NHL Conference Finals Preview

And now there were four. After a grueling first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there are four teams left standing in the National Hockey League. Round two of the playoffs saw all four series go at least six games, with two of them going the full seven games. The Rangers and Capitals just ran out of steam in the East, while luck simply ran out on both the Oilers and Blues. So now here we sit, with a Canadian team, a team from the music city, and the defending Stanley Cup Champions still left in the field. Round two also saw a dramatic cut back in extra time, with only four of the twenty six games needing overtime. Now that all that has been said and done, the conference finals are here and were ready to find out who will square off for hockey's ultimate prize. For the eighth season in a row (and the twelfth time in the last fourteen seasons), a California team is in the Western Conference Final.

First up, its the Eastern Conference Finals. We have the 2nd best team in the Metropolitan Division the Pittsburgh Penguins, taking on the 2nd best team in the Atlantic Division, the Ottawa Senators. For the Ottawa Senators, this marks the 3rd ever appearance in the conference finals, having lost in 2003 to the Devils and beating the Sabres in 2007. Ottawa got here by beating the Boston Bruins in the opening round and the New York Rangers in round two. Both series went six games. Ottawa has now won 77 games all time in the post season. The Senators are trying to make the Stanley Cup Finals for only the 2nd time in franchise history. As for the Penguins, they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. This marks the 2nd straight year, and 9th time overall, that the Penguins have reached this round of the playoffs. Pittsburgh got here after beating the Columbus Blue Jackets in five games in the opening round and the Washington Capitals in seven games in round two. Pittsburgh has now won 192 lifetime playoff games. This is the fifth playoff meeting between these teams with Pittsburgh winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinals, which Pittsburgh won in five games. This is the second consecutive Conference Finals for Pittsburgh who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning last year in seven games. Ottawa last went to the Conference Finals in 2007; they defeated the Buffalo Sabres in five games. Ottawa won two of the three games against Pittsburgh in this year's regular season series.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
May 13 Ottawa Senators 7:00 p.m. Pittsburgh Penguins PPG Paints Arena
May 15 Ottawa Senators 8:00 p.m. Pittsburgh Penguins PPG Paints Arena
May 17 Pittsburgh Penguins 8:00 p.m. Ottawa Senators Canadian Tire Centre
May 19 Pittsburgh Penguins 8:00 p.m. Ottawa Senators Canadian Tire Centre
May 21 Ottawa Senators 3:00 p.m. Pittsburgh Penguins PPG Paints Arena
May 23 Pittsburgh Penguins 8:00 p.m. Ottawa Senators Canadian Tire Centre
May 25 Ottawa Senators 8:00 p.m. Pittsburgh Penguins PPG Paints Arena

So just exactly how good are the Champs? Depends on how Craig Anderson plays for Ottawa. He stood on his head at times in the last round against the Rangers, and may be called upon to have to do it again in this round against the Penguins. He did play stellar in game six, turning aside 37 Rangers shots in that hockey game, including a number of pressing attacks late in the game, which goes to show just how dialed in Anderson is right now in the post season. He's not the only one that's going to be counted on bigtime in this series. Erik Karlsson will have to once again produce in this series. Karlsson had seven points during three regular season meetings between the teams this year, so look for him to have another big series again now. He's going to need to if the Senators are looking to move on.

Now if your the defending champs, you got something to build off of from the last round. Hell just look at what the Pens have going for them now. They got home ice advantage in this series and the Pens have managed to make it this far with Matt Murray, Trevor Daley, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang all banged up to varying degrees. But the Pens made a statement against the Capitals in that game seven victory, proving to themselves and the rest of the hockey world that they are still going to be the team to beat here in the playoffs. What's seperating the Pens from everybody else right now is the play of Marc-Andre Fleury, who has started to show signs of his old self again and is looking like the dominant goalie the league saw in both 2008 and 2009 when the Penguins had their last great deep playoff runs. He's been on his game, Evgeni Malkin is currently leading all players in scoring right now in the post season with 18 points, followed by Jake Gentzel and Sidney Crosby (who's been dealing with injuries) each with 14.

