The Los Angeles Kings have a 3-0 lead against the New York Rangers in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final entering Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS). There have been a number of players contributing to their great run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but with the Kings on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup for the second time in three seasons, you have to look at the man in net, Jonathan Quick.

I really think he's been awesome. I've said it all the time for the past two years: Jonathan Quick has been the best goalie in the world. It's his unique combination of talent, skill, athleticism and flexibility that has made him great. Most important, he's mentally stronger than any goalie on the planet.

Game 3 of the Cup Final was his first pro start at Madison Square Garden. He hadn't played at MSG since he was in peewee playing for a minor hockey team and family come down from Connecticut to watch. He grew up idolizing the Rangers and Mike Richter. With all that, he put on a show in Game 3. He made body-based saves and compact saves because his timing and positioning were excellent. When he had to go to his tool kit, he did. That's when he brings out the superhuman flexibility and athleticism and net instincts. It's an amazing combination.

We're one game into the 2014 Stanley Cup Final and the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings certainly didn't disappoint. Game 1 was an excellent matchup in which the Rangers dominated early before the Kings took over. Despite the disappointing 3-2 overtime loss, the Rangers have plenty of positives to take away from Game 1 and can still be a force in this series.

You couldn't have scripted a better start for the Rangers. The Kings were on home ice and with the Rangers' five-day layoff I was wondering how they would be coming out of the blocks. They came out playing a turbo pace with the speed game they showed against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final. New York was winning races, had a lot of support and was first on pucks; its forecheck was suffocating and forced a lot of turnovers. The Rangers generated a lot of scoring chances early on, each goal a direct result of that speed and puck support.

We're finally here. The New York Rangers are about to face the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Final, and it's a really intriguing matchup between two great teams.

Here are the important matchups between these teams, as I see them.

With the Rangers, what really sticks out for me is the speed with which they played in the previous round against the Montreal Canadiens. Despite having all that speed, they also scored goals in several different ways. That was really impressive, and the tempo they played at forced Montreal to play a fast game, which made the Canadiens very uncomfortable.

With Los Angeles, this is a different recipe than what the Kings were doing last year. They have a lot of their core pieces in place and their coaching staff is intact. But there's always a unique recipe every year. One thing we've seen them do this year is they've had to go to three different Game 7s. That speaks to how strong this team is and how they play a power skill game. Like the Rangers, they also have four excellent forward lines with a lot of strength at center.

How about that double-overtime thriller Wednesday night? It was a great game in which the Chicago Blackhawks extended the Western Conference Final with Michal Handzus' winner in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings lead the best-of-7 series 3-2.

I mentioned earlier in the week how Chicago made certain adjustments against the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final last year. The Kings are a very similar team to the Boston Bruins. Chicago knew what it took to win the Stanley Cup against Boston last year and the adjustments it had to make in the last two games of that series. I thought the Blackhawks made a lot of the same adjustments in Game 5 in Chicago.

First of all, their D was involved in the play again, which they need and encourage. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were excellent, and Seabrook and Johnny Oduya got the party started with early goals. More than anything, they showed their grit against the Kings.

They'll have to do it again in Game 6 at Staples Center (9 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

In a surprising turn, the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks have fallen behind 3-1 in the best-of-7 Western Conference Final against the Los Angeles Kings. Game 5 is Wednesday at United Center (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

L.A. has won three straight games against Chicago and one thing that is abundantly clear is that perimeter skill players have not been getting any fruits in the conference finals. If you're willing to pay the price to make a play, you'll be able to get points and contribute. If you don't, you won't. It's that simple.

Look at some of the incredible world-class players on Chicago. I've seen Marian Hossa take it strong and take it to the net, but he's been snake-bitten a bit lately. Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane and some of the other stars on the Blackhawks are faced with a dilemma. It's adapt or go home. They were faced with that dilemma last year against the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final and they chose to adapt. They were then able to thrive and win the Stanley Cup.

Game 2 of the Western Conference Final between the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings was really interesting in how it was like two different games. The Blackhawks led 2-0 late in the second before Justin Williams scored to key a run of six unanswered goals for the Kings to tie the best-of-7 series 1-1.

Jeff Carter was a superstar in this game, scoring three goals and adding an assist. The Kings power play was also amazing. But it seemed to be Williams' goal with 1:46 left in the second that turned things around.

I was texting with one of the Kings after the game and I asked him for a couple of keys to that game. As one of the more veteran players on the team, he mentioned that Game 2 featured one of the most energetic and enthusiastic intermissions that they've had in his time there, and he's been there for some time. They felt they had a really good opportunity after getting that late goal in the second. They were very upbeat, evidently, in the locker room and they felt they had to strike. Chicago up to that point was 7-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs at United Center and they felt they had to get a stranglehold on that game, which they did.

The Western Conference Final is shaping up to be a great series between the past two Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings.

Chicago took Game 1, but I thought that the Kings played fairly well. I thought they actually played really well, being that they just got out of an emotional series against the Anaheim Ducks and then had to travel for Game 1. If not for Corey Crawford, it could have been a very different game. For Chicago, it's all about Crawford. He's one of the Conn Smythe Trophy candidates right now, just with how well he has played.

The good news for Chicago is it also looks like Andrew Shaw could be back in the lineup for Game 2. He's a very impactful player. He gets in on the forecheck, his skills are better than people give him credit for, he's physical, he's an agitator that can play and he's a 20-goal scorer. I think he'll give them even more depth than they already have.

But the real key for Chicago is Crawford.

After blowing a 3-1 series lead and losing to the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round, the Pittsburgh Penguins fired general manager Ray Shero on Friday. They retained coach Dan Bylsma, but it's clear that this summer is going to be a very interesting one for a Penguins team that has been underperforming in the playoffs for some time now.

I previously mentioned that they were going to have their big, exhaustive internal meeting with co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, and team president David Morehouse. They did their full evaluation of the franchise and where they want to go and what they need to do to get there.

The franchise has had a lot of success through a lot of key injuries to a lot of guys, from Sidney Crosby to Evgeni Malkin to Kris Letang to Jordan Staal when he was there. These are all key performers. That being said, the expectation there is to be a Stanley Cup winner or at least compete for a Cup. They won one and lost one in the Cup Final, but since then their playoff performance has left a lot to be desired.

The hockey world was turned on its head this week with the emergence of Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson. At age 20, he is 2-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .957 save percentage in his first two Stanley Cup Playoff games. He may have also swung the Western Conference Second Round series against the mighty Los Angeles Kings.

What makes this development so incredible is that most people around Gibson aren't even surprised by what he's done.

This guy is exactly what you're seeing. This is the genuine article, this is what he is as a goalie. He has been that dominant goalie at every level, from the under-17 and under-18 teams with the United States Development Program, right through to Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League and Norfolk in the American Hockey League. He even led the United States to bronze at the IIHF World Championship last summer.

Game 4 on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins was a rough one for the New York Rangers, who lost 4-2 and fell behind 3-1 in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round series.

The Rangers' effort level that night wasn't where it should have been, given the fact that it was a huge game on home ice at Madison Square Garden. I thought the Rangers were pretty listless. They didn't have it, but you've also got to give credit to Pittsburgh's defense, which has suddenly turned into the strongest part of an already-strong team.

That's the best defensive game I've seen the Penguins play in a while, and they did it playing five defensemen after Brooks Orpik was lost to injury.