Conference Final storylines feature big scorers, Lightning three-peat try

And four teams are left standing.

The New York Rangers filled out the conference final bracket in the Stanley Cup Playoffs by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at PNC Arena on Monday.
The win earned the Rangers a date with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, in the Eastern Conference Final. Tampa Bay swept the Florida Panthers in the second round.
The Lightning are in the conference final for the third straight year and sixth time since 2015. It's New York's first appearance in the conference final since losing to Tampa Bay in seven games in 2015.
Game 1 is at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, CBC, TVAS). The Rangers have won six straight games at home.
The Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers get started in the Western Conference Final on Tuesday with Game 1 at Ball Arena (8 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS).
The Avalanche defeated the St. Louis Blues in six games in the second round to reach the conference final for the first time since 2002. The Oilers got to their first conference final since 2006 by defeating the Calgary Flames in five games.
Here are eight storylines for the conference finals:

1. McDavid vs. MacKinnon

Talk about a dream matchup between two of the best players in the world, each trying to get to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time.
Connor McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers' top center, is tied for the NHL lead in points in the playoffs with teammate Leon Draisaitl, each with 26 on seven goals and 19 assists in 12 games.
Nathan MacKinnon, the first-line center for the Colorado Avalanche, is tied for third in goals with eight to go along with five assists for 13 points in 10 games.
But this matchup goes beyond their production; it goes to their speed, the ability each has to change a game with one burst of it and how each can raise his team's level on his own.
This series may not answer the question of who is the best player in the world, but whoever is the best player in this series likely will be playing for the Stanley Cup.

2. Point's uncertain status

The Lightning swept the Panthers in the second round without center Brayden Point, who sustained a leg injury in Game 7 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Point has not returned to full practices yet, but he isn't ruled out for the conference final or the rest of the playoffs, coach Jon Cooper said.
That Tampa Bay swept the NHL's No. 1 scoring team in the regular season without Point is a testament to how well it can play defensively; the Lightning allowed three goals in four games.
But Point clearly makes them a better team; he had 58 points during the regular season, and two goals and two assists in seven games this postseason prior to the injury.
Tampa Bay is accustomed to winning in the playoffs without a key player; captain Steven Stamkos played one game in the 2020 postseason (Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final) and the Lightning still won the Stanley Cup without the forward.
Stamkos also missed the first 16 games of the playoffs in 2016, returning only for Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final. The Lightning lost that game 2-1.

3. Draisaitl on a roll

What will Draisaitl do for an encore against the Avalanche after torching the Flames in the second round?
The Oilers forward is the hottest player in the NHL with 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) in five games in the second round against Calgary despite playing with a lower-body injury.
He tied former Boston Bruins forward Rick Middleton for the most points in NHL playoff history through five games in a playoff series. Middleton had 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in the 1983 Adams Division Final against the Buffalo Sabres.
Draisaitl had four assists in Edmonton's series-clinching 5-4 overtime win against Calgary in Game 5.
He has the NHL playoff record for the most consecutive games with at least three points (five) and is one game from tying the longest streak in League history (regular season or playoffs). Jari Kurri (1992-93), Wayne Gretzky (1985-86) and Bobby Orr (1970-71) each had at least three points in six straight games during the regular season.

4. Canada's hope

The Oilers have a chance to end Canada's 29-year Stanley Cup championship drought.
A Canada-based team hasn't won the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. Edmonton hasn't done it since 1990, though it reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, losing in seven games to the Hurricanes.
The Oilers were one of three Canada-based teams to reach the playoffs this season; the Maple Leafs and Flames were the other two.
Canada-based teams have reached the Stanley Cup Final six times since the Canadiens' paraded the Cup down Saint-Catherine Street in Montreal.
The Vancouver Canucks lost to the Rangers in 1994, the Flames lost to the Lightning in 2004, the Oilers to the Hurricanes in 2006, the Ottawa Senators to the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, the Canucks again to the Boston Bruins in 2011 and the Canadiens to the Lightning last year.

