Stanley Cup Conference Finals Preview

And now there are four. Four teams left standing for a shot at hockey's ultimate prize. Dallas, Edmonton, New York and Florida. That's who's left. All Four teams in search of glory. Dallas last won the big one in 1999, Edmonton hasn't won since 1990, New York in 1994 and Florida never. So there's plenty to talk about going into the final four. So with that being said, lets get right into it. Here's how we see things going down in the conference finals.

Eastern Conference Finals
(M1) New York Rangers vs (A1) Florida Panthers
For the 2nd year in a row the Panthers have made it all the way to the conference finals. As a matter of fact, this marks the 5th year in a row that the conference finals will be played in the state of Florida. And the Panthers are building off wins over the Lightning and Bruins in the opening two rounds of the playoffs. Sergei Bobrovsky has played very well in the Panthers nets during the playoffs, reminding everybody why he got the contract that he did when he signed as a free agent. And when you got Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart having not only fantastic regular season, but they are delivering now in the playoffs as well. Adding a huge output in the playoffs have been Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov as well. It's been a balanced Panther team getting back to the conference finals.

But they going up against a Rangers team that was the best team in hockey during the regular season. And they continued to show it by beating the Capitals and Hurricanes in the opening two rounds. Igor Shesterkin has been just as impressive during his starts as Bobrovsky in the post season. Whena it comes to this time of the year, you not only want your best offensive players playing that way, but you want to role guys to produce as well. That's what's been happening with the Rangers over the course of the first two rounds. Sure, you got guys like Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin are producing, no surprise there. But you also getting the role guys like Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck scoring over the first two rounds.

It's going to be a very hard fought series, but at the end of the day, the best team in the league will come out on top.

Pick: Rangers in 6!

Western Conference Finals
(C1) Dallas Stars vs (P2) Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton is looking to be the first Canadian franchise to hoist the Cup over its head since Montreal all the way back in 1993. This is the 11th time for Edmonton in the conference finals, as they look to reach the finals for the first time since 2006. Stuart Skinner has been fantastic in the playoffs for the Oilers this year. It also helps when you have the four leading scorers in the playoffs going into this semifinal round playing on the same club. Those four guys just so happen to be Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Evan Bouchard, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. They have the balance and firepower to be able to go the distance this year. Question is can the goaltending hold up in this round?

That's what gives Dallas the edge in this series. Jake Oettinger has been outstanding in these playoffs, as he's lead Dallas to knock off wins over both Vegas and Colorado. You got a mix up front of vets and young guns who have been coming up big in the big moments during the post season. Joe Pavelski, Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Miro Heiskanen and numerous others have been the big driving force for the Stars in the first two rounds.

Sure Edmonton may have the greater firepower up front, but its the back end where Dallas has the advantage.

Pick: Stars in 6!