Stanley Cup Conference Finals Preview

And then there were four. Four teams left standing with a shot to play for hockey's ultimate prize on the line. With the West it the best team in the conference against the best player in the conference. Meanwhile for the third year in a row we have a battle between Tampa Bay and New York, only a different twist this year. Tampa is looking to get to the finals for the third year in a row, while the Rangers are aiming for their first finals appearance since 2014. Time for talk has ended, here's how the Conference Finals go down this season!

Western Conference Finals
#1 Colorado Avalanche vs #2 Edmonton Oilers
Colorado has been like a runaway train most of this season, dominating the Western Conference from start to finish. Nathan MacKinnon has been pacing the Avs not only during the regular season, but in the playoffs as well. Cal Makar and Gabe Landaskog have also been having themselves big playoffs too. But the big offensive surprise for the Avs has been the play of Nazem Kadri. Its been a very well balanced attack for the Avs through their ten games played in this run. Colorado has been getting solid goaltending from Darcy Kuemper, who's already won six of the eight Colorado wins.

But this round hits different as they're facing two of the best offensive stars in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Both guys pace all skaters with 26 points through the first two rounds of the post season. And its not just those two guys doing all the damage. Edmonton has gotten scoring from other guys like Evander Kane and Zach Heyman. Mike Smith has been a nice surprise during this years playoffs. Yes Smith has had a couple of off games during this run by the Oilers, But at the same time, Smith has solidified the Edmonton net, which is something the Oilers have been looking for for some time now.

All that taken into account, the Oilers have been good, but the luck may run out in this round. Colorado is just too deep and has been too good all season long, and that's not going to be slowing down here.

Pick: Colorado in 6!

Eastern Conference Finals
#2 New York Rangers vs #3 Tampa Bay Lightning
For the 3rd year in a row, the Lightning have to go through a team from New York to reach hockey's final round. This time its a hot New York Rangers team standing in their way. The boys from Broadway have been playing great hockey, overcoming series deficits in both series they've played to this point. Mika Zibanejad has had an impressive run with goals in the last four games of the Hurricanes series. And as hot as he's been, Chris Kreider has found his game too at the end of that Carolina Series, making him a tough matchup. Then there's the play of Igor Shesterkin, who in the playoffs has been showing everybody why he's up for league MVP this season.

For as good as the Rangers have been, they're now facing an even tougher test going up against the two time defending champions the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa found their groove against the Panthers in the last round and have now had time off to rest up and heal while the Rangers had to go the distance against the Canes. There's still no word yet on whether or not Bryaden Point will be back for the start of this series (at least not at the time of this writing) which could be big again for the Bolts penalty kill. What Tampa has found the last round was they are getting a bit more balanced attack from all four lines. They have the big guns in Stamkos and Kucherov and Hedman going. And with all those guys going well, Andrei Vasilevskiy has been just as good if not better as the playoffs have gone on.

Won't be hiding things here, the Rangers have had a great run and surprised a lot of people with the way they've played in this post season. But they are going up against the defending champions and the level of goaltending they are facing in this round is better then what they've gone up against in the previous two rounds. Tampa is rested and waiting for this round to get going. They wait is over.

Pick: Lightning in 6!