Hockey

First round: experts like (a lot) more the chances of the Habs than the Panthers
Félix Forget
First round: experts like (a lot) more the chances of the Habs than the Panthers
Credit: Getty Images

It's in just a few hours that the NHL series will take off.

Let's remind that tonight, we will have the right to two duels in the West.

At the habs, it's Monday night that it will get underway. That being said, one series will start even later: the Panthers and the Lightning will start their series on Tuesday.

And talking about these two series, there's something that's quite particular. This morning, The Athletic published its predictions for the series, asking its experts to predict the first-round series.

What we notice is that the habs are obviously neglected, but that there are still 23.5% of experts who see Montreal surprising Washington. And that's more than the Panthers, who only 17.6% of experts see beating the Lightning.

All this is surprising given that, even if the Lightning is a big challenge, the Panthers are still the reigning champions. The team made it to the finals in each of the last two seasons, but despite everything, The Athletic experts deem it less likely to see them beat the Lightning than to see the habs beat the Eastern champions.

This is surprising, especially since they are not alone.

Sportsnet had 18 of its experts do the same exercise… and only two of them see the Panthers winning. And there are seven who see the habs beating the Capitals.

This demonstrates how much the Capitals, despite their monstrous regular season, are not seen as a big threat like the Lightning, for example. Seeing the habs being paired with the Metropolitan teams in the playoffs is an advantage.

And finally, the EA Sports simulation on NHL 25 sees both the habs and the Panthers winning in the first round. That being said, the game sees the Panthers' journey end in the second round… while it sees the habs making it to the Eastern finals.

All this to get swept by the Maple Leafs, who will win the Stanley Cup according to the game's simulation.


In Overtime

– David Reinbacher will be ready for the series (in Laval).

– Ivan Demidov confirms that Lane Hutson is his personal driver.

– What a season for Florian Xhekaj.

– I like that.

– What do you think?

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