Stanley Cup Playoff Takeaways: Round 3

Photo from USA Today

And then there were two.

One team looking for their second Cup in 4 years.

The other looking to break a long Cup-less drought.

Either way, we’re in for a battle.

Here is what we learned.

Hurricanes defeat Canadiens 4-1

The Canes were due for a bad game, and they had one in game 1 with a brutal 6-2 loss.

After that, it was back to normal Canes hockey.

Multiple times, including multiple overtime games, the Canes held the Canadiens under 20 shots for the whole game.

It’s not fun to watch, but it works.

Golden Knights defeat Avalanche 4-0

Sometimes, things just turn out a certain way, and nobody can really explain it.

For Vegas, there was a possibility they might miss the playoffs.

Instead, they fire coach Bruce Cassidy and hire John Tortorella with 10 games left, and go on a run to end the year, win the division, and now are headed to the Stanley Cup Final.

Carter Hart (who, in my opinion, shouldn’t be playing hockey at all due to his off ice issues) went from a horrendous starter to an excellent playoff performer.

It came out of nowhere.

And in Colorado, the Avalanche were dominant all year, and dominant all postseason.

Then Cale Makar got hurt (and weirdly called out by Jared Bednar). Nathan Mackinnon got hurt. They blew leads, which is something they haven’t done all year.

Vegas got red hot, and the Avs went ice cold at the worst possible time.

Which is just a lesson for all of us hockey fans.

The Hockey Gods don’t give a damn about our feelings and our dislike for Vegas.

Stanley Cup Final Prediction

This run Vegas has been on is really, really impressive.

But they’re about to run into a buzzsaw.

This Hurricanes team makes life a living hell for their opponents, and I can’t shake the fact that Vegas is a 39 win team that’s gotten a couple of lucky breaks this postseason.

I think their luck runs out now.

The Carolina Hurricanes Win the Stanley Cup.