NHL Playoff Bracket 2018: TV Info, Predictions for Saturday Slate

Saturday's 2018 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs slate puts two offenses in the spotlight for different reasons.

Tampa Bay Lightning were in the headlines for most of the regular season thanks to their terrific attack led by Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, while Vegas Golden Knights stole our attention with seven goals in Game 1 of their second-round series against San Jose.

The Lightning scored the most goals in the regular season with 296, and they followed it up with 18 vs. the New Jersey Devils in the first round.

Vegas netted seven tallies in its first-round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings but came alive for the offensive outburst in Game 1 to enter Saturday with a 1-0 series lead.

Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks proved in the first round they are more than capable of finishing in the attacking zone, but how they contain their respective opponents will determine Saturday's results

Saturday NHL Playoffs Schedule

Game 1: Boston at Tampa Bay (3 p.m., NBC) 

Game 2: San Jose at Vegas (8 p.m., NBC)

All Times ET.

Predictions

Tampa Bay Continues To Roll, Wins By 3 Goals

The Lightning didn't have the best regular-season record against the Bruins, as they went 1-3, but the one win came in the last meeting on April 2.

The 4-0 victory catapulted the Lightning into the No. 1 overall seed in the Eastern Conference, and it set up a first-round matchup with the Devils that they dominated.

As we saw with Vegas on Thursday, a long period of rest isn't as much of a disadvantage at the start of the second round as some may think.

Tampa Bay should use the long layoff to its advantage and come out with a head of steam against a Boston defense susceptible to giving up first-period goals.

Kucherov, Stamkos and Alex Killorn should overwhelm the Boston defense as they continue their strong postseason, but the Lightning will also have key contributions from other players while beating Boston goalie Tuukka Rask for multiple goals in the first period.

Mike Carlson/Getty Images

Keep an eye on Tyler Johnson, who has 23 career postseason goals, as a player who could be the difference-maker in a game the Lightning should win.

Boston will fight back at some point, but the first-period gap is going to be too much to overcome for Bruce Cassidy's team.

Vegas Offense Slows Down A Bit, But Golden Knights Still Win

Of course, it's easy to predict the Golden Knights won't score seven goals again in Game 2 like they did in the Game 1 rout of the Sharks.

Although the Knights fail to replicate their Game 1 output Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, they'll still find some success in their attacking zone.

What's most impressive about the Vegas attack is that it's received goals and assists from a wide array of players, even if it's only put up 14 goals over five games.

Five different players have scored multiple goals, while Reilly Smith produced six assists, and the duo of William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault have four handouts each.

David Becker/Associated Press

After providing a goal and an assist in Game 1, keep an eye on Alex Tuch to play a larger role in the Vegas attack as it tries to smother the San Jose defense with all four lines.

Even if the Golden Knights don't score in the first period, they should enter the locker room level with the Sharks due to Marc-Andre Fleury's play in net.

With Fleury continuing his remarkable postseason in between the pipes, the Vegas offense finds a way to score in a close game, just like it did in all four first-round contests against the Kings.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Hockey Reference.