NHL 18 Predicts Tampa Bay Lightening to Take Home the 2018 Stanley Cup

On the eve of Wednesday’s puck drop to start the 2017-18 NHL regular season, EA Sports today released the results of its annual season simulation.

Powered by NHL 18, the season simulator predicts the Tampa Bay Lightning will triumph over the Edmonton Oilers and take home the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2004. After an eventful 7-game series and a 3-2 win in the final game, Tampa Bay Captain Steven Stamkos will lead the team to victory, resulting in the team’s second Stanley Cu® win in franchise history after narrowly missing out in 2015.

Some other notable predictions from the season simulation include:

• The Pittsburgh Penguins, led by captain Sidney Crosby, continue their dominance of the Eastern Conference during the regular season and take home the President’s Trophy.
• NHL 18 cover athlete Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, for the second year in a row, becomes the most decorated athlete at the NHL Awards, with back-to-back wins of three major awards – the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award.
• Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning will take home the Conn Smythe Trophy for an exceptional post-season performance, as well as the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as highest goal scorer.
• In their inaugural season, the Vegas Golden Knights fall short a playoff spot finishing 14th overall in the Western Conference.