It’s my Parting Shot for the second and final part of The Fearless Predictor’s two-part picks for the first round of the N-H-L’s Stanley Cup Playoffs…..
In addition, T-F-P will pick a Stanley Cup winner and runner-up – after a look at the four Western Conference quarter-finals…
…starting with the series that I think will be the shortest of the eight opening round sets – Edmonton and Anaheim. The Ducks gave the Oilers a scare in Game 1 last night and they gave the Oil a fright in a game I saw live in Edmonton in late March. But, when the Oilers stick to playing good defence, leading to their potent offence, they are tough to beat! But, as Oil head coach and Imperial product and former W-H-L player and head coach Kris Knoblauch told me after that Anaheim game I was at, getting his troops to do that on a consistent basis is the issue for them. No matter, Edmonton wins in no more than five games!
Next up, Utah and Vegas. The Mammoth are the former Arizona Coyotes, Phoenix Coyotes and the original Winnipeg Jets. Nope, I haven’t wanted them to win anything since they left my ol’ hometown in 1998 – and they haven’t. They’re in tough against a very good Vegas team with Utah’s one area of strength being goaltending. That’s how this series gets to seven games, but the Golden Knights advance!
Then, we’ve got the L-A Kings and Colorado. The Avalanche are so good up front and on the back end – sometimes too good up front that their defence jumps into the play too readily and gets caught, exposing their average at best goaltending. At least L-A isn’t playing Edmonton in the first round, but I’m going with Colorado in six games.
That leaves the potential best series of the opening round, Dallas and Minnesota. Like Montreal and Tampa Bay, both of these teams had more than 100 points in the standings this season. Unlike the Habs and Bolts, the winner of this series is going to win the Stanley Cup, in my humble opinion. The Wild are a team that gets very little ink in Canada, but that will change after they win this series, thanks to Jake Oettinger’s off-and-on goaltending for the Stars. I’m taking Minnesota to prevail in seven games!
As I said, the winner of the Wild and Stars will win the N-H-L title. That means I’ve got Minnesota beating Carolina in the Cup final! We shall see!!
That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!
