The top-seeded New York Rangers have to be feeling pretty good about living up to the hype so far, and indeed the team's fans have to like the remaining competition. However, I've been among the many who've been fooled into thinking somebody's going to start lighting up Jonathan Quick and Mike Smith, the two goalies pictured in this post, sooner or later. So far, we've all been totally wrong and, as a result, when two of the best goalies in these playoffs meet in the Western Conference Finals, the winner's team won't just be playing for the Stanley Cup, but the winning goaltender will very likely be accepting the Conn Smythe.
It's been one of those rare years where every seeming underdog goes out and proves us observers and prognosticators wrong, but just for shits & giggles ...
As I said with the NBA picks, I might compare my shitty total for these playoffs to the other shitty totals in the final recap. But for now, here's how I see things unfolding this round:
I really don't know how much more the Rangers can take, but on the flip side, I also don't know that they accept dying either. The conspiracy theorist in me says that the league KNOWS a New York team going to the Cup would be a ratings boon. I don't really want to have to hear those bandwagon Ranger fans talking shit on social media, but I just don't know that the Devils are really going to be the team to stop New York. Jersey stunned a heavily-favored Philadelphia team last round, for sure, but I don't expect them to face the same streaky goaltending from this opponent. There will be significant attention, of course, given to the two teams' fight right from the opening faceoff earlier this season, and maybe the series will degenerate to the scrums that were dominating the first round of the playoffs. You would hope that with so much at stake, the two teams would focus on staying out of the penalty box. Still, it just seems as though the Rangers continue to find ways to come out on the winning side of things at the end of the day, and while I fully expect New Jersey to do their damnedest to make a series of this, the big names on New York will come up big once again and send the Big Apple back to the Cup Final.
Los Angeles Kings over Phoenix Coyotes in six games
I could go either way, really, and not be satisfied. Just as I could see either team continuing to do what got them here, the truth is that something has to give, and it's been the Kings who have looked like the scarier team when it comes to the offense, at least. While I think Los Angeles has also benefited from some unbelievably fortunate bounces and breaks, there is just no denying that in the end, this is a battle of two extraordinary goaltenders. The winning team here, as a result, is the team that best takes advantage of the most opportunities. The rebound opportunities will be few and far between. As I said, you might as well flip a coin here. Me, I'll try to commandeer control of the remote around my house as often as I can to catch this one, as I'm anticipating a helluva tightly-played series. Mistakes could be crucial, and that admittedly makes me pause since Phoenix has really thrived on capitalizing on errors in the first two rounds, but it's the Kings who have more dominated than they have survived opponents in the first two rounds.
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