2023 Stanley Cup Playoff Western Conference Finals Preview

Are you tired this morning? Well, it is understandable if you watched all of that Canes/Panthers game. Florida took Game 1 in the 4th OT. Matthew Tkachuk called game in the closing seconds of quadruple overtime. They were only 12 seconds from a 5th OT. You could argue that there could’ve been better matchups on paper, but I don’t think the Eastern Conference Finals could’ve been set up any better. These two teams pair up about as well as they could and both teams proved last night/this morning that they won’t run from a challenge. It is humbling for the Hurricanes that they lost the first matchup of the series, but don’t expect them to back down in the rest of the series. Game 2 is Saturday night in Raleigh, so hopefully they can even things up.

Almost like the Eastern Conference, not many people had these two teams on facing off in the Conference Finals. I will say, it is more believable of a matchup than the Canes/Panthers. The Stars and Golden Knights are very good teams and are here for a reason. Vegas will have home-ice advantage in this series, but they don’t have a big advantage as they were only a slightly better home team than the Stars. The West will showcase their best teams starting tonight and I’m interested to see who moves on from here. We’ll see how it goes, but for now, here is my Western Conference Final preview.

NHL

Dallas Stars (R1: def. MIN, 4-2; R2: def. SEA, 4-3) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (R1: def. WPG, 4-1; R2: def. EDM, 4-2)

Even if this wasn’t considered the “best” WCF matchup, I don’t think there could’ve been much better. These two teams are pretty evenly matched. The Stars haven’t had a cake walk to the Conference Finals, but they have played really well. Jake Oettinger hasn’t been the best goaltender this postseason statistically, but he is always there and has been very good in the majority of his starts. He has started all of the Stars playoff games. Roope Hintz has been incredible for Dallas in the playoffs. He is the leading active goal scorer now that Leon Draisaitl is no longer eligible and that goes for points as well. He has 9 playoffs goals and 19 points. Joe Pavelski has also been lighting up the scoreboard. He has 8 playoff goals. They have the best power play of the 4 teams still in the playoffs and they have the second bets penalty kill unit. One guy that has been quietly effective is Jason Robertson. He was the leading goal scorer in the regular season with 46, but has only 2 playoff goals in 13 games.  I expect him to score more goals in this series. The Stars have a physical team and they don’t mind playing aggressively. Max Domi and captain Jamie Benn have 38 and 36 penalty minutes in 13 games and I don’t anticipate those staying where they are. It is also worth noting that Dallas swept the season series against Vegas.

Vegas has arguably been the best team in the playoffs. They definitely have been the best in the Western Conference. The Golden Knights have the best goal scoring unit in the active playoffs and they’re 2nd only to the Hurricanes in goals against per game. Much like the Stars, the Knights are a physical team and it should be a hard-hitting series. They’re a team that likes to get chippy. Jack Eichel has been the leading scorer for Vegas, but I think Mark Stone has been the best Knights player on offense. They have a lot of guys that can score goals, but they’re not really an offensive-minded team. Much like the Hurricanes, they pride themselves in having a solid defense. They don’t have a great power play unit and even their penalty kill hasn’t been awesome, but they faced the Oilers, so you have to give them a little bit of a break on that. It appears that they will be riding the hot hand of Adin Hill in front of the net. He has started in their last 5 games and has been phenomenal. He has only allowed 9 goals and is saving 93.4% of shots. Their physical play has gotten them where they are, and they have home-ice advantage, so don’t expect them to lay flat for Dallas. They will be looking to get that first Stanley Cup trophy. It won’t be their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals though. If you remember, they made the Stanley Cup Finals in their debut 2017-18 season.

In the Eastern Conference matchup, I decided to predict with my heart, but in this series, I am going with my gut. I think the Stars will get the win. I think they have a better overall team and their consistent goalie will be the game-changer. Vegas has been the better team in the playoffs, but only ever so slightly. They season series sweep also swayed me a little bit. I do think it will go all 7 games though.

Series Prediction: Stars in 7

Yacs