In their yearly NHL simulation, EA Sports has predicted that the Tampa Bay Lightning will win this year’s Stanley Cup and take home a few awards while they’re at it
Every year, EA sports uses their new NHL game to simulate the upcoming NHL season and playoffs. In this year’s simulation, the Tampa Bay Lightning have an impressive season and ultimately win the Stanley Cup.
According to the simulation, the Lightning will win the Atlantic division and amass an impressive 106 points in the process. This will land them the third highest point total in the league, behind only the Washington Capitals and President’s Trophy winning Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Bolts haven’t broken the 100 point mark since the 2014-2015 season, in which they reached the Stanley Cup final just to lose to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The simulation also predicts the playoffs will begin with the Lightning facing the Boston Bruins in the first round. They’ll then move on to face the Toronto Maple Leafs on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
In a rather familiar scenario, the Lightning will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final. Of course, the Bolts season doesn’t end here and the Bolts then advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
Unfortunately, the number of games is not shown for any of these series. It would be a reasonable assumption to say that none of these series would be short and there certainly would not be any sweeps.
In the Stanley Cup Final, the Bolts will be squaring off against the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers were predicted to win the Pacific Division with 99 points and come in 4th in the Western Conference. EA Sports predicted that the series would go to 7 games, and none other than Steven Stamkos would score the go-ahead goal with 8 minutes left in the second period.
The Lightning would also bring home a pair of player trophies, with both going to the same person. Nikita Kucherov would win both the Conn Smythe trophy and the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy.
The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded to the MVP of the playoffs while the Rocket Richard trophy goes to the league’s leading goal scorer. Apparently, EA Sports has as high of expectations for him as Lightning fans do.
In years past, winning the season prediction has almost been like a curse. Last year, they were almost correct when they predicted that the Nashville Predators would win it all. However, before that, their predictions have been a bit off.
In NHL 16, the simulation predicted that the Anaheim Ducks would bring home Lord Stanley’s cup. In reality, however, they existed in the first round against the Predators. In NHL 15, it was predicted that the LA Kings who would go back to back and bring home another cup. Much to almost everyone’s surprise, they wouldn’t even make the playoffs that year.
While it certainly isn’t as severe as the Madden Curse, EA Sports hasn’t been particularly good at predicting Stanley Cup winners. While it’s exciting to see such a lofty prediction of the Lightning, I’d rather see them win the Cup in real life than in a simulation.
Next: Tampa Bay Lightning announce Opening Day roster
The road to the Stanley Cup beings tonight for the Tampa Bay Lightning with their season opener against the Florida Panthers. Hopefully, they’ll be able to live up to EA Sport’s expectations. If you’d like to see EA Sport’s full season simulation, you can find it here.