My Breakdown of this series:
Goal:
Bishop vs. Crawford
Bishop is a PO Rookie. I wouldn't call him that at all after 20 games, but it's still his 1st year. He has the same numbers as Crawford, but Crawford is more proven. Both have strenghts and weaknesses.
Crawford may have an edge because of the experience. Hawks don't have a history playing much against him, but this hasn't stopped them against Rask 2013.
Overall, I'd call it a wash with no real Advantage.
Defense:
Hawks have the better Top4. Keith is playing unreal and like he isn'T human. Seabs is having a quietly but great PO run himself. Hjammer just shuts down every line he faces. He is such a great Player. JO is fine too.
Overall the Bolts D Looks like the Ducks D. Hedman is a #1 but he still isn't that Elite and proven.
Bottom pair turned out to not lose us a round, why should they now.
Advantage Hawks
Forwards:
TBs offense is their Top6. Their Bottom 6 doesn't provide much offense. There is a huge drop off in production after the Top 6. Hawks scoring is spreaded over the Roster and lets face it, we have the best depth in the NHL.
I expect the 4th/3rd line to face the Johnson line while Toews will go up against Stamkos.
If Q goes back to Splitting up Toews and Kane, what I expect him to do, the Kane line will go out against the Callahan line. He's going to destroy them if we get the Matchups.
Hawks can roll 4 lines all the time, Bolts just can't
Advantage Hawks
Special Teams:
Tampa Bay is dangerous on the PP and good on the PK. Their numbers are better than ours and we all know our struggles at PK/PP.
Advantage Bolts
Coaching:
Cooper is a good Coach, but he is going up against one of the best. A proven 2x Cup Winning Coach.
I'd give the Hawks the Advantage
Overall, I see it over in max. 6 games. Hawks are on a Mission, have more experience and have already shown they can beat any Team. Could end up like the Ducks were the best Team the Hawks have faced.