The Tampa Bay Lightning will take on the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Final. The Conference Finals were great playoff hockey. The emotion in both series was June level even though its September. You forgot there was no crowd. More importantly you forgot about putting an asterisk on the Stanley Cup. I forgot about going with my first thought on predictions.  I’m better at playing bubble hockey in my game room than I am at predicting bubble hockey played in Canada. This year was the first time ever I went 0-2 in the Conference Finals. I took destiny’s team over the better in the East when that’s what I should have done in the West.
How the West was Won.
The Dallas Stars ousted the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals. Dallas out played, out hit, out worked, out defended, out goaltended and out coached Vegas. Dallas used the playoff mojo it gained via a Game 7 overtime win in the previous series vs Colorado in this series. Anton Khudobin, a career 1B goaltender at best was magnificent vs Vegas. He outplayed a man who stole a Hall of Famers job (Robin Lehner) and the Hall of Famer himself (Marc Andre Fleury). Lehner, who started every game, but Game 1 let in a few goals he should have stopped.
They say to win in the playoffs your best players have to be your best players. Dallas’s top line was dominant. They scored goals and played big boy hockey. Jamie Benn was the consummate captain. He scored goals and led the way physically. Alexander Radulov was all over the scoresheet. Tyler Seguin did whatever was needed be it a faceoff win a blocked shot or just a simple clear. Vegas’s star players came up empty. Truth is Vegas doesn’t have any star forwards. They have good forwards but not great forwards. Three goals from your top 6 is not how you win Conference Finals.
The Dallas Stars defense was even more dominant than their top forwards. Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg are two elite defensemen. They control the game at both ends of the ice. Esa Lindell and Jamie Oleksiak give the two elites steady partners who can also jump up on the play. Either Heiskanen or Klingberg are almost always on the ice. They have been on the ice for 96 % of Dallas goals in the playoffs. The Vegas defense was exposed. Shea Theodoreplay in the series was Norris Trophy caliber. The rest of the defense was underwhelming. Nate Schmidt got thrown around like a ragdoll. Alec Martinez has two much wear and tear on his tires.
As disappointing as the Knights were on the ice, they were even more disappointing behind the bench. Even if you disregard the goalie drama situation Peter DeBoer mismanaged his roster. DeBoer did nothing radical to shake up his lines when his team wasn’t scoring. Even Barry Trotz tweaked his line up to try to add scoring. DeBoer always wants his teams to engage physically and it rarely works. Deboer’s Sharks tried to get Sidney Crosby off his game in the 2016 Finals and all it did was get Joe Thornton off his game. The Knights were running around trying to hit the Stars instead of scoring. He played Ryan Reaves and his linemates way too much. They don’t score. They may have intimidated Vancouver but were only laughed at by Dallas. Rugged defensemen Deryk Engelland should have got in a few games. Dallas size was wearing Vegas’ defense down. Young defenseman Zach Whitecloud looked overwhelmed.
How The East Was Won
The Eastern Conference was won by the better team. The Tampa Bay Lightning are a better team than the New York Islanders. The Islanders played valiantly overcoming injuries, damaging penalties and a quick turnaround from their previous series. The Islanders system showed cracks for the first time in these playoffs. The Islanders played in the qualifying round and either fatigue or Tampa’s abundance of talent gave the Lightning more scoring chances against the Islanders than all of New York’s previous playoff opponents. When Tampa employed their top line of Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat the Islanders were overwhelmed. Point is so talented the Lightning may trade injured Captain Steven Stamkos in the offseason. Kucherov is a Hart Trophy winner and when motivated, he was this series there are few better. Palat does everything a 3rd wheel should do including burying chances. Tampa’s draft deadline acquisitions Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow continue to give Tampa the sandpaper they have so desperately needed in previous playoffs
Tampa’s decisive edge in talent was never more apparent than when Victor Hedman was on the ice. He is the best defenseman in the NHL and its not that close. He’s scoring at an historic pace and his huge frame and positioning make him rock solid defensively. Tampa goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is the best goaltender in the league. He’s so good he makes it look easy.
The Islanders had chances and capitalized on a few. It just took so much hard work to get the chances. The Islanders could have had more chances but they seemed reluctant to shoot. They appeared to be looking for the perfect goal. They needed to just fire the puck and hope for a bounce. Matthew Barzal for all his excitement needs to get himself or the puck between the circles more. Time of possession is nice but only if it leads to real results. The Islanders defense wasn’t perfect but played well until the end even though they were exhausted. Islander netminder Seymon Varlamov was great. He kept the Islanders in every game except Game 1, a game he didn’t start.
FINAL PREDICTION
This is the first Stanley Cup Final where a Head coach will square off against a former assistant. Crazy right? Even crazier is the assistant was Dallas’ Rick Bowness. Bowness was Tampa’s Jon Cooper’s assistant years ago in Tampa. Bowness was instrumental in Victor Hedman’s development. Bowness teaching Hedman is hockey’s version of Charles Bronson’s The Mechanic. Bronson trained the assassin who would eventually kill him. Dallas and Tampa both have their top lines earning their big bucks. Tampa’s may have an edge in secondary scoring on paper but Dallas’ forwards Joel Kiviranta and Denis Gurianov are living charmed lives. Dallas is more top heavy on defense but Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg show no signs of wearing out. I have doubted Dallas’ Anton Khudobin for six weeks and I still do. I don’t doubt Vasilevkiy. Lightning in 6
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