No. 1: Carey Price
Personally, I think Carey Price is a little overrated and there’s no reason to believe that he’ll, all of a sudden, be the Hart Trophy winner that he once was, when the playoffs start.
However, after a five-month layoff between games last year, he stole the show and helped the Habs beat the Penguins in the ‘play-in’ games. As a result, it’s easy to talk yourself into thinking it’ll happen again.
Why is that date important you ask? Well, that was the last day where Carey Price allowed four or more goals in a playoff game. Since that game, Price has gone 20 consecutive playoffs games without allowing four or more goals.
If you’re a Leafs fan, that should scare the crap out of you.
Price’s regular season numbers haven’t been that good for a while, but he always seems to play well in the playoffs. If Price replicates his stats and Montreal is able to get past an inexperienced Jack Campbell, they could squeeze out a few more wins than expected.