Semi-final shot: will Vegas and Montreal be able to jump over their heads

The NHL Playoff conference finals will begin on Thursday night. "Carolina" by Andrey Svechnikov and Alexander Nikishin will play with "Montreal" by Ivan Demidov, "Colorado" by Valery Nichushkin will play with "Vegas" by Ivan Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeev. There are no teams without Russian players in the Stanley Cup, so for the 11th time in a row, this trophy will be awarded to our hockey player. For more information about the two pairs, see the Izvestia article.

Vegas – Colorado

Colorado has suffered only one defeat on its way to the conference finals. The Avalanche allowed themselves a one-time relaxation campaign in the series with Minnesota. However, after the defeat in the third match, they confidently took the fourth and fifth. So far, Jared Bednar's team has not really faced serious difficulties in the playoffs. The coaching staff can only be alerted by overly open matches with the Wild, when the Avalanche had to alternate goalkeepers. But the decisive game of the series was supposed to finally convince that Colorado's number one right now is Scott Wedgwood. It is with him that the team looks calmer and more confident.

Vegas had a tougher road to the Western Conference finals. In the series with Utah and Anaheim, the Knights were considered favorites, but this status did not save them from a six-match showdown. However, John Tortorella's staff is able to benefit from this path. Defeats, especially from Anaheim, have exposed the vulnerabilities of the current Vegas. The high-speed and arrogant opponent regularly created problems for the Golden Knights defense, and even imposed his pace in segments. Experience and composure showed up at the right moment. In overtime of the fifth match, Pavel Dorofeev scored the key goal of the series.

Colorado obviously hasn't had to turn on its maximum yet. With Los Angeles exhausted from the fight for a place in the top eight, the power-saving mode was enough to go further. Minnesota turned out to be a stylistically comfortable opponent. The teams played open hockey with plenty of chances and high performance. Colorado feels comfortable in such a game.

You'll have to spend a lot more energy and emotions against Vegas. This team knows how to tolerate and punish the slightest mistakes. Probably the hardest matches for Colorado will be at the start of the series. But there is no doubt about the ability of the Avalanche to rebuild. There are still hockey players in the squad who perfectly remember the price of the 2022 championship.

Of course, you won't be able to pass Vegas as easily as Los Angeles or Minnesota. However, Colorado still looks like the favorite of this pair. Due to the speed, depth of the squad and the stars capable of deciding the outcome of matches alone, the Avalanches should take the series in at least six games.

SE's forecast is 4:2 in favor of Colorado.

"Carolina" – "Montreal"

With a touch of irony, Carolina can be called the most relaxing team of the current playoffs. The Hurricanes closed the previous two series with clean wins, spending only four matches each on Ottawa and Philadelphia. Montreal, on the other hand, literally crawled to the finals of the Eastern Conference, having survived two seven—match thrillers - first with Tampa, then with Buffalo. Rod Brindamore's team got a great opportunity to recuperate, heal microtrauma and calmly prepare for the new series. If the loss of playing tone affects Carolina, it will only be in the first match.

Montreal has already produced a result above expectations. The Canadiens have reached the conference finals for the first time since 2021. This is a huge success for the young Martin Saint-Louis team, which was recently undergoing restructuring.

At the end of two toughest series, the Canadiens will try to impose a fight on Carolina. Montreal's attack is formidable in its variability: the team does not depend on one leader. Most of the Canadiens are especially dangerous. The special team with Caufield, Slafkowski, Suzuki, Demidov and Hutson on the blue line plays the puck in an extremely diverse way and is able to open almost any defense.

But Carolina has Brindamore's experience and consistency on its side, which the coach has been building for years. This backbone has been playing together for a long time and perfectly understands the requirements of the headquarters. The Hurricanes are approaching the conference finals with a huge amount of confidence. Although Svechnikov is not very effective yet — in eight games of the current playoffs, he scored three (1+2) points and 16 penalty minutes.

Everyone knows Carolina's problems from the previous playoffs. At critical moments, the team sometimes falls into too straightforward hockey and begins to overload someone else's nickel with endless shots. However, against Montreal, this disadvantage should not interfere. Carolina is able to subdue the audacious St. Louis team due to the organization of the game, the depth of the squad and the reliability of Frederick Andersen, who is having an impressive playoff run.

Izvestia's forecast: 4-2 in favor of "Carolina".