We started this crazy, modified, journey back at the end of July with 24 teams. Now here we sit, down to the final four clubs. The Conference Finals are here and we are set to go. Tampa Bay has brought themselves back from last years embarrassing playoff exit. New York has shaken off a 27 year playoff drought. Vegas is back for the 2nd time in three years, Dallas has been waiting over ten years to get back to where they are now. Lets dive right into it. Here's how the conference finals go down.
We start with the Eastern Conference Final as it is the second seeded Tampa Bay Lightning taking on the sixth seeded New York Islanders. This will be the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Tampa Bay winning both previous series. They last met in the 2016 Eastern Conference Second Round, which Tampa Bay won in five games. This will be Tampa Bay's sixth Conference Finals appearance. They last went to the Conference Finals in 2018, which they lost to the Washington Capitals in seven games. This will be New York's fifth appearance in the Conference Finals. They last went to the Conference Finals in 1993, which they lost against the Montreal Canadiens in five games. New York won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
Her's the date and time for every game in this series:
September 7 New York Islanders 8:00 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning Rogers Place
September 9 New York Islanders 8:00 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning Rogers Place
September 11 Tampa Bay Lightning 8:00 p.m. New York Islanders Rogers Place
September 13 Tampa Bay Lightning 3:00 p.m. New York Islanders Rogers Place
September 15 New York Islanders 8:00 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning Rogers Place
September 17 Tampa Bay Lightning 8:00 p.m. New York Islanders Rogers Place
September 19 New York Islanders 7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning Rogers Place
This has been a very long time coming for Islanders fans, 27 years is a long time to wait between conference finals appearances. They're back in it, but it is going to be a very tough series. They were able to overcome a hot goalie in the last round in Carter Hart. But the Lightning play a different style then the Flyers. At least Barry Trotz knows that the two goalie system he employed so well during the regular season can still work now. Doesn't really seem to matter if its Thomas Greiss or Semyon Varlamov, the Islanders stand a good chance in games. What has been standing up for the Isles in this playoffs, aside from the goaltending, has been the team defebse. it at times has slipped up, sure, but for the most part it has kept them in it and allowed the rolling of four lines to put pressure on the opposition.
They are going up against a very battle testing and high scoring Lightning club. Tampa can roll four lines as well and have a little more fire power than New York does. Nikita Kucherov should be back at full health when this series starts. Even though the Bolts will still be without Steven Stamkos, they have plenty of weapons to work with. Brayden Point and Andre Palat have really been stepping their game up. The Lightning have a good defensive strategy and do a good job around Andrei Vasilevskiy. The only thing that has been questionable, at times, for the Lightning has been the ability for Vasilevskiy to be able to control his rebounds. He can do that, then the Lightning will be in great shape.
Both teams match up pretty well, but what I'm still hanging my hat on right now is the Islanders at times don't play a full 60 minutes. They did in game seven against the Flyers, and if they can carry that over, then they have a chance. This will be a bit of a long series but at the end of it the depth of the Bolts might be too much
Pick: Lightning in 6!
To the Western Conference Finals we go, its the top seeded Vegas Golden Knights taking on the third seeded Dallas Stars. This will be the first playoff series between these two teams. Vegas won their Round Robin game between these two teams earlier in this year's playoffs 5–3. This will be Vegas' second appearance in the Conference Finals. Their only previous Conference Finals was in 2018, which they won against the Winnipeg Jets in five games. This will be Dallas' seventh Conference Finals appearance. They last went to the Conference Finals in 2008, which they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in six games. These teams split their two games in this year's regular season series.
Here's the dates and times for every game in this series:
September 6 Dallas Stars 8:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights Rogers Place
September 8 Dallas Stars 8:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights Rogers Place
September 10 Vegas Golden Knights 8:00 p.m. Dallas Stars Rogers Place
September 12 Vegas Golden Knights 8:00 p.m. Dallas Stars Rogers Place
September 14 Dallas Stars 8:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights Rogers Place
September 16 Vegas Golden Knights 8:00 p.m. Dallas Stars Rogers Place
September 18 Dallas Stars 9:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights Rogers Place
Dallas surprised a lot of people by getting here. There offense started clicking at the right time, and they actually outplayed a very high powered Avs offense. Its a very balanced attack rolling the four lines for the Stars with Benn, Seguin and Radulov leading the charge. Kudobin has played very well in net and gave Dallas a big chance. Getting everybody to buy into the system has worked well in Dallas. Rick Bowness has done an amazing job, since taking over as head coach, to get every on the same pager and playing fantastic hockey.
You can say the same thing about Vegas, who is just as well balanced. They've got good defense and great goaltending. Marc Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner have played exceeding well since the bubble started at the end of July. Both guys are keeping that play up now and should have no problem helping power Vegas.
This, like the Eastern Conference, is a very balanced series. At the end of the day, for as good as Dallas has been, Vegas has the edge with the playoff depth and know what it takes to get this far. Dallas will put up a great fight, but at the end of the day, experience wins out.
Pick: Vegas in 7!
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