Ugh. Fine. Washington it is. I think we all know that was coming. Carolina matches up really well with the Caps and split the season series despite playing like absolute garbage in one game ... which may have been during that stretch when half the team had the plague. Nope, I checked and that game was in the middle of the goalie mess triggered by Freddie's injury. Either way, neither of these teams will be under the illusion that they're a lot better than the guys on the other bench.
One thing to watch as people sit around wringing their hands about Tom Wilson. I'm not sure how much of Wilson's massive increase in obvious attempts to injure in Round 1 were due to his team's initiative and how much was in response to Montreal's physicality. Because Montreal is weirdly bipolar when it comes to that stuff. They're mostly a skill team but they've got a crew of cavemen just in case the dagger doesn't work. Carolina will pester Washington more than trying to out-hit them, and that's generally been the better approach. I mean, he's gonna run a goalie or two, but that's a given. What you want to avoid is letting Wilson set the whole tone of the series.
...I just could not resist a little jab below the belt so to speak for the departed pouty Finn!
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