These past two days have provided plenty to talk about. Starting first with, HOLY SHIT THE CAPS ARE STILL STREAKING!!!
The Eastern Conference Finals:
Watching the Caps dominate the first period of the game and capped it with a bomb from Ovi at the point on a power play with 6 seconds left. This is not what I'd expected to see. That's not to say that Tampa got caved in, as they had numerous chances throughout the game, but they certainly looked the part of a team that needed a few periods to adjust to what the Caps were throwing at them. Tampa finished the game strong, putting in two unanswered goals to make it a 4-2 Washington victory when all was said and done. I look to have the Lightening bounce back as Jon Cooper is great at making game to game adjustments and Andrei Vasilevskiy has been nothing short of stellar this postseason.
Now we come to the main event!
The Western Conference Finals:
What to take away.... Oh I know, the Jets are going to the Cup Final! Winnipeg started this season as a great composition of talented players, who played as just that; talented players. By January, with Connor Hellebuyck firmly in the starting role, there was something I saw change with the way the team in front of him played. They finally became a talented team, not simply a group of talented individuals. I give kudos to Paul Maurice because he's found a way to get that team playing as a unit and it fantastic to see. They are just simply magical; calling back memories of great seasons gone by in Detroit (oh how I miss the Glory Years) but I digress.
That's not to say that the Vegas Golden Showers, I mean Knights, aren't great, because they are. Marc Andre Fleury has been nothing short of the Conn Smythe favorite in my book, despite giving up 4 in Game 1. I can see two outcomes right now; Fleury returns to form and this LA-Kings-like run may just continue all the way to the highest prize, or, the Jets continue they're dominance and waltz to a 4-1 series win and await the winner in the East.
Either way, I'm super excited for Game 2 in both these series and can't fucking wait!