5. Kuemper vs. Smith

At least one former Arizona Coyotes goalie will reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in his NHL career.
Oilers goalie Mike Smith and Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper did not cross paths as teammates in Arizona, with Smith's time in the desert running from 2011-17 and Kuemper's from 2018-21.
But each took their career to the next level with the Coyotes, and now each is four wins from the Cup Final in a postseason that has seen each experiencing his share of ups and downs.
Smith is 8-3 with a 2.70 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and two shutouts. He was pulled 6:05 into the first period of Game 1 against Calgary after allowing three goals on 10 shots, but responded by winning the next four games, allowing 11 goals on 141 shots (.922).
Kuemper did not allow more than three goals in a game until Game 5 against the Blues, when he allowed five goals on 30 shots in a 5-4 overtime loss. But he came back with 18 saves in Game 6 and Colorado came back for a 3-2 win.
The expectation is the Oilers-Avalanche series will be high scoring with plenty of skill and speed on each roster. That only intensifies the pressure on the goalies.

6. Lightning looking for 11

Tampa Bay's streak of 10 consecutive series wins dating to the first round of the 2020 playoffs is on the line.
It's the longest streak since the New York Islanders set the NHL record with 19 consecutive series wins from 1980-84.
An 11th straight series win will put the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final for a third straight season, the first team to do that since the Islanders did it five years in a row from 1980-84.
Here are some numbers that reflect the Lightning's 10 straight series wins:
* Nikita Kucherov has 81 points (19 goals, 62 assists) in 59 games.
* Defenseman Victor Hedman has 50 points (14 goals, 36 assists) and a plus-14 rating in 59 games.
* Andrei Vasilevskiy is 42-17 with a 1.96 GAA, .932 save percentage and seven shutouts, including six in series-clinching wins. * The Lightning are averaging 3.19 goals per game and allowing 2.19. * They are 26.2 percent on the power play and 85.8 percent on the penalty kill. * The Lightning are 21-10 in one-goal games.

7. Vasilevskiy vs. Shesterkin

Arguably the two top goalies in the NHL, Vasilevskiy and New York's Igor Shesterkin, make up the marquee matchup of the Eastern Conference Final.
Vasilevskiy has what Shesterkin wants. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, a Conn Smythe Trophy winner (2021), voted the most valuable player of the playoffs, and a Vezina Trophy winner (2018-19), voted as the NHL's best goalie in the regular season.
The Lightning goalie is 8-3 with a 2.22 GAA, .932 save percentage and one shutout this postseason.
He's 27 years old.
Shesterkin is in the Eastern Conference Final for the first time. He is a finalist for the Hart Trophy, voted as the NHL's most valuable player in the regular season, and the Vezina Trophy. He could be a contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy if the Rangers win this series.
The Rangers goalie is 8-5 with a 2.68 GAA and .928 save percentage in the playoffs.
He's 26 years old.

8. Goodrow looking to keep streak alive

Barclay Goodrow is on the other side now and the Rangers forward has his own playoff winning streak to keep intact.
Goodrow won the Stanley Cup the past two years playing on the Lightning's third line with Yanni Gourde and Blake Coleman. All three left in the offseason; Gourde to the Seattle Kraken, Coleman to the Calgary Flames and Goodrow to New York.
Now Goodrow has a chance to extend his own personal playoff series win streak to 11 games and end Tampa Bay's at 10.
Goodrow is the Rangers' fourth line center, a position he played in Games 6 and 7 against the Hurricanes after missing the previous 11 games because of a lower-body injury he sustained blocking a shot in Game 1 of the first round against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Lightning know him well and credit Goodrow along with Gourde and Coleman for playing a huge role in their Cup titles the past two years. The Rangers are hoping they can credit him for playing a role in ending the Lightning's three-peat bid.