Just four teams remain in competition for the most coveted prize in hockey, Lord Stanley’s Cup. After the Canadiens defeated the Sabres in a thrilling Game 7 overtime victory, the stage is now set for the conference finals in both the East and West.
Squaring off in the Western Conference finals will be the Avalanche and Golden Knights. Colorado has won eight of its nine postseason games after sweeping the Kings in the opening round and defeating the Wild in five games in the second round. They’ve been dominant throughout the playoffs thus far, but face a difficult opponent in Vegas.
The Golden Knights defeated the Mammoth in a six-game first-round series, and then also took six games to dispose of the Ducks in round two. Mitch Marner has been outstanding in his first playoff run with the franchise, leading the NHL with 18 points. Reaching the conference finals makes this the longest postseason stay of Marner’s career after failing to advance that far throughout his Maple Leafs tenure.
As for the Eastern Conference finals, the Canadiens and Hurricanes will battle it out to represent the conference in the Stanley Cup Final.
Carolina needed just eight games to reach the conference finals, having gone unbeaten with back-to-back sweeps in the first two rounds. The Hurricanes are the first team in league history to complete consecutive sweeps in the opening two rounds of the playoffs.
Montreal defeated the Lightning in a sensational seven-game series and advanced to the second round where they escaped with a win in overtime of Game 7 to reach the conference finals. Opposite to the Canes, who have played just eight games in their playoff run thus far, the Canadiens have played in 14.
We’re going to rank the possible Stanley Cup Final matchups out of the remaining four teams, diving into what head-to-head meetings would provide the most entertainment and best storylines.
1. Avalanche vs. Canadiens
Could Montreal defeat the Presidents’ Trophy winners and return Lord Stanley’s Cup to Canada for the first time since 1993, when the Habs last won the championship? A matchup between the Avalanche and Canadiens would be electric, with two high-powered offenses that are capable of racking up goals. A Stanley Cup Final environment would have the Bell Centre rocking, and with stars on both teams it would be an incredibly entertaining series. An Avs-Habs Stanley Cup Final would pit the league’s two top goal scorers––Nathan MacKinnon (53) and Cole Caufield (51)––against one another, with much more than a Rocket Richard trophy at stake.
2. Avalanche vs. Hurricanes
Neither team has been pushed to the brink so far in this postseason, as both comfortably won their first two series. The Hurricanes had a top-five defense in the regular season and have surrendered just 1.25 goals per game in the playoffs. With Frederik Andersen playing incredibly well in the net, Carolina is one of the few defenses league-wide that could potentially slow down Colorado’s offense, which was the best in the league in the regular season, as well as the first two rounds of the playoffs when it averaged 4.11 goals per night. The Avalanche and Hurricanes were the two clear top teams in their respective divisions during the regular season, and their opposite styles of play would make for an intriguing Cup final.
3. Golden Knights vs. Hurricanes
Since the Golden Knights joined the NHL in the 2017–18 season, the team has been to the playoffs eight times. In that same span, the Hurricanes have also made eight trips to the postseason. These teams are playoff mainstays, yet despite 16 postseason appearances between them in the last nine years, the teams combine for just one championship––Vegas’s 2023 Stanley Cup title. Can Carolina finally end its 20-year skid without a title and eradicate their recent playoff woes? The Canes have just one championship in their 46-year franchise history, and a Golden Knights title would see Vegas overtake Carolina with two Stanley Cups in just nine seasons.
4. Golden Knights vs. Canadiens
Mitch Marner reaching the Stanley Cup Final in his first season out of Toronto would be quite the story. He’s been outstanding in his first postseason run with his new team, and a championship matchup against the Canadiens would be highly entertaining. Montreal and Vegas met twice in the regular season, and the Canadiens won both matchups, 4–1 and 3–2. The two sides actually met in the conference finals in 2021, when the the COVID pandemic caused the NHL to re-align its divisions. That season, the Habs advanced to the semifinal out of the division consisting of all of the league’s Canadian teams, and they defeated the Golden Knights in six games to reach the Stanley Cup Final. A rematch of that series would be a fun matchup for a Cup final, and there’d be plenty of highlight-reel moments. If the Golden Knights win the Cup, it’s possible Marner would be the Conn Smythe trophy winner, too.
