Who will win the battle for Florida or the battle for Alberta? If opinions are divided among our pundits, they agree that the Colorado Avalanche will make it through the second round of the NHL playoffs that begin tonight.
• Also read: Blues vs Avalanche: Rematch
• Also read: Oilers vs. Flames: Trench Warfare
• Also read: Lightning vs. Panthers: The Battle of Florida
• Also read: Rangers vs. Hurricanes: An Unborn Rivalry
Indeed, our 15 participants are convinced that the training led by Jared Bednar will eliminate the blues of St. Louis. Three of them, Michel Bergeron, Louis Butcher and Jean-Charles Lajoie, also predict that this confrontation will end in five games.
In the Western Conference, too, the Calgary Flames are clearly favored in this intense duel that will pit them against their major rivals and neighbors in Edmonton. Only two of our respondents, Bergeron and Luc Grenier, give the Oilers the win.
There are 10 in the East predicting the Florida Panthers will reach the conference finals after the series in which they face the Tampa Bay Lightning. Overall, however, a long duel awaits them, the winner of which is only certain for seven of them after the seventh and decisive match.
Playing, not playing?
For one, Bergeron gives the Panthers the win, especially since losing Brayden Point could prove costly for Tampa.
“Without this key player to point out the former Nordiques and New York Rangers coach, I don’t see how the Lightning could win. »
Point is doubtful for the first game at Sunrise tonight due to a leg injury. The forward fell in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs when he lost his footing and fell.
We saw him writhing in pain before heading to the dressing room. Point, one of the architects of the Lightning’s last two Stanley Cup titles, had two goals and four points in seven playoff games.
Additionally, Bergeron wonders why the Panthers didn’t field Quebec’s Anthony Duclair in the last game when he was available.
“How can this team be without a 30-goal scorer in the regular season?” he wonders, not without reason.