NHL Playoffs: Conference Finals Preview

The final four teams have been determined. We started this playoff journey about a month ago, there were sixteen teams, now there are four left standing. One last step before playing for the ultimate prize in all of professional hockey. The conference finals have arrived, giving us two very entertaining matchups. With the East, its a battle of players going against their former clubs. One team was expected to be there, while the other one comes as a bit of a surprise. Meanwhile in the West, its a battle of animals as a Hawk does battle with a Duck. Both those clubs have been the top teams in the conference, leading to this head to head matchup.

Enough of the fluff. Here's what your conference finals look like in the National Hockey League

First up, we look at the Eastern Conference Finals, as the Presidents Trophy winners the New York Rangers taking on the Atlantic Division's Tampa Bay Lightning. New York had the best record in the NHL, picking up 113 points. This marks the first time since 1994 that the Rangers have won the Presidents Trophy. For the 2nd straight year and the 3rd time in the last four seasons, the Rangers are playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, having beaten the Montreal Canadiens in six games last year. New York got here by beating the Penguins in five games in the opening round, then beating the Capitals in seven games. In fact, the Rangers came back from down 3-1 in the series to beat Washington, marking the 2nd year in a row they pulled off the feat. They did it in the 2nd round last year against the Penguins. As for the Lightning, they finished with 108 points during the regular season, which had them finish 2nd in the Atlantic division, behind Montreal. This marks just the 3rd time in franchise history that the Lightning are in the Eastern Conference Finals, having lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games in 2011, their last appearance. This marks the first time ever that the Lightning and Rangers have faced each other in the playoffs. During the regular season, Tampa Bay won all three meetings.

Here are the dates and times for every game in this series:
May 16 Tampa Bay Lightning 1:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 18 Tampa Bay Lightning 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 20 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning Amalie Arena
May 22 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning Amalie Arena
May 24 Tampa Bay Lightning 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 26 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning Amalie Arena
May 29 Tampa Bay Lightning 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden

There are a few intriguing storylines heading into this matchup. You have a few familiar faces playing in different places. At this time last year, Brian Boyle and Anton Stralman were helping push the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final. This year, they are back in the conference finals, but they are dressed as members of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and squaring off against their former team. You can make the same argument for the other side too. Last year Martin St. Louis (at time Lightning Captain) and Ryan Callahan (at time Rangers Captain), were traded for each other. So they too are facing off against their former clubs, but Callahan is out right now after having surgery on Monday for an emergency appendectomy. Martin St. Louis and current New York teammate, Dan Boyle, were also part of Tampa Bay’s Stanley Cup-winning team back in 2004. So they have the big game experience together down in Tampa. Seeing how this could play out in the playoffs is going to make for an interesting storyline.

Goal scorers are going to be at a premium in this series. Steven Stamkos has been a tad quiet, for a guy of his caliber, in this playoffs. He was goal less in the opening round, coming back with three in the last round win over the Habs. Tyler Johnson (8 goals) and Nikita Kucherov (6 goals) have really stepped up in the goal department since Stamkos has gone a little bit cold. What makes the Lightning so interesting in this years playoffs is that once they get a lead, they don't lose. If they score first the Bolts are perfect in this years playoffs. For the Bolts to keep up in this series, the kids have to keep scoring, Stamkos has to find the net a little more and Ben Bishop is going to be key. He has been good in the playoffs, but he has to play outstanding. Bishop has to elevate his game to the level of his counterpart Henrik Lundqvist. Hank's sporting a .944 save percentage and a 1.60 goals against. He’s also won a record six straight Game 7s. Yeah that's going to be tough to beat. Because of this guy, and a little lack of offense, the Rangers have played in one goal games in every game so far in this years playoffs. An alarming number going into a series with a high scoring offense that the Lghtning have. Brassard and Kreider have scored five goals each, while Rick Nash is once again quiet in the post season. He needs to really step up in this round. Martin St. Louis needs to really wake up and get going again as well if they want to have a chance to go back to the Cup finals. Experience is what is going to make the difference in this series. Edge in that department goes to the boys from Broadway. Tampa looks really, really good and is going to give the Rangers a run for their money. Hank is better than Ben Bishop and for my money that's going to make the difference in the series.

Pick: Rangers in 7!

Out in the Western Conference Finals, we have the Western Conference best team in the Anaheim Ducks taking on the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago finished 3rd in the Central division with 102 points. Chicago had a tough six game series win over Nashville in the opening round, then swept the Wild in the 2nd round. This marks the 9th time ever, and the 3rd straight year, that the Blackhawks have made it to the Western Conference Finals. Last year the Hawks were beaten in seven games by the LA Kings. Chicago had won it the year before by beating the Kings in five games. As for Anaheim, they had the best record in the West, just edging out the Blues with 109 points. Anaheim started the playoffs with a sweep of the Jets, then beat the Flames in five games to get to the conference finals. This marks just the 4th time in franchise history that the Ducks are in the West finals. Last time they were here was in 2007, beating the Red Wings in six games. Chicago and Anaheim have never faced eachother in the playoffs. During the regular season, Chicago won two of the three meetings.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
May 17 Chicago Blackhawks 3:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 19 Chicago Blackhawks 9:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 21 Anaheim Ducks 8:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 23 Anaheim Ducks 8:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 25 Chicago Blackhawks 9:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 27 Anaheim Ducks 8:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 30 Chicago Blackhawks 8:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center

Of the two conference finals, this one may be the most evenly balanced. One of the big questions I have for Chicago in this series is can Cory Crawford show up again? In the opening round against Nashville, Crawford looked really shaky and had to be bailed out by Scott Darling, who did an outstanding job in relief. Now against the Wild, Crawford seemed to find his game again and played better in net than he did in the opening round. He might be all the way back to his former self, but if your a Hawks fan you have to wonder if he really is back to his old self again. Marian Hossa too needs to wake up just a little bit. Here's a guy who has showed he can score the big goals when needed, but this year in the playoffs he's been a little bit quite. Hossa has seven assists in this years playoffs, but if you go back to last year, he hasn't actually scored on a goalie in the playoffs in 23 games. So its something he needs to work on. Thankfully for him, and the rest of the Hawks for that matter, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have been playing out of their minds so far. Kane has been a strong candidate for Playoff MVP. The Hawks have the scoring depth to propel them deep.

Anaheim, too, has been playing well this year. The Ducks have lost only one game all year long in the playoffs. A big reason for that has been the scoring exploits of Cory Perry. Perry leas the league with 15 points in the playoffs, including the series winner over the Flames in the last round in Overtime in game five. What surprising here is that the Ducks have found the depth in the scoring department to be able to match that of the Blackhawks in this years playoffs. By adding Ryan Kesler, it has given the Ducks an added advantage to find that missing piece to get back to the promise land. Lets also not forget that Frederik Andersen has continued to quietly have an excellent postseason. With this series I think its going to come down to experience and the Hawks have it. Bruce Boudreau has never coached a game this late in the playoffs in his career. Joel Quenneville has plenty of experience doing this. I know that the coaches don't make the plays on the ice, the players do. That may possibly make a difference (even a small one). Chicago has the depth and experience to pull this one out of their hat.

Pick: Hawks in 7!

So there you have it, the preview and predictions for the Conference Finals in the National Hockey League!