The playoffs begin May 2 in the NHL. Although the pairings of the first round of the Stanley Cup hint at possible surprises, in some confrontations, for example, “Washington” and “Florida”, the outcome of the series is almost certain.

Do Ovechkin and Co. really have no chance to catch on to the semi-finals of the East?

Florida – Washington

Forecast Sportbox.ru: 4-1

Photo: © Rich Graessle / Icon Sportswire vi / www.imago-image.de / Global Look Press

The only way the Capitals can beat the Panthers is to take advantage of their lack of knockout experience. Florida has only made the playoffs 4 times in 21 years, but only twice in the last two seasons. In all other aspects, the Sunrise club is much stronger than the metropolitan team: it is the most productive team in the league in 16 years with an excellent line of attack and a reliable goalkeeping team led by Sergei Bobrovsky. Much more stable than Washington.

To stun the Panthers and prevent them from gathering in a series of up to four victories for Washington is only possible with Alexander Ovechkin, who took advantage of a slight injury and rested before the playoffs. If he breathes strength and self-confidence into the Capitals, the leader’s motivation may be enough to make the loud and unexpected defeat of the regular season winner happen in the very first round. If Ovechkin fails to “ignite”, then “Florida” will not let the opponent win a single match.

Tampa Bay – Toronto

Forecast Sportbox.ru: 4-2

Photo: © Mark LoMoglio / Contributor / NHLI / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Tampa’s path for the third Stanley Cup in a row promises to be thorny: in the first round, Toronto fell to it, which brought together the strongest team in a decade, led by the best NHL sniper Oston Matthews. Despite the huge offensive potential and high ambitions of the Leafs, which for 17 years did not go beyond the first round of the playoffs, they have little chance of beating the Lightning.

The Lightning are a much more confident cup fighter with an excellent selection of hockey players who have gained the best condition for the start of the playoffs. Nikita Kucherov equaled Tampa’s record for longest goal streak, while Steven Stamkos had the highest-scoring season of his career, ending the regular season with a hat-trick. Finally, the lightning’s secret weapon is Andrei Vasilevsky, who, although he is in the shadow of some of his colleagues this season, remains a stronghold of reliability for the team. The Toronto goalkeeper team, on the contrary, does not add confidence to the team.

Although Tampa have far more strong opponents and less chance of winning the Cup this season, Toronto is not the team that will cross its path on the way to the trophy.

Boston – Carolina

Forecast Sportbox.ru: 3-4

Andrey Svechnikov / Photo: © Gregg Forwerck / Contributor / National Hockey League / Gettyimages.ru

Carolina this season is more than ever tuned in to the battle for the cup: the team has an excellent selection of performers in attack, led by young but already experienced Sebastian Aho and Andrey Svechnikov, and one of the best goalkeepers of the season, Frederik Andersen, who forced Igor Shesterkin to fight for “Vezina”. One bad luck – at least in the first match, the Hurricanes will not be able to count on him due to an injury.

Although Boston looks less combat-ready than its rival, it has a well-played backbone of high-class hockey players like Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, who together have a dozen playoff appearances. In the regular season, the Bruins crashed, losing to the Carolinas in all three games by a total score of 1:16, but in the knockout matches, and even without the best goaltender in the NHL, the Hurricanes will have a much harder time against the experienced Bears.

If Anderson returns to action in the Boston series, the Carolinas are very likely to advance to the conference semifinals.

Pittsburgh – Rangers

Forecast Sportbox.ru: 2-4

Photo: © Bruce Bennett / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

For the first time in a decade, the Rangers outsell the Penguins in the number of stars in their roster: the outstanding Igor Shesterkin, the high-scoring Artemy Panarin, last season’s best defenseman Adam Fox and the brilliant shooter Chris Kreider. And this is not all high-class hockey players gathered in New York. As a result, this season, the Bluesharts are in the top five in powerplay conversion with a rate of 25% and are second in the number of goals conceded (only the Carolinas have less). With three wins over the Penguins in four regular season games, on paper, the Rangers have a clear advantage in the upcoming series.

But you shouldn’t underestimate the Penguins: in the regular season they scored 18 goals more than their rivals, while they have an advantage when playing in equal lineups, the number of shots per match and skillfully know how to play in the minority. This means that they can create a lot of problems for the Rangers and neutralize all their strengths.

Despite the fact that the club from New York is the obvious favorite of the series, victory is far from guaranteed. In many ways, the outcome of the series will depend on the quality of Shesterkin’s game.