The Stanley Cup Playoffs have been very fun and entertaining to say the least. We are down to the final four and here are my predictions on who will go to the Stanley Cup finals.
Eastern Conference
(3) Montreal Canadiens vs (2) New York Rangers: This original six matchup is pretty much a coin toss since these teams are pretty much even. Montreal pretty much surprised everybody by upsetting the Boston Bruins in seven games. The Rangers on the other hand, rallied back from a 3-1 series hole to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. Part of the Rangers rally was because the team rallied around forward Martin St. Louis in the wake of his mother passing away. The goalie matchup between Montreal net minder Carey Price and Rangers net minder Henrik Lundqvist will be pretty intriguing considering how well they both have been playing. In order for Montreal to win the series, Price must outplay Lundqvist and if the Rangers want to win the series, the power play has to be decent and forwards such as Derek Stepan and Rick Nash need to be scoring. Again tough call, but give me the team with the slightly better goaltender, which is Lundqvist. Rangers in 6.
Western Conference
(3) Chicago Blackhawks vs (3) Los Angeles Kings: A Western Conference finals rematch is pretty much what people had expected to see when this time came along. These two teams going at it is very fun to watch. Chicago beat the Minnesota Wild in six games to get back to the conference finals and Los Angeles rallied from a 3-2 series hole to beat the Anaheim Ducks in seven games to reach the conference finals for a third straight year. Chicago is the slightly better offensive team but Los Angeles has the slightly better goaltender in Jonathan Quick. Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford is underrated, but so is the Los Angeles offense. If Chicago wants to return to the Stanley Cup Finals, forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews need to continue to score and and for Los Angeles, Quick needs to be dominant and offensive players such as Mike Richards and Marion Gaborik need to keep scoring. This incredible matchup is bound to go to distance. Give me the reigning champs to return to the finals to set up an intriguing original six matchup. Blackhawks in 7.
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