We are finally here. The Stanley Cup finals begin Monday at 8:00 PM in Pittsburgh as the Penguins host the Predators. There are so many great storylines to this series and both teams have had very unique roads to this point. The Stanley Cup Finals schedule breaks down as follows:
Monday, May 29th - 8:00 PM - Nashville @ Pittsburgh
Wednesday, May 31st - 8:00 PM - Nashville @ Pittsburgh
Saturday, June 3rd - 8:00 PM - Pittsburgh @ Nashville
Monday, June 5th - 8:00 PM - Pittsburgh @ Nashville
Thursday, June 8th - 8:00 PM - Nashville @ Pittsburgh *
Sunday, June 11th - 8:00 PM - Pittsburgh @ Nashville *
Wednesday, June 14th - 8:00 PM - Nashville @ Pittsburgh *
One of the biggest issues for every team at this time of year is injuries. That is definitely the case for both of these teams. Pittsburgh's injury problems are well known. They have been without top defenseman Kris Letang for the entire playoffs. Justin Schultz and Patric Hornqvist missed multiple games in the Eastern Conference finals and who knows how healthy either will be in round 4. The Predators are facing some major injury problems. They will be without their number one center Ryan Johansen for this series and their number two center Mike Fisher is playing injured and will be nowhere near 100%. That is a serious problem considering Pittsburgh has two of the best centers in the NHL. Even beyond the known injuries, there is the general grind of the playoffs. The Penguins have played 19 playoff games and Nashville has played 16. That is a lot of grueling hockey played in the past month and a half. Every player is fighting through injuries.
One unique area I am going to enjoy about this series are the two odd transactions that have tied these franchises together. First, a little over two years ago The Penguins traded James Neal to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling. Since then it has been fairly obvious the Penguins won the trade, being they won a Stanley Cup with Hornqvist. However, this series will decide that. If Pittsburgh wins their second consecutive Stanley Cup that means they won this trade in a landslide. If Nashville wins it will be because James Neal had something to prove. The other transaction is simply one of the oddities of the 2012 NHL draft (one of the worst drafts in history). The Pittsburgh Penguins traded up in the draft for the 8th overall pick, which everyone thought was to take Filip Forsberg to give Crosby or Malkin a future scoring winger. Well the Penguins passed on Forsberg and selected Derrick Pouliot who you will notice is not even on their NHL roster and looks like he never will be a reliable top six defensemen. Forsberg was then drafted by the Washington Capitals and later traded to Nashville. He is now Nashville's top winger and outside of Peka Rinne is maybe their most valuable player so far in these playoffs. After watching the Penguins scoring woes in the conference finals, you can bet they wished they had Forsberg.
The talk you will hear the most about is how does Pittsburgh's offensive firepower match up against the Predators elite defense? This will be very interesting. Between Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Guentzel, Hornqvist and Rust the Penguins have stock piled great players that have proven they can put up points in the playoffs. They are deep, fast and aggressive on the offensive side of the puck. With Maatta, Daley and Schultz they also have blue liners that can score. On the other side I doubt Nashville is scared. They have maybe the best top 4 defensemen in the league, made up of Subban, Josi, Ellis and Ekholm. They are more than capable of matching the Penguins scoring forwards. They also employ some excellent defensive forwards. Fisher, Wilson, Fiddler and Sissons will all be thorns in the sides of the Penguins as this series goes. This series will be decided in Nashville's defensive zone, one way or another.
The real story of this series is which story will be remembered when it is over? Will we remember this as the year Nashville snuck into the playoffs and caught fire at just the right time. The Preadtors slayed giants on their way to the team's first ever Stanley Cup championship. They won in the playoffs exactly as history says you are supposed to, with great goaltending and a team focused on defense. Or will we remember this as the season that the Penguins became one of the greatest teams in NHL history and cemented Crosby and Malkin as true all-time greats. No team has won back-to-back Stanley Cups in two decades, the Penguins would be the first to do it in the salary cap era.
