Montreal Canadiens: Predictions for the Stanley Cup Semifinals

After two days without any hockey, the Stanley Cup Semifinals are finally starting today with the New York Islanders-Tampa Bay Lightning series, while the Montreal Canadiens-Vegas Golden Knights series will be starting on Monday.

By the time the Canadiens play again, it would have been six days without playing any hockey, other than practice, of course. That raises the question of whether they will be rested or rusty, which will have a big impact on the series. On the other hand, the Golden Knights only would have gotten three days of rest, meaning they’ll be well-rested and fresh for the game.

The thing with predictions is that they’re rarely accurate, and you might have seen that if you read my Round 2 predictions.

But, here are my predictions for the semifinals.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Vegas Golden Knights

This is definitely going to be an interesting series, not only because of the teams’ speed, levels of physicality, and defensive plays but because of the history between some of the players. The former Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty, who was traded for Nick Suzuki and Tomas Tatar from the Golden Knights, will be facing the team he played with for a decade. There’s also the not-so-popular storyline of Tyler Toffoli and Alec Martinez who won the Cup together with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014.

There is definitely going to be extra competitiveness between these teams because of this history. Oh, and speaking of history, this is also a series between the oldest team in the NHL versus the newest team in the NHL.

I expect this series to be a close one, mostly because both teams have shown they are capable of adjusting to better match their opponents and are great defensively. I would not be surprised if some games went to overtime and even double overtime.

The Canadiens are on a seven-game winning streak while the Golden Knights are on a four-game winning streak. These are two hot teams facing each other right now, and the winner will probably just have to be the hottest team overall.

I think that when it comes to the team skills and assets, the Knights have the advantage, but the Canadiens and Carey Price have been so hot, they could win another round. But based on what I’ve seen so far, I will have to say I expect the Golden Knights to win the series in seven games. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the Canadiens won it either. After all, they have been proving everyone wrong since the beginning of the playoffs.

New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

The New York Islanders, just like the Canadiens, have made it further than expected this postseason, and they continue to be the underdogs as they face the defending Stanley Cup champions.

At this point, I really think it’s possible to see the Islanders win, however, it won’t be easy and it all depends on whether or not they can shut down Tampa’s offence and powerplay.

If they’re able to do that, it should be a close series as well. But, I’m expecting the Lightning to win it in six games.

However, I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Islanders manage to pull through and move on to the finals.

After all, crazier things have happened, and at this point what’s the craziest thing that could happen? Finals consisting of the Islanders against the Canadiens. So, who knows? Maybe it could happen.