NHL Playoffs 2018: Stanley Cup Bracket, Schedule and Predictions

The top position in the NHL's Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference came down to the last game, and all the Boston Bruins had to do to gain both titles was beat the Florida Panthers at home.

The Panthers were eliminated from postseason contention Saturday, when the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Rangers. They had nothing to play for except pride, but that was more than enough as they frustrated the Bruins and beat them 4-2 on Sunday, giving the No. 1 position in the division and conference to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

As a result, the Lightning will play the New Jersey Devils, the No. 2 wild-card team in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins finished second in the Atlantic Division and will play the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Washington Capitals managed to win the Metropolitan Division, and they will face the Columbus Blue Jackets, who finished as the No. 1 wild-card team in the Eastern Conference. The second-place Pittsburgh Penguins will take on their traditional rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Western Conference will feature a matchup between the top-seeded Nashville Predators and the Colorado Avalanche. The Preds won the Presidents' Trophy and will have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The Winnipeg Jets finished second in the Central Division, and they will host the third-place Minnesota Wild.

In their first year, the Vegas Golden Knights won the Pacific Division, and they will host the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs. The Anaheim Ducks finished with one more point than the San Jose Sharks, and they will have home-ice advantage when the two teams meet in the first round.

The playoffs get underway Wednesday night, with the Penguins hosting the Flyers in Game 1. The Winnipeg-Minnesota and Vegas-Los Angeles series start Wednesday as well. The other five series begin Thursday night. The full schedule can be viewed on the NHL's official website.

Predictions

The Lightning were the best team in the Eastern Conference for most of the season, and they come into the playoffs as a high-scoring, explosive team led by Nikita Kucherov (100 points), Steven Stamkos (86 points) and Brayden Point (66 points).

However, Tampa Bay's defensive game has suffered in recent weeks, and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has not performed as well as he did in the first part of the season. Vasilevskiy has a 2.62 goals-against average (rankings 21st) and a .919 save percentage (ranking 16th).

New Jersey surged to earn a playoff spot behind the inspired play of Taylor Hall and goalie Keith Kinkaid. The Devils don't appear to match up with the Lightning in terms of talent, but there is something about this team, and the NHL has a recent history of No. 8-seeded teams finding a way. Look for New Jersey to push Tampa Bay to seven games before finally succumbing.

While the Bruins have brilliant leadership in Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara, and fine young players in Charlie McAvoy and Ryan Donato, the Toronto Maple Leafs may be more explosive with Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

Toronto is hungry for postseason success, and this appears to be another seven-game series. The Bruins have home-ice advantage, and that could spell the difference in the series, as it did between these teams in 2013, when Boston won a remarkable seven-game series.

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The Capitals have never gotten past the second round in the Alex Ovechkin era, even when expectations have been high. That may not be the case this year. They are not going to lose a first-round series to the Blue Jackets. Washington wins in five games.

The back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Penguins appear to be vulnerable this season. They have issues on defense, and the Flyers are resurgent. There may not be any stopping Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier. The Flyers are the hungrier team, and the Penguins will overcome them. Philadelphia ends the Penguins' season in six games.

After getting to the Stanley Cup Final last year, the Predators will be motivated to go one step further this time around. The Avs showed tremendous improvement in nailing the West's last playoff spot, and they can win one playoff game, but Nashville wins this series in five.

Billy Hurst/Associated Press

The Jets may be the most underrated team in the league. However, they have size, speed, talent and anger. Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers are capable of stringing goals together, and the Wild won't be able to match up without injured defenseman Ryan Suter. Look for Winnipeg to rip through Minnesota in four games.

It has been a magical season for the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, but how will they handle the grind of the playoffs. It could be quite difficult for this overachieving team. The Kings are tough and experienced, and they will push Vegas to seven games and find a way to beat Gerard Gallant's team.

The Ducks and Sharks are veteran playoff teams, and this will be a hard, nasty series that is likely to feature several overtime games. The Ducks don't have an exceptional history of winning the seventh game at home. It won't be any better this time. San Jose wins in seven.

1st-Round Predictions

Tampa Bay over New Jersey in seven.
Boston over Toronto in seven.
Washington over Columbus in five.
Philadelphia over Pittsburgh in six.
Nashville over Colorado in five.
Winnipeg over Minnesota in four.
Los Angeles over Vegas in seven.
San Jose over Anaheim in seven.