2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals Predictions

Wednesday night saw a pair of Game Sevens to determine the final matchups in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and both were thrillers from what I saw. The defending champs are still alive and making a late push, while some of the lower seeds have, on the whole, had a pretty successful postseason. So with one more round to go before we hit the Cup Final, let's take a look at our upcoming matchups.


Western Conference Final

Nashville Predators (beat St. Louis Blues in six) vs Anaheim Ducks (beat Edmonton Oilers in seven)
Ducks won 2 of 3 regular season meetings

Photo by Gary A. Vasquez (USA TODAY Sports)

Nashville makes a conference final for the first time in franchise history after looking really good through two rounds, remaining perfect on home ice, but they'll have to pull out at least one road victory in this round as well as the Ducks finally overcame their Game 7 demons by knocking off an upstart Oiler team. Pekka Rinne has been phenomenal so far and his defense is playing very well, but they're going to have their hands full against a physical Ducks team. John Gibson played very well in Game 7 coming off an awful Game 6, and the Ducks' best players are coming through. This should be a hard fought series, but I can't go against the hot hand. Predators in seven.

Eastern Conference Final

Ottawa Senators (beat New York Rangers in six) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (beat Washington Capitals in seven)
Senators won 2 of 3 regular season meetings

Photo by Justin Tang (AP)

If you had told me two months ago Ottawa would make the East Final, I'd have laughed at you. But here they are, with arguably the best Old Guy Without a Cup story remaining in Craig Anderson. He's had some great players in front of him though, with Erik Karlsson raising his game, and guys like Jean-Gabriel Pageau breaking out. But the Penguins keep chugging along despite being out their best defenseman in Kris Letang thanks to the efforts of guys like Brandon Rust to bolster the scoring, and Marc-Andre Fleury has played extremely well this postseason. This will be a closer series than people are expecting, but I can't discount the champs. Penguins in six.