from their early-season sleepwalk and look like a dangerous team heading into the playoffs. In a series between the Penguins and the Islanders, I wouldn't bet against an experienced Penguins team. Kris Letang is having a great year and it looks like he'll become the fifth penguin to top 60 points. There's a sizeable drop between the Penguins' top five and the next leading point-getter (Bryan Rust's 31 points aren't near Letang's 53), but when the top two Penguin lines are going, they don't need a ton of outside scoring. Matt Murray almost lost his job to Casey DeSmith this year and will have to be a lot better if the Penguins want to return to the cup finals. 
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Sidney Crosby celebrates after scoring in the 2019 NHL Stadium Series against the Philadelphia Flyers. Crosby has once again been one of the NHL's best. 

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