It's thebest time of year the are here. Always a high-octane affair with the speed and skill turned up a notch,one little bounce can change the entire course of a game, series or even a team's destiny. Who will advance is always an unknown but our Sporting News hockey experts attempted to look into the future and see which teams will stay on the road to the Stanley Cup and which teams will be parking their car instead. SN STAFF PREDICTIONS: | Jackie Spiegel FIRST ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (W2) Tampa Bay in 4 Boston Bruins (A2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (A3) Toronto in 7 Washington Capitals (M1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (W1) Washington in 6 New York Islanders (M2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (M3) New York in 7 Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (W2) Calgary in 6 San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P3) San Jose in 7 Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Dallas Stars (W1) Nashville in 5 Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3) St. Louis in 7 SECOND ROUND WINNER Tampa Deion Sanders Jersey Bay Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Tampa Bay Lightning in 5 Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders Washington in 6 Calgary Flames vs. San Jose Sharks San Jose in 5 Nashville Predators vs. St. Louis Blues St. Louis Blues in 6 CONFERENCE FINALS WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals Tampa Bay in 5 San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues San Jose in 6 STANLEY CUP FINAL WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. San Jose Sharks San Jose in 6 Conn Smythe: Joe Pavelski Brandon Schlager FIRST ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (W2) Tampa Bay in 5 Boston Bruins (A2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (A3) Toronto in 7 Washington Capitals (M1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (W1) Washington in 6 New York Islanders (M2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (M3) Pittsburgh 6 Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (W2) Colorado in 6 San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P3) San Jose in 7 Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Dallas Stars (W1) Nashville in 6 Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3) Winnipeg in 6 SECOND ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Tampa Bay in 7 Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh in 6 Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks San Jose in 5 Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets Nashville in 6 CONFERENCE FINALS WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Tampa Bay in 6 Nashville Predators vs. San Jose Sharks Nashville in 7 STANLEY CUP FINAL WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Nashville Predators Tampa Bay in 6 Conn Smythe: Steven Stamkos Steve Kournianos FIRST ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (W2) Tampa Bay in 6 Boston Bruins (A2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (A3) Toronto in 6 Washington Capitals (M1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (W1) Carolina in 7 New York Islanders (M2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (M3) New York in 7 Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (W2) Calgary in 6 San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P3) Vegas in 5 Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Dallas Stars (W1) Nashville in 7 Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3) Winnipeg in 7 John Cominsky Jersey SECOND ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Tampa Bay in 5 New York Islanders vs. Carolina Hurricanes New York in 6 Calgary Flames vs. Vegas Golden Knights Vegas in 7 Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg in 6 CONFERENCE FINALS WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Islanders Tampa Bay in 5 Nashville Predators vs. Vegas Golden Knights Nashville in 6 STANLEY CUP FINAL WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Nashville Predators Tampa Bay in 5 Conn Smythe: Andrei Vasilevskiy Dave McCarthy FIRST ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (W2) Tampa Bay in 5 Boston Erik Harris Jersey Bruins (A2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (A3) Boston in 7 Washington Capitals (M1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (W1) Washington in 5 New York Islanders (M2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (M3) Pittsburgh in 6 Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (W2) Calgary in 6 San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P3) Vegas in 6 Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Dallas Stars (W1) Dallas in 7 Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3) Winnipeg in 7 SECOND ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins Tampa Bay in 6 Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Washington in 7 Calgary Flames vs. Vegas Golden Knights Vegas in 6 Winnipeg Jets vs. Dallas Stars Winnipeg in 5 CONFERENCE FINALS WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals Tampa Bay in 7 Winnipeg Jets vs. Vegas Golden Knights Vegas in 7 STANLEY CUP FINAL WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vegas Golden Knights Tampa Bay in 6 Conn Smythe: Steven Stamkos Mike Murphy FIRST ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (W2) Tampa Bay in 5 Boston Bruins (A2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (A3) Boston in 6 Washington Capitals (M1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (W1) Washington in 6 New York Islanders (M2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (M3) Pittsburgh in 7 Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (W2) Calgary in 5 San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P3) San Jose in 7 Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Dallas Stars (W1) Nashville in 6 Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3) St. Louis in 6 SECOND ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins Tampa Bay in 6 Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Washington in 5 Calgary Flames vs. San Jose Sharks Calgary in 7 Nashville Predators vs. St. Louis Blues St. Louis in 6 CONFERENCE FINALS WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals Tampa Bay in 7 Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues Calgary in 5 STANLEY CUP FINAL WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Calgary Flames Tampa Bay in 6 Conn Smythe: Brayden Point Murray Pam FIRST ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (W2) Tampa Bay in 5 Boston Bruins (A2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (A3) Boston in 7 Washington Capitals (M1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (W1) Washington in 6 New York Islanders (M2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (M3) Pittsburgh in 7 Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (W2) Calgary in 6 San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P3) Vegas in 7 Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Dallas Stars (W1) Nashville in 6 Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3) St. Louis in 7 SECOND ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins Tampa Bay in 7 Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Washington in 7 Calgary Flames vs. Vegas Golden Knights Calgary in 7 St. Louis Blues vs. Nashville Predators St. Louis in 7 CONFERENCE FINALS WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals Tampa Bay in 6 Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues Calgary in 6 STANLEY CUP FINAL WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Calgary Flames Tampa Bay in 6 Conn Smythe: Brayden Point Lyle Richardson FIRST ROUND WINNER Tampa Vic Beasley Jersey Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (W2) Tampa Bay in 4 Boston Bruins (A2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (A3) Boston in 6 Washington Capitals (M1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (W1) Washington in 5 New York Islanders (M2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (M3) Pittsburgh in 7 Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (W2) Calgary in 5 San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P3) Vegas in 7 Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Dallas Stars (W1) Dallas in 6 Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3) St. Louis in 6 Cordarrelle Patterson Jersey SECOND ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins Tampa Bay in 6 Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Washington in 7 Calgary Flames vs. Vegas Golden Knights Calgary in 6 St. Louis Blues vs. Dallas Stars St. Louis in 5 CONFERENCE FINALS WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals Tampa Bay in 6 Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues Calgary in 6 STANLEY CUP FINAL WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Calgary Flames Tampa Bay in 6 Conn Smythe: Nikita Kucherov Sammi Silber FIRST ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (W2) Tampa Bay in 5 Boston Bruins (A2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (A3) Boston in 7 Washington Capitals (M1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (W1) Washington in 6 New York Islanders (M2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (M3) Pittsburgh in 7 Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (W2) Calgary in 6 San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P3) Vegas in 7 Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Dallas Stars (W1) Nashville in 6 Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3) Winnipeg in 5 SECOND ROUND WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins Tampa Bay in 6 Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Washington in 7 Calgary Flames vs. Vegas Golden Knights Calgary in 5 Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg in 5 CONFERENCE FINALS WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals Tampa Bay in 7 Calgary Flames vs. Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg in 5 STANLEY CUP FINAL WINNER Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg in 6 Conn Smythe: Blake Wheeler