Welcome to the Hotstove! As always, I'm your host, Travis Yost.
After a wild first-round in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, I think the general opinion was that the second-round (and beyond) would fail to live up to the high bar set by the first eight match-ups. And, early into the second-round, that looked to be the case.
But, thanks largely to Anaheim rallying from 2-0 down, New York rallying from 3-2 down, Minnesota winning both games on home ice, and Montreal forcing a game-seven with Boston, the second-round's rallied to deliver another fantastic product.
It's still entirely possible we have four game sevens, though only two are confirmed right now. If Los Angeles and Minnesota can protect home-ice in game six, hockey fans will get what they want.
The first game seven is tonight, with New York heading into Pittsburgh. The Rangers, who I thought would emerge victorious from the series, have really played a strong level of hockey over the last pair of games. Prior to that, it was mostly a series dominated by Pittsburgh.
I think New York actually goes into Pittsburgh and rattles off their third-straight to head to the Eastern Conference Finals, but man, this game feels like a total coin flip. You kind of sense the pressure's on Pittsburgh here with the weight of Stanley Cup expectations and what-not, but they also have guys like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at their disposal. When they're humming along, Pittsburgh's an almost impossible beat.
Home ice and last change is a big plus in the Pittsburgh column -- there's a reason why, on average, home teams win 56% of the time in hockey. But, on the other side of that coin, you still have the edge in goaltending that sits with New York.
Anyways, simple question for this Tuesday: Who do you have winning tonight's game, and why? Poll below, but drop a comment, too.