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Speculation: First round opponent poll

Who do you want to face in the first round?

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    62
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Islanders4Cups

Islanders4Cups

Registered User
May 4, 2002
4,691
1,544
Boston, MA USA
There aren’t any good choices here. I am leaning towards the Penguins. The Islanders had the most success agains the Bruins who are probably the least likely opponent at this point.

I just think the Pens goaltending is unproven and that may be enough of an opening to making it a long series in which goaltending is the difference.

Would also love to see the Bruins take the Caps and Laviolette out. Prefer not to see the Caps most of all.
 
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Picked the Pens but no real preference. Have to beat 2/3 no matter what.
 
Pens. The play a slightly less heavier game than the B's or the caps. No disrespect to the pens at all. Sullivan has done an awesome job and has (2) hall of famers with cups to their collective names
 
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Islanders4Cups said:
Prefer not to see the Caps most of all.
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Two of the recent losses 1-0. Also, Pens seem to be picking up steam against us. There is no good choice here. Run this poll in Caps , Bruins and Pens forum and Isles might run the table. But Isles didn't do well in these polls last year either.
 
Don't care. Have to beat two of them anyway to get back to the semi finals. Just win.
 
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I'm not voting. There are no good choices. Not even saying that as an anti-jinx thing.

Of the 3 other playoff teams in the Covid East Division, I thought all of them were going to be either below us or out of the playoffs this year. The Pens, Caps and Bruins all looked like they were trending badly after last season and as late as the 30 game mark this season. All of us either got well against the bottom feeders or addressed their deficiencies (the Caps hired Lavy, the Bruins traded for Hall, the Pens goaltending woke up). The East will be a dogfight. Expecting every series to go 6-7 games.

The only thing I will say is I least want to face the Capitals. Too much skilled size.
 
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I think the Caps have the most unproven goaltending of the three so I chose them. Doesn't matter though. I also don't care about regular season success/failure.
 
Penguins. Not because they’re easy or anything, but because the Bruins and Capitals can then beat each other up.
 
Anyone of WSH, BOS, and the Pens are equally challenging. NYI have fared well against BOS this year, but they are a different team now. So any of them, bring it on. Will have to face 2 of the 3 eventually.
 
I have this weird ass feeling Trotz didn't roll our best lines against the caps/pens on purpose so they are caught off guard by us in the playoffs. Call me a conspiracy theorist. I'll take any of the three but preferably pens or caps considering we've beaten them in the playoffs recently. Pretty crazy that we might get our 3rd series with the caps in 6 years
 
MikeyMike01 said:
Penguins. Not because they’re easy or anything, but because the Bruins and Capitals can then beat each other up.
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That's my thought process as well. Let the Caps and Bruins have a long, hard fought series wear each other down. Penguins will still be hard to get past, but if we can manage, it'll hopefully make the 2nd round a bit more winnable.
 
Islanders4Cups said:
There aren’t any good choices here. I am leaning towards the Penguins. The Islanders had the most success agains the Bruins who are probably the least likely opponent at this point.

I just think the Pens goaltending is unproven and that may be enough of an opening to making it a long series in which goaltending is the difference.

Would also love to see the Bruins take the Caps and Laviolette out. Prefer not to see the Caps most of all.
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If you prefer not to see the Caps most of all Pens might have a better chance knocking them out than the Bruins.
 
Can't really decide on this one....I agree with the other posters. Doesn't matter, gotta beat 2 of them.

Guess my ratings look like this:

Isles vs. Pens
Offense: Pens
Defense: Isles
Goaltending: Isles

Isles vs. Caps
Offense: Caps
Defense: push
Goaltending: Isles

Isles vs. Bruins:
Offense: push
Defense: Isles
Goaltending: Isles (without Rask) Bruins (with a completely healthy Rask), Push (less than 80% healthy Rask)

Feel free to argue it all ruthlessly.
 
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LeapOnOver said:
Can't really decide on this one....I agree with the other posters. Doesn't matter, gotta beat 2 of them.

Guess my ratings look like this:

Isles vs. Pens
Offense: Pens
Defense: Isles
Goaltending: Isles

Isles vs. Caps
Offense: Caps
Defense: push
Goaltending: Isles

Isles vs. Bruins:
Offense: push
Defense: Isles
Goaltending: Isles (without Rask) Bruins (with a completely healthy Rask), Push (less than 80% healthy Rask)

Feel free to argue it all ruthlessly.
Click to expand...

I look at the two "pushes" and will add something that could tip the scales....

Isles-Caps
Defense: based on the Caps recent defensive adjustments stifling the Isles, then I give it to them.

Isles-Bruins:
Offense: while the Isles have a more balanced scoring approach, the perfection line has the 3 best players on the ice at any time so I give it to them.

Using that...the team I do NOT want to play in the first round is the Caps.
 
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No preference. Isles will role 4 lines, play the 'plan', rely on their stellar G, and be opportunistic in goal scoring. They'll win their first round matchup.
 
I think the Penguins are the toughest out. They've relied on their coaching and veteran leadership to get the most out of players that other franchises just weren't getting. (I'm talking about Matheson and Cici in particular. Also McCann) They've got that je ne sais quoi - a winning quality that players like Crosby, Rust, and Guentzel exude. And they've got varied, and talented forwards on their bottom-6. They're much much better than the team NYI swept a couple of years ago.

Caps are big, and intimidate, but i think they've got holes that are exploitable, especially with the kind of focus that goes into a series. The same, I think, can be said for the Bruins. From a matchup point of view, I'd prefer the Bruins.
 
It doesn't matter. We'll kill any of them. We're just resting now.
 
Well it’s a good thing we can’t play the Buffalonians in the first round. Not worried about the other teams ..LGI
 
Based on how we've looked over the last couple months....each of them scare me equally. So it doesn't matter.

Just hope we don't embarrass ourselves.
 
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