STL has been better under Montgomery however their recent win streak, at least the magnitude of it, was propelled by super soft schedule. The Jets should stomp over them even without one of Vilardi or Ehlers.
I'm interested in how the defenses match up. Cam Fowler put up 3g, 19 a in 25 games after the 4 Nations tournament. A lot of Blues fans said he carried the team after Parayko went down. Might be the best low key trade of the year, in terms of impact for value.
I think the Jets have the edge at #1D with Morrissey over Parayko but the 2-6 will be key in this series. There's a lot more playoff success on the Blues side, every one of their starting 6 d-men have been to conference finals, 3 have been to Cups finals, 2 have won the Cup. Jets have to prove themselves here.
Centers Scheifele vs. Thomas is a pretty close matchup. I like Schenn over Namestnikov. But Lowry has to nullify one of those top 2 centers at home, with Appleton and whoever as his wingers, and Scheifele has to score more than his opponent. Doesn't look easy to me.
Binnington is a wild card. Psychologically he may have an advantage on Hellebuyck, but if the Jets get him off his game, there is a chance to win the series with goaltending.
I expect it to be a real hard fought series, some big hits, fights, everything.
My biggest concerns with the Jets going into the playoffs is secondary scoring. And PP. Hopefully Gabe coming back brings another element. The speed element with Ehlers can't be replaced until he gets back in there.