Welcome to the Hotstove! As always, I'm your host, Travis Yost.
In many ways, it's fitting that Chicago and Los Angeles will have to play a seventh game to determine the Western Conference champion. I think the general consensus, with due respect to many of the other fourteen teams this post-season, was that Chicago and Los Angeles were the cream of the crop.
Six games have decided nothing so far, with both side winning three. Though, the hockey played in those first six games is as good as you'll see anywhere. For my money, Chicago and Los Angeles have played one of the more compelling non-SCF playoff series in recent history. A lot of it is because the teams are so evenly matched, though they're built so uniquely.
Chicago is your dream possession team, with ultra emphasis on controlled zone entry and running the offense through an endless supply of elite forwards. LA, on the other hand, accomplishes their possession wizardry through perhaps hockey's best line (centered by Anze Kopitar), with a steady diet of dump/chase and relentless forechecking, especially in the bottom-nine.
And, they have the guys who key play from the back-end. The Blackhawks seem to have more depth on the back-end, led by the venerable Duncan Keith. And yet, I don't know if any single Chicago defenseman can match the wizardry of Drew Doughty. It's an interesting dynamic there -- one side with two, maybe three pairings who can take care of business, the other side with maybe the best two-way defenseman in the league.
It's a shame this series has to end, because the hockey has been so, so good. Los Angeles is probably kicking themselves over blowing a 3-1 series lead and 3-2 late-game lead in game six, but such is hockey. Now, with home-ice, Chicago's the favorite to advance.
But, if there's one team you don't count out on the road in game seven, it's probably the one that's already emerged unscathed from the Shark Tank and Honda Center in similar situations.
So, one game to decide it all. One game from being eliminated before the Cup Final, or one game away from becoming the Cup favorite.
Who wins game seven?