I am looking forward to watching this matchup. Pittsburgh is maybe the most fun team to watch and Nashville is so well built and peaking at the right time. Pittsburgh has the best goals for/game in these playoffs (3.05) and Nashville has the best goals against (1.81). Very contrasting means to victory, but you cannot argue the results either way. For me this series comes down to experience. The Penguins have more Stanley Cup experience than anyone else, especially Nashville. That is what got Pittsburgh through in each round so far. They know exactly what needs to be done to win in the playoffs because they have done it before. Their opponents do not. If Nashville is going to win this series it will be through attrition. They must simply outlast and outwork a tired Penguins team. Pittsburgh is coming off two seven game series in a row, hell the conference finals were an eight game series. This is two straight years this Penguins team has played over 100 games. Nashville is a great team, that is how they got here. They need to use their fresher legs and out skate Pittsburgh. That is their best shot at winning their city's first championship.
Prediction: Pittsburgh in 6, Evgeni Malkin wins the Conn Smythe
Monday, May 29th - 8:00 PM - Nashville @ Pittsburgh
Wednesday, May 31st - 8:00 PM - Nashville @ Pittsburgh
Saturday, June 3rd - 8:00 PM - Pittsburgh @ Nashville
Monday, June 5th - 8:00 PM - Pittsburgh @ Nashville
Thursday, June 8th - 8:00 PM - Nashville @ Pittsburgh *
Sunday, June 11th - 8:00 PM - Pittsburgh @ Nashville *
Wednesday, June 14th - 8:00 PM - Nashville @ Pittsburgh *
One unique area I am going to enjoy about this series are the two odd transactions that have tied these franchises together. First, a little over two years ago The Penguins traded James Neal to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling. Since then it has been fairly obvious the Penguins won the trade, being they won a Stanley Cup with Hornqvist. However, this series will decide that. If Pittsburgh wins their second consecutive Stanley Cup that means they won this trade in a landslide. If Nashville wins it will be because James Neal had something to prove. The other transaction is simply one of the oddities of the 2012 NHL draft (one of the worst drafts in history). The Pittsburgh Penguins traded up in the draft for the 8th overall pick, which everyone thought was to take Filip Forsberg to give Crosby or Malkin a future scoring winger. Well the Penguins passed on Forsberg and selected Derrick Pouliot who you will notice is not even on their NHL roster and looks like he never will be a reliable top six defensemen. Forsberg was then drafted by the Washington Capitals and later traded to Nashville. He is now Nashville's top winger and outside of Peka Rinne is maybe their most valuable player so far in these playoffs. After watching the Penguins scoring woes in the conference finals, you can bet they wished they had Forsberg.
The real story of this series is which story will be remembered when it is over? Will we remember this as the year Nashville snuck into the playoffs and caught fire at just the right time. The Preadtors slayed giants on their way to the team's first ever Stanley Cup championship. They won in the playoffs exactly as history says you are supposed to, with great goaltending and a team focused on defense. Or will we remember this as the season that the Penguins became one of the greatest teams in NHL history and cemented Crosby and Malkin as true all-time greats. No team has won back-to-back Stanley Cups in two decades, the Penguins would be the first to do it in the salary cap era.
I am looking forward to watching this matchup. Pittsburgh is maybe the most fun team to watch and Nashville is so well built and peaking at the right time. Pittsburgh has the best goals for/game in these playoffs (3.05) and Nashville has the best goals against (1.81). Very contrasting means to victory, but you cannot argue the results either way. For me this series comes down to experience. The Penguins have more Stanley Cup experience than anyone else, especially Nashville. That is what got Pittsburgh through in each round so far. They know exactly what needs to be done to win in the playoffs because they have done it before. Their opponents do not. If Nashville is going to win this series it will be through attrition. They must simply outlast and outwork a tired Penguins team. Pittsburgh is coming off two seven game series in a row, hell the conference finals were an eight game series. This is two straight years this Penguins team has played over 100 games. Nashville is a great team, that is how they got here. They need to use their fresher legs and out skate Pittsburgh. That is their best shot at winning their city's first championship.
Prediction: Pittsburgh in 6, Evgeni Malkin wins the Conn Smythe
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