The Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens look to come out of the Eastern Conference with a spot in the Stanley Cup final. Who's Adam Proteau predicting to win this series?
The NHL playoffs have reached the semifinal stage, so it's time to get in those predictions before the action begins Wednesday.
The final four teams are the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference final and the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference. And this writer did better with his second-round predictions than we did in the first round.
After going 4-for-4 through Round 1, we went 3-for-4 in the second round, getting both Eastern predictions right and splitting the predictions in the West. But while it's foolish to count out any team that's made it this far, we have to say we're going with the favorite teams in Round 3.
We've seen enough through two rounds to believe in the strongest teams still remaining in the post-season. Although an upset could be in the cards in the East and West, there's a reason why the best teams are regarded as the best teams – they have the skill and depth needed to go on a championship run.
With that noted, here's our prediction for the Eastern final. Check out the Western final prediction by clicking here.
Carolina Hurricanes (M1) Vs. Montreal Canadiens (A3)
Season series: Canadiens 3-0
Why Carolina will win: The Hurricanes may not have had the toughest road to get to the Eastern final, beating a clearly inferior Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers. But Carolina was so strong that it deserves to be the heavy favorite against the Canadiens.
The Canes have had far-and-away the best defense, averaging 1.25 goals against. Their penalty kill is not only the second-best at a stellar 95 percent, but it made strong players on the Senators and Flyers struggle to find solutions to it. We all know that defense wins you games in the playoffs, and Carolina's defense is its biggest strength.
The Hurricanes have also received Grade-A goaltending from Frederik Andersen, who has a .950 save percentage, 1.12 goals-against average and a league-leading 11.2 goals saved above expected through two rounds. Montreal's Jakub Dobes has done pretty well at 11.1 goals saved above expected but has played six more games, showing just how well and consistent Andersen has been.
The only question is how many games it takes the Canes to eliminate the Canadiens – and we suspect it won't be many.
The Hurricanes aren't flawless, but they are clearly the class of the field in the East. And Montreal is quickly going to find out that Carolina has the speed, skill and savvy to end its playoff run in short order.
It's true the Habs won all three regular-season meetings with the Hurricanes, but this is a Canes team that shifted into high gear in its first two rounds and is not about to let up now. Carolina deserves to be the overwhelming favorite to win the Eastern final, and nothing short of a minor miracle is going to get the Canadiens into the Stanley Cup final.
Why Montreal will win: As the clear underdog, the Canadiens don't have the pressure to prove they can take the next step, unlike the Hurricanes, which have lost in the Eastern Conference final three times in the last seven years.
Montreal has already shown it can knock out very good teams that finished higher in the standings, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Buffalo Sabres. So it wouldn't be the biggest shock in hockey history if the Habs won the East.
If they're to do so, the Canadiens will need the Game 7 performances they've got out of Dobes.
The rookie netminder allowed only three goals in Montreal's Game 7 against the Bolts and Game 7 against the Sabres combined.
The minor problem with Dobes has been his consistency. He recorded a save percentage below .900 in six games, while Andersen has only done so once in this post-season.
Coach Martin St-Louis pulled Dobes in Game 6, although the netminder has shown he can bounce back after a loss all season long. He must quickly hit his stride against Carolina and thwart the Hurricanes' group of talented offense-generators when they come at him in waves.
Although the Hurricanes are well-coached by Rod Brind'Amour, the emergence of St-Louis as one of the NHL's best bench bosses is paying off in spades for the Canadiens. St-Louis is pushing all the right buttons right now, and his experience as a Cup-winning superstar player will only benefit Montreal's players as they deal with the mountainous task of beating Carolina.
That said, the Canadiens will be taking on a Canes team that's like Star Wars' Death Star: there's only going to be one or two ways Montreal can beat this Hurricanes team. Solving Carolina's elite penalty kill is one of them, because being shorthanded 40 times in eight games is usually not a recipe for success.
But what's far more likely is the Habs' playoff dream ending in the Eastern final.
And unfortunately for Canadiens fans, we believe this will be another short series for Carolina.
Prediction: Hurricanes in five games
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