The Chicago Blackhawks are set to host the opening game of the Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night from the United Center after finishing off the defending champion Los Angeles Kings and the two will be playing as Original Six teams in the finals for the first time in over 25 years.
The Blackhawks enter the series after their Game 5 victory over the Kings 4-3 in double overtime that saw Patrick Kane score the game-winning goal to give him a hat trick in the contest. The team is coming into the series on a hot streak after winning seven of the last eight games and that includes the three straight against the Red Wings to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the previous series. The Blackhawks then dominated the Kings mostly and took the series 4-1 to advance to their second finals in three years.
The Bruins have looked like the best team in the East through the playoffs and they proved that against the Penguins, as they were the number one seed and ended up getting swept after the Bruins manhandled Sidney Crosby. The team allowed just two goals in the series and Tuukka Rask comes into the finals with the best save percentage among goaltenders. The Bruins will face a tough test in the Blackhawks after the team started the season on a record streak, but after being down 4-2 to the Maple Leafs in Game 7 of their opening series with 90 seconds left before winning, anything can happen.
David Krejci has been phenomenal scoring the puck in the playoffs and the Blackhawks will counter with high-scorers Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell, who have come up big in spots. Kane had three goals to bust out of a funk in Game 5 against the Kings, while Duncan Keith also scored a goal and his play will be key going forward. The Bruins shutout the Penguins twice in their series and they finished off the Pens with a 1-0 victory in game 4 to put them away for good. The Bruins defeated the Rangers in five games and looked dominant and they continued that into the next round.
There hasn't been a Stanley Cup between the two teams before and it is the first Original Six matchup since 1979. The two teams have each won a Cup recently, with Boston taking it in 2001, on year after the Blackhawks did it. Both teams had different goalies back then and now they look even stronger, as Corey Crawford has been solid in net for Chicago all year and he came up big with some saves at the end of the double overtime victory.