Stanley Cup Playoffs: ‘Hawks Saga For A Repeat And A Rangers’ Comeback

One thing is becoming increasingly clear as in the next two days we will have two Game 7s to decide who will play in the Stanley Cup Conference Championship Games and two Game 6s that could very well go on to Game 7s, the Stanley Cup Playoffs is going to be a long one.

Just looking at Round 1, we saw three games go all the way to Game 7. This has been one of the most competitive Stanley Cup Playoffs in recent memory and we do not expect that things will be slowing down anytime soon.

Sure the officiating has been all over the place.  We have seen some blown call and no two games seem to be called to the same standard.  It is like these refs are all following a different rule book.

This is undoubtedly stressful to the players who do not know if they have some wiggly room or if they should be walking on eggshells, but this complaint is no different than what has happened in past NHL playoffs. In other words, the bar was already set pretty low and this years refs seem to just be conforming.

Put that common complaint aside, and man have we seen some great hockey and things are likely going to continue to move in that direction tonight as the Chicago Blackhawks look to end their series with the Minnesota Wild at Game 6 and the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers finish their series at Game 7.

Starting the the Hawks-Wild game, Chicago may be in some trouble tonight. Game 7 is not something the Blackhawks wanted to go to, especially considering the game will be played on Minnesota ice. Both these teams are perfect when playing at home in the 2014 playoffs thus far and Game 7 just happens to be in the Wild’s territory.

The Blackhawks are looking for a big Cinderella-style repeat after dropping behind to close the season, but the chips are falling on the side of the Wild given the home-ice advantage.

Still, the sportsbooks have Chicago favored to win this one.

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, the Penguins seemed to have this series all wrapped up.  They were up 3-1.  However, for the second time in four years they allowed a team to rally back and this time it is the New York Rangers.

At this point, the Rangers should be used to playing with their back’s against the wall. They will be looking to avoid elimination for the third time in this series and move to the conference championship game.

The Rangers have never won a best-of-seven series when down 3-1. In fact, this is only their second forced Game 7 after losing three of the first four games in the team’s history. 

The sportsbooks, however, believe that the Rangers comeback story will not have a happy ending for New Yorkers.  The Penguins are the favorites to win this one.