The Bolts lost to the Capitals three times in the regular season, but I think that Tampa will find a way to stop the slide and grab Game 1 of this five game series.

Tampa finished looking up at Boston, but firmly in second with an 11 point lead over Toronto. The Lightning have the skill and depth to make a serious run at the cup in this tournament, they just finally have to live up to their potential for once.

Washington is led by Alex Ovechkin and Braden Holtby, but the Caps' weakness is still on the blue line, a factor which I expect Tampa to exploit early and often.

These teams are very similar in many respects, but the triple revenge factor is a solid situational place to start in this series and it does indeed have me siding with the Lightning in Game 1.

Good luck, NP