It's down to the Anaheim Ducks and the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference to see who will advance to the Stanley Cup Final and have a chance to win the cup. Both of these two teams have done very well these playoffs and haven't faced any elimination games yet but that's bound for change in this series. Here is a preview and a prediction for this series.
Offense:
If you like offense, then this is the perfect series for you. The Ducks duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry have been great these playoffs as Perry leads the Ducks in points and Getzlaf isn't far behind. Players such as Ryan Kesler and Patrick Maroon have also contributed to the Ducks scoring especially last series against the Calgary Flames. There's no doubt they should be able to generate a lot of offense on Chicago because Corey Crawford has been very inconsistent these playoffs.
Shifting to the Blackhawks, their offense has consisted of Patrick Kane being on fire and a whole lot of depth scoring. Patrick Sharp has really come on strong these playoffs as well with nine points as he is one of their top scorers. "Captain Serious" or Jonathan Toews has been the Blackhawks second leading scorer and while he hasn't been scoring lots of goals, he's been dishing out a lot of assists that have helped the Blackhawks win.
Advantage: Blackhawks
Defense:
Defense is going to be huge in this series since I see a lot of these games being high scoring. For Chicago, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are going to have to matchup with Getzlaf and Perry, which is no easy task. Keith is one of the best defenseman in the NHL though so I expect him to contain that line and not get outworked every shift. The Hawks are now without Michael Rozival who was one of their bottom pairing defenseman as he fractured his ankle.
Anaheim's defense is also going to be faced with a tough task, as they have to go up against two of the best players in the world, in Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. No doubt Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen, Simon Despres, and James Wisniewski will have their work cut out for them as they go against them. The Ducks defense will hold their own at times but I think they will be outworked at times.
Advantage: Blackhawks
Goaltending:
This is where it gets interesting. Corey Crawford had a nightmare of a first round and was benched for Scott Darling who eventually won the series against Nashville. In round two, Crawford got the call against the Wild and performed amazing as the Hawks swept Minnesota. This will be his biggest test since the Predators series so it will be interesting to see how Crawford plays.
Frederik Anderson has played pretty well for the Ducks in the playoffs but at times he hasn't been that impressive. He's let it a couple goals that he should've stopped against the Flames (most notably the Michael Ferland slap shot in game four and the Johnny Gaudreau tying goal with 19.5 seconds left in game three). He does have a GAA less than two, which is outstanding. This is though his first true test of the playoffs. Yes, Winnipeg and Calgary were the bottom teams of the playoffs but he hasn't had to face a team that's this good and this deep in Chicago.
Advantage: Even
Series Prediction:
This series is going to be very fun to watch. Ryan Getzlaf/Corey Perry vs Jonathan Toews/ Patrick Kane. It doesn't get any better then that in the Western Conference Finals. Ultimately, I see the Blackhawks as too strong of a team for the Ducks to handle. I think Anaheim puts up a fight but the Blackhawks win this series and advance to their second Stanley Cup Final in three seasons.
Blackhawks in 6.