Here We Go! Conference Finals Preview

Will the brute strength of Boston overwhelm Tampa or will the highly skilled offensive talents from Florida skate circles around the Bruins and fill the net with goals?

The Lightning surprised everyone by ousting the Capitals like it was no big deal and spent most of the week catching up on rest.  The Bruins pounded the goalie-less Flyers to advance and are chomping at the bit to get back into action.

It’s a great matchup of offense vs. defense. The Lightning are highly skilled on offense with the talented young Steven Stamkos and veterans Martin St-Louis and Vincent Lecavalier. For the Lightning to have a chance this line will have to be crazy good and the pressure goes on the young Stamkos to put up phenomenal numbers for them to advance. I’m not saying it can’t be done but getting past Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara is no easy order.

The biggest match-up in this series will be Tim Thomas vs. Dwayne Roloson. Both goalies rule and they are the two best in the playoffs right now.  Thomas has proven to be extremely reliable against a offensively talent Flyers squad and the energetic Canadiens squad.

Roloson, on the other hand, is a beast and in my opinion, the reason the Lightning are still playing.  The Bolts have fired off 7 wins in a row including a sweep of Washington.  Roloson has not allowed more than 3 goals in a game during the playoffs and stats-wise he is slightly better than Thomas.  Crazy!

But he’s also 41-years old and the Lightning have to play a perfect series to get past Boston.  Roloson has done it before with Edmonton and when he’s hot there’s no better netminder but the depth of the Lightning just doesn’t compare to the Bruins.

Both goalies are just clutch in the playoffs so far but I’m going with the slight edge of Boston’s depth.  The Lightning have one of the best special teams in the playoffs and as long as the Bruins can keep their boys out of the box (no easy task in Beantown) then the Bruins will stand a chance. The B’s have a better D and enough talent to hold off the Bolts. The Bruins also have a habit of bringing games down to their level and the physical play of Boston can’t be touched by anyone else right now.

PREDICTION : Bruins win series 4-3

Game 1: Sat, May 14

8:00 PM

First, the goalie. Each team is dependent on their talented goalie and on paper you have to give the nod to the Canucks Roberto Luongo as a bit better than the Sharks Antti Niemi. But during the playoffs each were streaky and allowed opponents to get back into the game. Both teams have allowed 3-0 series leads to go out the window and in the end that’s on the goaltenders.

Second, the offensive threat. Both teams have a habit of getting lazy on offense when they get ahead in a game. Each team can push the throttle down and light up the red lamp but at times in the series in their losses I saw both getting overwhelmed by their opponents and not sticking to their high-octane style of offense.

Kesler is carrying the Canucks while the Sedin Twins are not so dependable. The Canucks have a great defense but are prone to sitting on a lead. The Sharks have enough talent to break through that wall and in that case the Canucks are forced to kick-start their offense which may be too late.

Vancouver, in particular, win when their defensemen get into the action with shots and goals and push into the offensive zone. In their losses to the Predators we saw the D-line stagnant and ineffective which allowed for Nashville to spark on offense. You can do that against the Preds since they don’t have the offensive power of San Jose. Of course the Blackhawks showed how a more talented team can push the Canucks when they get conservative.

What the series comes down to is which team will push down on the throttle the most and not let up. Each team is prone to letting their opponents back into the game and at this stage in the playoffs the time to be conservative is over. No time to get distracted here and sit on leads. Take a handful of ADD pills and focus!

So here’s the upset pick of mine. In the end the snipers from San Jose are more talented than Chicago and Nashville combined and Luongo struggled with huge offensive pushes, namely with sloppy rebounds and a general lack of focus. The Canucks haven’t been consistent enough for me to tag them as winners (even though they’re more than talented to be) and I believe they will get behind and struggle (and possible panic) to let the Sharks take the series.

PREDICTION: Sharks win series 4-3

Game 1: Sun, May 15 8:00 PM