Central Division round one predictions: Florida vs. Tampa Bay

With predictions already completed for the Toronto/Montreal series in the North, the Pittsburgh/Long Island series in the East and the Vegas/Minnesota series in the West, now I turn my attention to the Central Division and the Florida/Tampa series in what could be the most high-octane affair of the entire first round.

Central Division - 2nd place Florida vs. 3rd place Tampa Bay:

Florida

Certainly one of the surprise teams in 2020-21, the Florida Panthers have been quietly assembling a powerhouse team over the past few seasons and the tree is finally beginning to bear fruit for GM Bill Zito.

The Panthers certainly have their fair share of gamebreakers, with names like Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and the injured Aaron Ekblad on the roster, but it has been the emergence of some of their supporting pieces this season that has really pushed this team over the top in terms of becoming a dominant team in the Central Division.

MacKenzie Weegar (D), Chris Driedger (G) and Carter Verhaeghe (F) all enjoyed breakout seasons for the Panthers in 2020-21, while complementary pieces like Patric Hornqvist, Frank Vatrano and Anthony Duclair all quietly put together strong seasons in support of the stars in Florida.

The team depth at every position in Florida is outstanding and the Panthers are red hot having finished the season with a 10-2-0 record through their final 12 games.

Tampa Bay

What can you say about the Lightning that hasn't already been said? The defending Stanley Cup Champions are as dangerous a team as any in the National Hockey League and are every bit as deep as the Panthers and probably deeper at every position, save maybe goaltending.

While Driedger had a spectacular season in Florida, it's undeniable that Andrei Vasilevskiy is head and shoulders better than any goaltender in Florida. However, when you get past that and look at the organizational depth in net in Tampa, there is a bit of a cause for concern there - and only there. Behind Vasilevskiy, Tampa has only veteran backup Curtis McElhinney (soon-to-be 38) and third string goalie Christopher Gibson, who has just 14 career NHL games to his credit.

The concern starts to fade when you look at a roster that contains Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, Ondrej Palat, Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, David Savard and Ryan McDonagh. The Lightning are every bit as scary as they were last season, despite finishing with a 7-4-1 record in their final 12 games of the season. A healthy Kucherov and Stamkos definitely moves the needle for the Bolts, especially on the power play.

Prediction:

While I feel like Tampa has the edge on paper, Florida has been rolling all season long, which has made this one a very tough prediction.

The X-factor here is Nikita Kucherov. You know he's going to see a lot of ice-time for the Bolts in this series and I just don't know how quickly he will be able to get up to speed, especially in a playoff round.

I think Florida comes out hot and takes advantage of the momentum they had to end the season, which included 3 wins over the Bolts in their 10-2-0 run, and gets out to an early 2-0 lead in the series at home. Tampa probably comes on strong later in the series, but by the time they start to gain some momentum, I think it will be just a little too late and the Panthers take the series in 6.

This was the toughest prediction I've done so far, especially because you can't count the Lightning out. Ever. I'll be interested to see how this one shakes out.

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