We are down to the Final Four. This year’s Final Four is star studded. Six number one overall picks, the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup Champs and the league’s biggest media market. Two players that have been titled the best of this generation Connor 
McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon have never made it this far. The Tampa Bay Lightning are trying to win three Cups in a row. Three in a row has not been done since Ronald Reagan was the President. The NHL’s new television partners are not upset that the Rangers has faced preseason caliber goaltending to reach this point either. ESPN and TNT couldn’t have asked for a better Final Four. All four of these teams have already had memorable playoff runs and they’re only half-way there.
Eastern Conference-
The Tampa Bay Lightning swept the Florida Panthers in four games. Tampa’s goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is the greatest big game goaltender or this century of maybe any century. Vasilevskiy’s six shutouts in his last seven elimination games is sublime. Tampa played without Brayden Point but didn’t need him as stars Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos picked up the slack. Decorated role players Pat Maroon and Corey Perry played to their big moment pedigree. Once Ross Colton scored a game winning dagger at the end of Game 2 the rest of the series was a slow death march through the Florida swamps. It’s hard to type the Lightning just wanted it more but it sure looked like they did. Florida’s star’s Alexander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau never got going. It took to the third game before their rookie head coach changed up their miserable power play. Patric Hornqvist addition to the power play in Game 3 got the Big Cats a goal but it was already too little to late after the Bolts won Games 1 and 2 in Sunrise. Perennial loser Claude Giroux only ruined the team’s once great chemistry.
The New York Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. Game 7 was a snoozer. It was the only time the road team won a game. The home team has won every previous game because when Carolina had the last change Carolina Head Coach Rod Brind ‘Amour could get Jordan Staal matched up against New York’s top line. By Game 7 though New York star power and superior goaltending overwhelmed the Hurricanes. Rangers’ Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox rose to the top as Canes’ Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Jaccob Slavin all but disappeared. New York’s netminder Igor Shesterkin was Vasilevskiy like and Carolina’s net minders looked like the backups they are.
Prediction – The New York Rangers have only played one game against a starting goaltender in this year’s playoffs and he had a broken foot. Now they face arguably the best clutch goalie in NHL history. The team in front of that goalie is the reigning back to back Stanley Cup Champs and they’ve had eight days of rest. Lightning in 6
Western Conference-
The Colorado Avalanche beat the St Louis Blues in six games. Colorado was the superior team but by taking the series to six games the Blues showed the heart of a previous Cup winner. Colorado’s superstar Nathan MacKinnon was great but the Avs role players were the difference in the series. Nazeen Kadri was a marked man after a questionable ( I didn’t mean to but I kinda did ) hit on St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington. Kadri showed new-found maturity and dominated the series. St. Louis never really recovered mentally after losing Binnington. Tyler Bozac’s OT goal in Game 5 gave the Blues a little hope but not enough high-end talent, depth or goaltending.
The Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames in 5 games winning the Battle of Alberta and advancing to the Western Conference Finals. Edmonton’s top line of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisailtl and Evander Kane absolutely destroyed Calgary. McDavid proved he’s the best player in the NHL. McDavid is living up to the nickname McJesus. He’s performing miracles on the ice. Draisaitl was the first player ever to have 3 or more points in the first five games of a series. EVER. Evander Kane has made Ken Holland looked like a genius for signing him. Flames legendary coach Darryl Sutter did not look like a genius. After game 1 his stars Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk did nothing. He never got them going and he never found a way to slow down the Oilers top line. He never tried to get his top line away from the Oilers top line. The Flames stars spent to much time trying to defend. Defending is not something they are good at. The Oilers won the goaltending matchup. Mike Smith outplayed Jacob Markstrom. Smith was just OK. Markstrom stunk.
Prediction- The Avalanche will use the Nazeem Kadri line to slow down Edmonton’s top line. The Oilers have no one to slow down Nathan MacKinnon’s line. Mike Smith will not beat the Colorado Avalanche.
Avs in 5
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