Buckle up! NHL conference finals have it all
National Hockey League brass will insist it doesn't care which teams comprise its playoff final four, but having the three largest media markets and a dynamic Sunbelt team make the grade certainly doesn't hurt.
The New York Rangers are clearly a big draw, the Chicago Blackhawks are the league's marquee franchise, the Anaheim Ducks aren't the Los Angeles Kings, but still pull in the LA media market and the Tampa Bay Lightning are as exciting a team as there is across hockey's landscape.
"If you're talking about selling and promoting the game, you couldn't ask for two better matchups," NBC Sports Network's NHL analyst Ed Olczyk said. "In both series, you've got two teams that can get up and down the ice, play fast and there are stars everywhere. That's great for the league."
The conference finals are also a battle of heavyweights. New York won the Presidents' Trophy with the league's best record while Tampa finished fifth overall in the NHL standings — a mere two points out of second. Anaheim was the Western Conference champion with 109 points, while the Blackhawks have won two of the last five Stanley Cups and have been to the conference finals five of the last seven years.
As the conference finals begin this weekend, there is no clear-cut favorite to capture the Cup. That should make for entertaining theater in hockey's home stretch.
Atlantic No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Metropolitan No. 1 New York Rangers
How they got here: New York defeated Pittsburgh 4-1 and Washington 4-3. Tampa Bay defeated Detroit 4-3 and Montreal 4-2.
Season series: Tampa Bay won 3-0, outscoring New York 15-7.
Playoff history: The Lightning and Rangers have never met in the postseason.
Goalies: Tampa Bay's Ben Bishop remains one of the league's underrated goalies. He is fifth in postseason save percentage (.931) and fourth in goals-against average (1.81), but third in both categories among goalies that have made more than four starts. Bishop was spectacular against Montreal in the conference semifinals, stopping 156 of 166 shots (.940 SP). It helps that Tampa is defending well in front of him. The Lightning are allowing 27.7 shots per game, fifth-best in the playoffs. New York's Henrik Lundqvist is so battle-proven that the term seems inadequate to describe the poise and calm he brings to the Rangers goal. There were times in Game 7 against Washington when he was under siege, but he never wavered, stopping 35 of 36 shots and posting a .946 save percentage in the series. He is tied for second in postseason save percentage (.944) and second in goals-against average at 1.60. As always, Lundqvist is capable of stealing this series all by himself.
Key players: Forward Mats Zuccarello would provide a huge boost to the Rangers if he could return from what is believed to be a concussion suffered in Game 5 of New York's first-round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, when he was hit in the head by a Ryan McDonagh slap shot. At this point, all the Rangers will say about Zuccarello is that he is making progress. The Rangers offense has been pathetic in the postseason, averaging just two goals a game, which ranks tied for next to last among the 16 playoff teams. Zuccarello had 15 goals and 49 points during the regular season. His return would also allow New York to slide everyone else back into proper position. While captain Steven Stamkos has struggled to produce the type of offense he did during the regular season, Tampa's Tyler Johnson has picked up the slack with clutch plays through the first two rounds. He leads the playoffs with eight goals (three game-winners) and he's third in points with 12 in 13 games. He is Tampa's leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Key stats: The Rangers have played 14 straight one-goal games in the playoffs, winning nine and losing five. ... The Rangers don't have a single player among the NHL's top 15 in points. The Lightning have two. ... Tampa Bay hasn't lost in the playoffs when scoring first.
Best storyline: Rangers forward Martin St. Louis is still the Lightning's top all-time playoff point-producer by a wide margin. Despite his request to leave the team last year, he is still popular in that market. Will that love remain if he helps eliminate his old team?
Injuries: Tampa RW Ryan Callahan (appendicitis) is day to day but skated Thursday during a light workout. New York RW Zuccarello (upper body) is out indefinitely.
Breakdown: It's startling that only two members of the Lightning were on the team that made the Eastern Conference Finals just four years ago: forward Stamkos and defenseman Victor Hedman. The changes have been good ones, however. Tampa had the feel all season of a team ready to challenge for a Cup. It was just a matter of how quickly the youth on this roster could progress. The team's second line of Ondrej Palat, Johnson and Nikita Kucherov is a deadly conundrum for teams focused on stopping Stamkos, Alex Killorn and injured wing Callahan (appendectomy), who could be ready for Game 1. Defense was supposed to be Tampa's weakness, and a strong forecheck could still cause problems in the Lightning zone, but without its forwards possessing the puck like they did in the regular season, there haven't been many breakdowns in front of goalie Bishop. The Lightning also play a little heavier than many realize with defensemen Anton Stralman and Braydon Coburn. New York willed its way back to a win over Washington in the second round, but the Rangers offense remains a concern, and New York didn't exactly dominate two critically flawed teams on its way to the conference finals. Tampa Bay and New York posses speed in spades, but the Rangers may not want to engage in a run-and-gun game with the more skilled Lightning. The tight-checking style has worked so far, and it is the Blueshirts' ticket to the Stanley Cup Final. Derick Brassard and Chris Kreider have shouldered the scoring load through two rounds, but New York will need bigger contributions from its other guns if it wants to keep playing. The Rangers aren't going to win a bunch of 2-1 games against Tampa, which led the NHL in scoring this season. It would be a big boost if trade-deadline acquisition Keith Yandle (one power-play point) could inject some life into a perpetually moribund man advantage. That is, after all, the primary reason he was acquired.
