The NHL Playoffs are underway with the conference finals with the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins in action on Saturday night in the first game of the East after the Chicago Blackhawks took care of business earlier in the night with a win over the Los Angeles Kings in the West finals.
The last four teams left are the last four Stanley Cup champions and now the Penguins have the chance to get back to the finals after a few years, while the Kings are looking to repeat and the Bruins are hoping to get their second finals in three years. There are a ton of star players left with Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Quick, Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla, Tuukka Rask, Corey Crawford, Mike Richards, Brent Seabrook, Jeff Carter and many more. The playoffs have been hard fought and now teams have the chance to get back to the finals after winning Cups over the past few seasons.
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The conference finals games will begin on Saturday with both games, the West coming first at 5 pm before the East finals starts up at 8 pm. Both series are expected to be tough and since all four have won Cups recently it is expected to be close. The Kings won last year on the skills of Jonathan Quick and the team will be looking to repeat this year as the fifth seed after being the eighth seed last year. The NHL Playoffs are nearing the end and the conference finals are all set as the Chicago Blackhawks vs. Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins vs. Pittsburgh Penguins are the two series left and all four teams are the last Stanley Cup champions.
The Kings won the Cup in dominant fashion last season after being the eighth seed and plowing through the West, but this year they were fifth and depending on what happens in the other series they could have home advantage again. The team has been on a streak at home and the team has been playing well on the road and now the Sharks head into another offseason with big questions for Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton as well as goalie Antti Niemi, who stopped 16 shots in the Game 7 loss. Niemi won the Cup with the Blackhawks and he allowed the two goals in the second period.
The Kings were one of the most consistent teams during the season and the Red Wings ended up making it into the playoffs to keep their two decade streak alive, while the Blackhawks started off the season on a record streak and ended up with the number one seed. The two teams had a hard fought series and was another Original Six matchup after the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers.