So this one really promises to be a grind for
both sides. You both said on this show a
few weeks ago that the Lightning are a team that
nobody wants to see here in the first round.
But after that incredible run by Florida last year,
Pete, the Panthers shouldn't be underestimated by anyone either
. So who do you like to come out of
this one? I'm picking Tampa, but it's going
to be close if Tampa wins it, it's probably
going to go seven. I think it might go
six or seven even if Florida wins it. Florida
is the better team in terms of body of work
all season long, but who's hotter down the stretch
? I think it's been Tampa Vasilevsky. I trust
in the big playoff games over Sergei Bobrovsky. There
have been some injuries all season long on Florida's blue
line. Tampa Bay has proven that they're still a
dynamic team can beat anybody any given night, even
without Mikhail Sergeev and Kuchar just won the scoring title
, the power play point scoring title. So he's
as good as anybody out there in the entire league
. Lightning could strike again three times. They've already
beaten the Panthers twice in past playoff series. We'll
see a third time's the charm for Florida. We'll
say dua though, that the lightning have lost what
I think, four of five. So it's not
the best way to enter the postseason here. I'm
not sure if that matters to you or not.
Uh, a little bit. I don't think it's
a big deciding factor for me. It's just Florida
has something to prove last year. No one expected
them to go on the run that they went on
and they made it all the way to the Stanley
Cup final. They looked pretty solid and this year
they've been a dominant team throughout the entire regular season
. They just have pieces that go beyond the top
line for the Tampa Bay Lightning. It's kind of
Nikita Kuo's team and everyone else is just there for
the, whereas with Florida, we have seen the
year that Sam Reiner's had. Matthew Ku is such
an elite player. Alexander Barkov doesn't get enough credit
and going up and down the lineup. They have
some pretty solid depth and also the way that Sergei
Borovsky has been playing, that's another factor too.
He's really turned on a different level since last year
. So I just like Florida on this one by
a little bit. I do think it goes to
seven as well though.