The Stanley Cup playoffs finally get underway Wednesday night with five of the eight first round matchups kicking off and we couldn't be more excited. Until the actual games get started, it's always fun to predict what teams will advance or fill out a playoff bracket and read up on who the experts have winning it all.
It's also fun to simulate the playoffs in NHL 19 and each year, EA Sports gives us their official playoff predictions based on their simulation. Sadly for the Canadian teams, the Cup drought for this country continued in the EA sim and not one of Calgary, Winnipeg, and Toronto made it out of the first round.
Who saw that coming? What many think they see coming, though, was the result of the sim and that's Steven Stamkos and Tampa Bay lifting the Stanley Cup.
EA gave some specific details about the sim such as Nikita Kucherov winning the Conn Smythe Trophy with 31 points in the postseason.
As for the Canadian teams, Calgary couldn't handle Colorado's top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog. They combined for 31 points in the six-game series.
The Leafs, meanwhile, fought valiantly against the Bruins with four of the six games going to overtime. Brad Marchand scored the winner, though, and sent the Buds home early again. Last but not least, Winnipeg lost a heartbreaking seven-game series against the Blues who made it all the way to the Cup Final.
(H/T: EA Sports NHL 19)