Anybody who saw the last round knows that the Senators are a good hockey team and more then capable of putting up a fight. With how well Craig Anderson has played to this point in the post season, he might be a be to steal a game or two away from the champs, but the Pens are too loaded a hockey team to get knocked out that easily by Ottawa. All signs point to a return trip to the finals for the Penguins.

Prediction: Pittsburgh Penguins in 6!

As for the Western Conference Finals, we have the Wild Card Winning Nashville Predators, taking on the Pacific Division Champion Anaheim Ducks. For the Ducks, this is the 2nd time in three years and the 5th time overall that they have managed to reach the Western Conference Finals. Anaheim got here by sweeping the Calgary Flames in the opening round and then dispatching the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in the second round. The Ducks are looking to make it to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since winning it all in 2007. In the history of the team, Anaheim has won 87 total playoff games. As for their opponent, the Nashville Predators, this is the first time that the team has ever reached the Western Conference Finals. They got here by sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks in the opening round and dispatching the St Louis Blues in six games in round two. Nashville has now won 36 playoff games in the history of the franchise. They are looking to make their first ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. This is the second consecutive playoff meeting and the third overall between these teams with Nashville winning both previous series including last year's first round confrontation in seven games. Anaheim won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
May 12 Nashville Predators 9:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 14 Nashville Predators 7:30 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 16 Anaheim Ducks 8:00 p.m. Nashville Predators Bridgestone Arena
May 18 Anaheim Ducks 8:00 p.m. Nashville Predators Bridgestone Arena
May 20 Nashville Predators 7:15 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 22 Anaheim Ducks 8:00 p.m. Nashville Predators Bridgestone Arena
May 24 Nashville Predators 9:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center

This is a huge moment for the Predators who have never, ever gone this far in the post season. And why not. This is a Predators team that has been scalding since the postseason started. As if a first-round sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks weren't impressive enough, the Predators dispatched the St. Louis Blues in six games and have enjoyed an extended rest following Sunday's 3-1 series-clinching victory. I mean, hello, just look at who's been carrying the load for the Preds so far in the playoffs. Pekka Rinne has been playing out of his damn mind. He's gone 8-2 in ten games with a 1.37 GAA and a .951 save percentage. Yeah, he's been kinda good. He gets a lot of the credit as he should, but its not all on him. The defense that plays in front of him has been kinda good too. Nashville's defense has allowed a grand total of 14 goals through 10 playoff games. That's the same amount of goals that both Calgary and Montreal let up and those two teams played in a combined 11 games. That's really an amazing number when you stop and think about it for a second. And let us not forget that this Nashville team can score a little bit too. Ryan Ellis, Ryan Johansen and Roman Josi are leading the offensive charge for this team.

But now they're playing a team that has had a huge weight lifted off their shoulders. The Ducks, who hosted a seventh for 5th straight year, snapped a 4-game home losing streak in such contests and 5-game skid overall.As a matter of fact, the Ducks are the only division winner that's still left standing in the post season. Leading the charge for the Ducks has been This postseason, the Ducks have been led by center Ryan Getzlaf, third in playoff scoring with 15 points, trailing only Evgeni Malkin of the Pens (18 points) and the recently eliminated Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers (16 points). Nick Ritchie is going to be counted on a little bit more to step up in this series. He scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 against the Oilers. He scored it playing on the first line, moved there during the game to give that line more size and grit. He could remain there against the Predators. He has two goals in nine playoff games. While they count on him for scoring, the boys from Cali need to do a better job of protecting the creaser of John Gibson. Don't get me wrong Gibson has done well in the playoffs, but has been a bit shaky at times in the crease as well. So if the Ducks want to advance to the finals, they have to get a better performance from Gibson. He might not be able to hit the same level that Rinne has been playing at, but it has to be up there at least if he wants to have a chance at this thing working.

At the end of the day, as good as the Ducks are, they are going to get outplayed. Nashville doesn't have the offensive firepower that can really match what has been going on in Nashville, but the goaltending has been way better coming out of the music city.

Prediction: Nashville Predators in 7!