We're down to the final four teams in the chase for the Stanley Cup. Here's a breakdown of the NHL's Eastern Conference final, along with a prediction for the series (we went 3-1 picking winners in the previous round and are now 8-4 overall).

For our Western final preview, click here.

Note: Chances of winning are implied probabilities derived from betting odds made available Thursday morning by Pinnacle, with the bookmaker's vigorish removed, rounded to the nearest full percentage point.

NEW YORK RANGERS VS. TAMPA BAY

Rangers: 53-22-7, 113 points, won Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed and Presidents' Trophy for NHL's best record, defeated Pittsburgh in five games, defeated Washington in seven games

Lightning: 50-24-8, 108 points, finished second in Atlantic Division, defeated Detroit in seven games, defeated Montreal in six games

Regular-season series: Lightning won 3-0-0 (Rangers 0-3-0)

Series opener: Saturday at 1 p.m. ET (CBC, CBCSports.ca)

Chances of winning: New York 57%, Tampa Bay 43%

6 things to know

Hard feelings? One of the best little guys in NHL history, Martin St. Louis won two scoring titles with Tampa Bay. His second, in lockout-shortened 2013, came at the age of 37, making him the oldest to do it by three years. St. Louis also helped the Lightning win the Stanley Cup in 2004. But the 5-foot-8 winger grew unhappy in his 13th season with Tampa Bay — reportedly angered by GM Steve Yzerman's decision to initially leave him off the Canadian Olympic team that Yzerman selected — and the captain forced a trade to the Rangers. St. Louis hasn't said much publicly since the move, but there's likely to be some lingering bitterness in a guy whose rise to stardom was fuelled in part by the chip on his low-to-the-ice shoulder.

The other guy: The player St. Louis was traded for is hoping to be ready for Game 1. Tampa forward Ryan Callahan, who was the Rangers' captain at the time of the deal, underwent an emergency appendectomy on Monday and missed the Lightning's series-finishing win over Montreal. He returned to practice on Thursday (man, these guys are so tough) and did not wear a non-contact jersey.

Little big man: Turns out the Lightning are pretty good at turning undrafted small guys into stars. With St. Louis gone, 5-foot-8 Tyler Johnson, in just his second full NHL season, notched 29 goals and 72 points in 77 games during the regular campaign. He now leads all playoff scorers with eight goals and ranks third in points with 12 in 13 games. Johnson's "Triplets" line, with Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat, has scored 17 goals.

Can't keep a good scorer down: A couple weeks ago, two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner Steven Stamkos was feeling the heat after going goalless in Tampa's seven-game series against Detroit, with only three assists. He fired another blank in Game 1 against Montreal before busting out for a goal and two assists in Game 2, then added two more goals and a pair of assists over the next four games. He scored twice and added five assists in three games against the Rangers this season.

Remember when? Tampa Bay swept the season series in dominating fashion, outscoring New York 15-7 over three games despite playing two of three at Madison Square Garden and facing Henrik Lundqvist in all of them. But the Rangers can hang their hats on this: those games took place over a two-week stretch from Nov. 17 to Dec. 1. That was a long time ago.

Living on the edge: You hear a lot about the Rangers' "knack" for winning close games, and all 12 of their playoff contests have been decided by a single goal, with four going to overtime. Maybe getting the best of these tight ones is a skill, but let's not forget New York was 101 seconds away from being eliminated by Washington in five games.

Prediction: Tampa Bay in 6