Tonight, the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs begins. Our HabsWorld writers provide their predictions on the series starting this weekend to see who will advance on to the next round.

The Habs have made the playoffs and they will face their longtime rival in the Toronto Maple Leafs. Topics discussed that series plus the rest of the first round, Cole Caufield finally gets into the Habs lineup and scores some big goals, and much more.

Wednesday’s regular season finale against Edmonton had nothing at stake in terms of the standings and with several veterans resting, some youngsters had an opportunity to step up. In the end, it was the younger players that scored but it wasn’t quite enough as they fell 4-3 in overtime.

The Habs had one line really rolling but it was enough to clinch their playoff position within the division as they fell 4-3 in overtime to Edmonton on Monday. With one game left, they still have a shot, although a slim one, at a 3rd place finish so the last game isn’t completely meaningless.

The week started off well for the Habs but after a tough showing the rest of the way, they still have some work to do before they can officially lock down the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division.

After a pair of tough outings, the Habs were looking to rebound on Saturday as they finished up the road portion of their schedule in Toronto. They got off to a good start and had a two-goal lead but couldn’t hold it, falling 3-2.

The Habs were nowhere to be found to start Thursday’s game in Toronto and they weren’t helped by a completely rattled Cayden Primeau as the Leafs took a 4-0 lead early and never looked back, skating away with a 5-2 victory.

It looked like the Habs expected a ten-minute flurry to start the game was going to be enough to win against the Senators on Wednesday night. Ottawa had other ideas as they survived that stretch and then destroyed the Habs for the other 50 minutes on their way to a relatively easy 5-1 victory.