Prediction: Lightning in 6.
Pacific No. 1 Anaheim Ducks vs. Central No. 3 Chicago Blackhawks
How they got here: Anaheim defeated Winnipeg 4-0 and Calgary 4-1. Chicago defeated Nashville 4-2 and Minnesota 4-0.
Season series: Chicago won 2-1, outscoring the Ducks 8-3.
Playoff history: The Ducks and Blackhawks have never met in the postseason.
Goalies: Anaheim's Frederik Andersen is still a bit of a mystery, and maybe the Ducks' Achilles' heel. He is eighth in the postseason in save percentage at .925, but he is facing the third-fewest shots in the postseason at 26.6 per game. Anderson made big saves against Winnipeg and Calgary, but he hasn't faced the type of firepower he's about to see in the skill-rich Blackhawks. Chicago's Corey Crawford had an abysmal first round against Nashville, losing his starting job to Scott Darling for a short stint. Crawford rebounded well against Minnesota, stopping 124 of 131 shots (.947 save percentage). Which he will show up against the high-powered Ducks? The answer could determine this series.
Key players: Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson was already logging 24:39 of ice time (second on the Blackhawks) per game before Michal Rozsival was lost in Game 4 against Minnesota with a fractured ankle. Hjalmarsson's minutes are likely going to increase dramatically with Kimmo Timonen and David Rundblad as the Hawk's fifth and sixth options on defense. Hjalmarsson is an excellent defender, a maniacal shot blocker and is gifted at zone exits — an area where the Hawks' blue line struggled this season. He will be under heavy (emphasis on heavy) pressure against the bigger Ducks. Ryan Kesler was acquired in the offseason so that the Ducks could match center depth with Los Angeles. The Kings didn't make the playoffs, but Kesler has a chance to make his mark against the Blackhawks, who don't have a center to match his ability, assuming they play Jonathan Toews against Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf. Kesler lost in some infamous battles with the Blackhawks while he was in Vancouver. Now is his chance for payback.
Key stats: Anaheim (3.89 goals per game) and Chicago (3.20) are the two highest-scoring teams in the postseason. ... The Ducks have the postseason's top power play at 31 percent. ... Anaheim RW Corey Perry leads the NHL with 15 postseason points; Chicago RW Patrick Kane is second with 13.
Breakdown: The Blackhawks have not faced a team with the center depth or size that the Ducks present. Chicago was fortunate in its first two series to face the Predators (without Shea Weber) and Wild, two teams predicated on skill and speed. The size disparity between these clubs will be more pronounced with Hawks D Rozsival out for the season after fracturing his ankle in the series-clinching win over Minnesota. Chicago's blue line is paper thin, and the top four figure to log heavy minutes. The Ducks will hit Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Johnny Oduya and Hjalmarsson every chance they get in an attempt to wear them down. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has to commit to more minutes for Timonen and Rundblad, but will he? If this series is extended, or if there are multiple overtimes, that will become a major factor. On the flip side, Anaheim hasn't seen a team with the offensive firepower, forward depth and playoff experience that Chicago brings. Winnipeg was a tough matchup in the first round, but let's face it: Neither of Anaheim's first two opponents, the Jets or Flames, had any kind of playoff experience. Those two clubs were also the seventh and eight seeds in the overall Western Conference standings. The void between them and the Blackhawks is wide. First and foremost, Anaheim has to figure out how to slow Kane, who is the offensive catalyst despite playing on the team's second line. The guess is that Quenneville will try to match the Toews-Marian Hossa-Brandon Saad line against Getzlaf, Perry and Patrick Maroon. Does Ducks coach Boudreau counter by putting Kesler's line on Kane's, or does he try to make Kane defend more by getting Getzlaf's line out against Kane, Brad Richards and Bryan Bickell? Chicago hasn't always looked its best in this postseason, but it knows how to win when the chips are down, and it has a bevy of household names. This should be an epic series.
Prediction: Anaheim in 7.