A month ago, 16 of the National Hockey League’s best teams skated onto the sport’s biggest stage: the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Sixty-seven games later, that number has dwindled to just four. The conference finals began on Wednesday, and each of the four remaining teams has a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Cup.

Here is a look at each team and how they got here.

Ole, ole, ole

The latest addition to the conference finals was the No. 3 Montreal Canadiens. Through two rounds in the playoffs, they played the maximum number of games. Both of their series went to Game 7, and both ended the same way.

Center Alex Newhook scored the game-winning goal in each game. He batted the go-ahead marker home with nine minutes to go in Game 7 against the No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning. The very next series against the No. 1 Buffalo Sabres, he walked into the zone and took a wrist shot, beating Buffalo goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen glove side in overtime.

Defenseman Lane Hutson played a huge role in this series as well, racking up assists, playing well on the point and averaging a point per game. Additionally, left wing Juraj Slafkovský and center Nick Suzuki each netted four goals in the first two series.

Between the pipes, a young goaltender stepped up in possibly one of the biggest games of his life so far. Jakub Dobeš put Montreal on his back in the Game 7 win over Tampa Bay, stopping 28 of 29 shots faced. The team in front of him only mustered nine shots in that game.

Storm still surging

The biggest juggernaut of the playoffs is the No. 1 Carolina Hurricanes out of the Metropolitan Division. Contrary to the Canadiens, they have played the minimum number of games through two rounds, cruising to series sweeps over both the wild-card Ottawa Senators and the No. 3 Philadelphia Flyers.

The Hurricanes joined rare company, becoming just the second team to sweep its first two best-of-seven series to start the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The only other team to do this was the 1969 St. Louis Blues, back when the playoffs were three rounds long.

Their unsung hero is center Logan Stankoven, who has seven goals and is averaging a point per game in the playoffs. Leading the way in points are left wing Taylor Hall (12) and right wing Jackson Blake (11). These three led the way of the already-prolific offense to carve through opponents like a knife cutting through bread.

After a rocky regular season, goaltender Frederik Andersen stole the show in the first two rounds, posting a 1.12 goals-against average (GAA) and a .950 save percentage (SV%). With Dobeš on the other side, this could be a low-scoring Eastern Conference Final against Montreal.

Forged in gold

Well, well, well, if it isn’t the No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights out of the Pacific Division making their return to the Western Conference Final. This franchise has known nothing but playoff hockey, making it to the postseason in eight of the last nine seasons and reaching the conference finals five times.

After getting past the wild-card Utah Mammoth in Round 1, they got a tough matchup against the No. 3 Anaheim Ducks in Round 2. Both teams traded blows throughout the series, but Vegas pulled away in Game 6 with a 5-1 victory, ending Anaheim’s season.

Right wing Mitch Marner continued his regular-season scoring in the playoffs, tallying seven goals and 18 points. Additionally, right wing Pavel Dorofeyev and center Brett Howden are scoring at a high clip, netting nine and eight goals, respectively.

In the crease, goaltender Carter Hart emerged as a clear number one starter after he was acquired midseason. He went 11-3-3 in the regular season and now has a .917 SV% in 12 playoff games. If there’s one thing fans have learned during these playoffs, it’s to never count out the Golden Knights.

Avalanche of talent

The President’s Trophy-winning No. 1 Colorado Avalanche are back in the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2022. They look to be on a collision course with the Hurricanes but will need to get past the Golden Knights before they can worry about that.

Colorado went on a hot streak in its first 40 games of the season, going 31-2-7 and eventually finishing with the league’s best record. The Avalanche swept the wild-card Los Angeles Kings in the first round before steamrolling their way past the No. 3 Minnesota Wild in five games in the second. This included a 9-6 win in Game 1 and a come-from-behind win in Game 5.

Defenseman Brett Kulak’s first goal of the playoffs was the series-winner in Game 5 after the Avalanche came back from down 3-0. Centers Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas were also on fire in the first two rounds, tallying 24 points combined in nine games.

Going 7-1 in the playoffs is goaltender Scott Wedgewood, whose GAA sits at 2.21 with a SV% of .914. He got 31 wins in the regular season at a similar pace and will be tough for Vegas skaters to beat. Wedgewood and Hart will make for a great matchup in the blue paint.

What will happen?

The Hurricanes had a 12-day layoff between winning their second-round series over the Flyers and beginning the Eastern Conference Final against the Canadiens. While they have been practicing and staying loose, the long gap between games may catch up to them in the first couple of tilts.

Meanwhile, Montreal is fresh off a win in Game 7 over Buffalo. Its layoff between games is three days, far shorter than Carolina’s. This may throw off the Hurricanes early in the series, but eventually, their talent will overpower the Canadiens.

Prediction: Hurricanes in six games

On the other side, the two division winners out of the Western Conference meet in this series. Both teams ended their series on back-to-back days and are on similar rest.

Each squad has their respective superstars: Colorado with MacKinnon and Vegas with Marner. Both players have made a significant impact in these playoffs with their prolific goal-scoring ability. Expect this series to be very close, but in the end, the Avalanche have been a juggernaut all season long, and this series will be no different.

Prediction: Avalanche in six games

@ShaperoZach

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