An Unexpected Western Conference Final

There is nothing like playoffs! This is a great motto, which may suit any kind of sports with such system of competition progress. Nevertheless, it is referred to the NHL playoffs. The time is nearing to the end of the season 2016-2017. The finals of two Conferences have already started and the fans are looking forward to the champion of this season.

There are left 4 options. Three of them are Anaheim, Nashville and Ottawa teams. Each of them may become a novel winner of Stanley Cup. The 4th team is Pittsburgh that is the current champion of the last year. Both series are quite different. The Western series is interesting due to the fact that the team Nashville Predators had never reached even the final of its Conference.

However, another pretty unexpected final develops in the east. The bookmakers were expecting the Pittsburgh Penguins in this final. Nevertheless, there were a small number of experts and simple fans expecting the Ottawa Senators at that late stage of the competition. Such intriguing matchup may be a good story for any sports journalist or online essay writer.

The main question is whether the Senators have any chance for a victory. The team has a pretty impressive roster, which has many strong offensive players. One should also consider the factor of Erik Karlsson, the captain of the team. He is a defender. Nonetheless, he is utterly good in offense.

The bookmakers put more trust in the Penguins. The main reason for that is the experience of its players. The team was able to keep all key players who contributed to the victory last year. They have nothing to fear and are prepared for anything. In the meanwhile, the Canadian team does not have the players who played in the final of the Conference.

Nevertheless, the Senators have already shown their teeth and the capability of fighting back very strong opponents. On their way to the final, they got rid of Boston and New-York. They won the first game of the series against the Penguins. Afterward, they lost the second one. The games have been played in Pittsburgh. Now, the series moved to Ottawa. This is a very important point for both teams.

Ottawa is utterly good at their home games. The team was excellent when it played versus the New York Rangers, beating them 3-0 at home. During the regular season, Ottawa was very good versus its current opponent. In addition, the Canadians won 6 of 8 games against the Penguins. Therefore, Ottawa has all chances to win the series and advance to the Big Final.

The team from Pennsylvania struggled harder to make it through its last opponent the Washington Capitals. It seems that the experience of its players helped to enjoy the victory. In addition, three leaders of the team – Crosby, Malkin and Kessel showed excellent hockey and are the threat for any defense.

The series likewise confuses due to the lack of many goals. The predictions of most experts were that such attacking teams would score lots of goals in any match. Nevertheless, the first two meetings ended with 3 goals only. Consequently, the factor of a good goalie steps out now. Marc-Andre Fleury shows impressive confidence and dependability. This gives a significant favor to the Penguins. However, the decisive games are ahead and it may go either way.