(M2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (A2) Tampa Bay Lightning
The Penguins and Lightning had near-identical runs to the Eastern Conference Final. Both of them took out a team led by a Russian superstar, and both needed five games to dispense of a team from New York. Offensively, Pittsburgh has been led by an unlikely trio of Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino, and Carl Hagelin. Crosby and Malkin had been pulling their weight as well (along with Patric Hornqvist chipping in on a regular basis), but the third line has been the biggest producer. Kris Letang leads the defense in points (eight) and ice time (averaging 29:10 per game), with Trevor Daley (23:06) and Brian Dumoulin (20:10) also logging quite a bit of ice time. Goaltending has been (outside of their first two games) all Matt Murray. The rookie looks to have little trouble carrying the load while regular starter Marc-Andre Fleury recovers. For Tampa Bay, their offensive has been led by the usual suspects. Tyler Johnson leads the team in points while Nikita Kucherov leads in goals. Alex Killorn and Jonathan Drouin have also cracked double-digits in points. On defense, Victor Hedman leads the way with ten points and logging 27:31 minutes per game. The rest of the defense has been pretty good as well, with most of them keeping on the positive side of the possession numbers. Ben Bishop has been his usual solid self in net. posting a save percentage of 0.939. With one game in the books (as of writing this), there are tons of questions that need to be answered. Now that he's healthy, will Fleury take over for Murray? How serious is Bishop's injury? How soon will Stamkos get into games? If Stamkos does get into games and Bishop is back soon (which it sounds like he will be), then it's hard not to think that the Lightning will continue to roll over the East. Yet, I picked the Penguins before the series and I'm sticking with them. Pittsburgh in seven.
(C2) St. Louis Blues vs. (P3) San Jose Sharks
Just like in the East, the Western Conference Final is between two teams that took a similar path. Both needed to slay playoff demons in the first round (for the Sharks it was the Kings, for the Blues it was just winning the first round). Both also needed seven games in the second round to beat opponents that, on paper, they should have beaten earlier. Vladimir Tarasenko (expected) and Robby Fabri (bit of a surprise) have lead the way for the Blues offensively. Their offense has been relatively spread out, with eight forwards totaling over a half-point per game. Alex Pietrangelo leads all defenseman in ice time (29:41 minutes per game) while Kevin Shattenkirk leads in points (ten). Colton Parayko and Jay Bouwmeester also shoulder the load defensively, as both average over 20 minutes a night. St. Louis has finally decided to stick with Brian Elliott in net, and it has paid off so far, with Elliott sporting a 0.929 save percentage. San Jose's attack may not be as spread out, but it has quite a bit of talent at the top. Logan Couture leads the league in points (17), while Joe Pavelski tops the league in goals (nine). That's on top of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau being Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Brent Burns has been the defenseman of the playoffs, leading all blueliners with 15 points. While the rest of the Sharks defense hasn't been as productive, they have been reliable. Their top four of Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun, and Paul Martin have all average over 22 minutes a game. Martin Jones looks to have solidified the Sharks goaltending woes. It's hard to go against St. Louis, but having to go the distance in two rounds does take its toll. My head says Blues should win, but my heart wants to see Thornton reach the Final and win the Cup. San Jose in seven.
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