2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff predictions (Stanley Cup Final edition)
It's the final countdown...
Hello friends!
It’s mid-September and the NHL is set to award the Stanley Cup in less than two weeks. It’s almost hard to believe the league has pulled these playoffs off as well as they have, and that there are — at most — seven games left in this postseason. As is tradition now, let’s dive into my predictions from the Conference Finals before making my final prediction as to which team wins the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.
Much like my previous predictions this postseason, my Conference Finals predictions were a bit of a mixed bag. Let’s start with the good, shall we?
Eastern Conference
No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 6 New York Islanders
Winner: Lightning ✅
Series length: Six games ✅
Bold prediction: Brayden Point has seven or more points by series end ✅
The Lightning juggernaut just won’t be stopped. New York put up a hell of a fight in this series, taking Tampa Bay to overtime twice and just generally hanging around in games to keep things close. In the end, however, the overpowering might of this Lightning team was just too much for the Islanders to take. Getting off on a 0-1 start after their opening 8-2 loss put them behind the eight-ball, and they just couldn’t recover.
Props to the Islanders, though. Semyon Varlamov in net was a standout to keep the Islanders in this series late. The Islanders defensive style of play clearly frustrated the Lightning at certain points. In the end, however, talent won out and the Lightning advanced to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2015.
Western Conference
No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 3 Dallas Stars
Winner: Stars ❌
Series length: Five games ❌
Bold prediction: Five of these games hit over seven goals scored total per game ❌
Once again, I have underestimated the Stars in a playoff series to my own detriment. On paper, the Golden Knights were no doubt the superior team, but when it mattered most, Vegas just could not get their offense going. Dallas held Vegas to just eight goals in this entire series, frustrating the Golden Knights at every turn and shutting down one of the more potent offenses in these playoffs.
Outside of offense, the other major difference in this series was goaltending. Anton Khudobin outplayed his Vegas counterparts in Robin Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury, making saves when his team needed it the most. It was another perfect storm for the Stars, who have knocked out both heavyweights in the Western Conference in back-to-back series.
Final tally
Series winners predicted: 1/2
Series lengths predicted: 1/2
Bold predictions predicted: 1/2
Round total: 3/6
Overal total: 19/42
I batted .500 in the Conference Finals, but my overall score is still lacking after a dreadful second round.
Stanley Cup Final
No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 3 Dallas Stars
Lightning in six
Well, congratulations to the Dallas Stars for winning their first Stanley Cup since 1999.
But for real though, I’m picking the Lightning here in six games. No disrespect to the Stars incredible run that got them here in the first place, but it’s hard to pick against what feels like the consensus favorite in the Lightning.
The Stars have faced — and beaten — legitimate contenders to get to the Stanley Cup Final. There’s absolutely no discounting what they’ve put together this postseason. That being said, this year just feels like Tampa Bay’s to lose. Everything is clicking for this Lightning team, and there have been very few holes in their game all playoffs long. I can see this Stars team pushing the Lightning in similar ways the Islanders did, but in the end Tampa Bay’s talent will win out.
And that’s not even counting the Lightning’s wild card in captain Steven Stamkos, who has yet to play in these playoffs due to injury but could very well make a return.
However, I wouldn’t even be surprised if the Stars win the whole thing by the end of the month either. All it would take would be if Khudobin can steal the show over Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, and for the Stars to shut down the Lightning’s relentless offense in the same way they did Colorado’s and Vegas’.
It’s certainly a tall task for this Stars team, perhaps their biggest of these playoffs. Especially because this Lightning team knows their window for a Stanley Cup win is now, with how general manager Julien BriseBois constructed the team at the trade deadline and the looming flat cap likely meaning a breakup of this team’s core in the offseason.
Either way, this Stanley Cup Final is likely going to be quite the fun one. With the Stars’ surprising offensive prowess and the Lightning’s ability to make complex plays look so easy, I have high hopes for the entertainment value in this series.
Bold prediction: Steven Stamkos scores a goal in his return to the ice.
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