It's the best time of the year. Baseball season is underway, The Masters, the NFL Draft is next week, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are about to kick off.
The Penguins will not be playing for Lord Stanley for the third straight season, but take heart, Penguins fans. The time will be soon when the black and gold will charge headfirst into this cutthroat tournament once again.
While we don't get Pittsburgh in the playoffs, playoff hockey is must-watch every single night it's on. I'd charge Penguins fans who weren't thinking about watching to tune in. These games are going to be electric.
With that, here are the Pens Labyrinth official predictions for the Eastern Conference.
#1 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. #4 Ottawa Senators
The Battle of Ontario.
This series is going to be nuts. I'll say it right now: it might actually be the Leafs' year.
The Senators are making it back to the playoffs for the first time Chris Kunitz ended their franchise in 2017. The Leafs are back in the playoffs for the ninth straight season, but have just a single round victory to their name.
It's almost like someone has to win this one, and I think it will be Toronto. Brady Tkachuck is going to make things miserable for the top dogs of the Leafs, but it will be Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner (future Penguin) leading the way to the second round.
The Senators' physicality is going to make this series much closer than it needs to be, though. Do not be surprised if a Maple Leaf gets hurt and misses time.
Prediction: Maple Leafs in 7
#2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #3 Florida Panthers
The Battle for Florida. (We're getting a lot of battles this first round, aren't we?)
A repeat of last year's first round, but this time the Lightning have home ice advantage. Tampa Bay has been one of the best teams in hockey all year, especially at home, and Florida has certainly taken a step back after their Cup victory last season.
The goaltender matchup is legendary: Andrei Vasilevskiy vs. Sergei Bobrovsky. Both are top five goalies this season, but Vasilevskiy has been a bit better overall.
Nikita Kucherov led the NHL in points with a ridiculous 121 this season, Tampa was the league's best scoring team this season at 3.56 goals per game, and their special teams are both top 10 in the NHL.
Florida is going to have to lean on their physical identity and find some magic somewhere, which we know they have in them. This will be a good series, but it's hard to go against Tampa here.
Prediction: Lightning in 6
#1 Washington Capitals vs. #4 Montreal Canadiens
The Capitals have been a juggernaut all season long, but don't sleep on Le Canadien. Their youthful vigor is going to serve them well this series, and they may luck into the next round.
Alex Ovechkin is the story of the NHL this season, but don't forget that the Capitals have some lethal scorers with Alaiksei Protas, Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, and Connor McMichael all having over 25 goals this season.
Pair that with Logan Thompson, who lost just six games in regulation all season, and this Capitals squad is an immediate Cup contender.
But hold on. The Canadiens will have the luxury of playing in the playoff-hungry Bell Center with a rowdy crowd unlike any other in hockey. They've also added in stud prospect Ivan Demidov to the fray to go with their leader, Nick Suzuki, and young firecrackers Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson.
Depth will be the story of this series. If Montreal can get some depth scoring, they can scare Washington. However, the Canadiens had their foot on the throat to clinch their playoff spot for over a week, and they couldn't finish it off until the second to last day.
The lights might be too bright for a young team ahead of schedule. It's been a few years, but Washington has been here before, and they'll take it.
Prediction: Capitals in 7
#2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. #3 New Jersey Devils
Carolina has made a habit of crushing first round hopes and dreams for six straight years now. Ever since they ended their playoff drought, they've been a lock in the opening round. Their problems come later, but that's for another conversation.
New Jersey is out-manned, out-gunned, and downright out-matched in this series. Their only hope is if Carolina's goaltending is suspect, which is a conversation we've been having literally every single year around this time.
The Canes were not as dominant this season as years past, but they're going to dominate this series. New Jersey won't know what hit them.
Prediction: Hurricanes in 4
All higher seeds predicted in the First Round is not very fun, no, but these will all be good series (except for Carolina and New Jersey).
Out of Toronto, Tampa Bay, Washington, and Carolina, all four have a compelling case to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Maple Leafs ended their first round exit streak against the Lightning in 2023, but all bets are off once the second round starts. Same thing with Carolina. They've shown to be elite when the playoffs start, but they lose steam and can't get to the Final.
Washington's disgruntled playoff history has just the one blip in 2018 when they finally managed to beat the Penguins and ended up winning their one and only Cup. Tampa Bay, of this bunch, knows what it takes to win four rounds of cutthroat hockey.
I'd say out of these four, Tampa Bay is going to make it through the Eastern Conference. They do just about everything right and don't have many weaknesses. If they go cold at any point they're in trouble, but I've got a bad feeling we'll be seeing the Bolts searching for their 3rd Cup of the 2020's.
Let us know what you think about our predictions! Feel free to grill us on Twitter/X @PensLabyrinth and tell us who you think makes it out of the Eastern Conference! And be sure to check out our Western Conference predictions HERE!