The NHL’s final four is set to get underway tonight in
Anaheim with the Ducks hosting the Predators in game one of the Western
Conference Final. Tomorrow night in the steel city the Penguins welcome the
Ottawa Senators to town for the series opener in the Eastern Conference Final.
Some thoughts below on which two teams will play for the cup.
Western Conference Final: Nashville Predators vs. Anaheim
Ducks- Nashville has been the
biggest surprise of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Peter Laviolette’s team was the
final qualifier in the west and took the postseason by storm with a four-game
sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round. Nashville kept things
rolling in the conference semifinals against St. Louis winning in six games and
has not lost at home through two rounds. Anaheim had a very straightforward first
round, dispatching of the Calgary Flames in four games. But, things got
complicated in the second round when the Ducks had to rally from a 2-0 series deficit
against the upstart Edmonton Oilers to win in seven games.
For the Ducks, there have been many playoff disappointments
in recent history. Maybe they exorcised the demons once and for all against the
Oilers. In addition to dropping the first two games of the series, Anaheim
overcame a three-goal deficit with three minutes left in game five to win in
double overtime and bounced back from an early goal against in game 7. Or maybe
the moment got to a young Edmonton team that had several key players getting
their first taste of playoff hockey. While Nashville is in its first conference
final ever, the Predators have made the playoffs in five of the previous seven
seasons. Laviolette has been to the Stanley Cup Final with two other teams he
coached and players like James Neal and P.K. Subban have played in the
conference finals with other teams before. If Nashville is in the same
situation Edmonton was in last round, don’t expect a similar letdown. Goaltender
Pekka Rinne has been brilliant in 10 starts in the playoffs having allowed
three goals or less in all 10 starts, posting two shutouts and sporting a 1.37
goals against average in those 10 starts. Nashville’s back end is better and
goaltending is more consistent. I’ll take that over Anaheim’s abundance of offensive
weaponry.
Pick: Predators in 6
Eastern Conference Final: Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh
Penguins
The Penguins enter this series as the favorite to win the
cup after eliminating the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night at Verizon
Center. Pittsburgh lost top defenseman Kris Letang for the year to a neck
injury before the playoffs started. The Pens needed to make a goalie change
before its playoff opener against Columbus thanks to a lower-body injury to
Matt Murray and captain Sidney Crosby suffered a concussion in game three
against Washington. Crosby returned in game five and Murray was available for
game seven in the nation’s capital. Evgeni Malkin leads all players in points
in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Jake Guentzel is the goals leader. Justin
Schultz has stepped up on the blue line with eight points in 13 playoff games and
has the second highest ice time average for the Penguins in the playoffs. Marc-Andre
Fleury looked like the goalie that won the cup in 2009 on Wednesday night in
game seven against the Capitals. After laying an egg in game six, Pittsburgh
restored order on the road and enters the conference final as a heavy favorite
over Ottawa.
While it’s not as shocking as Nashville’s run, Ottawa still
playing right now is rather impressive. Granted, the Senators did have home-ice
advantage in both of their prior series in the East, but many experts looked at
Ottawa’s first-round series against Boston as a coin flip and pegged the
Senators as a clear underdog in the conference semifinals against the New York
Rangers. Erik Karlsson has played through a foot injury and still looks like the
best defenseman in the NHL. In the first five games against the Rangers, the
Senators found themselves playing from behind for most of the regulation time,
but managed to win game one late in the third period and steal games two and
five in overtime. Ottawa went on to wrap up the series at Madison Square Garden
and finally played with the lead for most of the way. One year ago, the
Senators didn’t even make the playoffs, now they’re four wins from the Stanley
Cup Final. Are they a team of destiny or will they simply be overmatched
against Pittsburgh? It’s been a nice run, but the answer is likely the latter.
Pick: Pittsburgh in 5
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