Two teams left in the East. The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins will meet tonight in Game One for the chance to play in the Stanley Cup Finals. Both teams are top five in possession and possess dangerous scoring threats throughout their lineup.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins were able to expose the goaltender reliant New York Rangers by quickly knocking them out in five games. All four lines produced in the first round as Chris Kunitz was the only forward who did not record a point. In the second round, Matt Murray stepped up big and lead Pittsburgh to a 4-2 series win. The Pens have everything going for them right now. A potent top nine forward group that has Malkin, Crosby and Kessel all split up. Two series’ in a row, the opposition has found it VERY difficult to match up against this balanced lineup. The fact that the fourth line has been producing adds up to a difficult meal for the Lightning to digest.

Tampa Bay Lightning

In contrast to their third round opponents, Tampa Bay have had a pretty easy road to the eastern final. Detroit might have been the worst team that has made the playoffs in a while and the Islanders should have been happy just to get to the second round.

I am definitely not undermining these series wins for the Lightning. Without superstar Steven Stamkos and elite defensive defensemen Anton Stralman, a lot of hockey watchers wrote them off, yet here they are. But now they might need those two back. The Lightning are up against a powerhouse in the Pittsburgh Penguins and having Carle in Stralman’s position might cost them dearly. Hopefully Stralman can come back during this series for the Lightning’s sake.

Players to watch:

Matt Murray – If you did not know who Matt Murray was before, I think you know him now. What a series for the 21 year old netminder. In fact, Murray has been playing great all year, finishing 4th in all goaltenders (who played at least 1000 minutes) this year in “High Danger Save Percentage” (87. 50% behind James Reimer, Andrew Hammond and Brian Elliot), and 1st in “Medium Danger Save Percentage” (96.38%). As of right now, Sullivan is going with Murray to start the series over Marc-Andre Fleury. It seems like it is Murray’s job to lose against the Lightning. Do not expect him to lose it, by the way.

Phil Kessel – There is a reason why Mike Sullivan split up his lines, and that lineup decision is paying off big time. That success should continue against the Lightning. Kessel probably will not see too much of Victor Hedman (thanks Sid!) this series and as a result, he should continue to show why he is a top tier forward. Leading the Pens in goals and points this post season, Kessel has been loving life playing on the “third” line with Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin.

If Tampa are going to win this series, their top guys are going to have to show up BIG. Nikita Kucherov has been playing some exhilarating hockey along with his linemate Tyler Johnson. He drives possession and is a dynamic scorer. In saying that, he has to start creating a higher quantity of shots for his team this series if he wants to keep up his torrid scoring pace (nine goals in ten games). Kucherov’s 24.3 shooting percentage is not going to stay that high forever especially against the red hot Murray.

Jonathan Drouin- Can someone give me a valid reason as to why Drouin didn’t crack the lineup earlier in the season, it just does not make sense to me. The young stud has nine points while generating 24 shots (fourth on the team) in ten playoff games this year. With a 4.50% shooting percentage, Drouin should start to score a bit more if he continues shooting that much. Drouin has to be a huge factor as the Lightning will need secondary scoring to knock out the Penguins.

Prediction: Pens in six. The Lightnings’ bottom four defensemen are going to have a very difficult time controlling the Penguins’ never ending firepower. If Matt Murray can play like he has all year then the Penguins should be able to get through the Lightning pretty comfortably. I am going to bank on Anton Stralman returning which wins the Lightning a second game in this series, but if he does not return the Pens could end this earlier.

Do you think the Lightning have what it takes to beat the Penguins? Will the Lightning move on to their second straight Stanley Cup Final or the Penguins to hot right now?

What is your prediction? Comment below!

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