by Larry Leavitt

Montreal vs. NY Rangers: The Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban is a great example of what a defenseman in the NHL is all about, in years past their have been big defensemen who have stepped up and made a difference in the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup. Which for example former Chicago’s Dustin Byfuglien he was a defenseman that scored a lot of goals and played big in the playoffs.

The Canadiens Max Pacioretty he was kind of quiet the beginning of the second round but he really woke up near the end and he was taking some poundings but it didn’t let it bother him and that’s the difference of these teams. Some of the physicality was starting to bother some of these people and it got them off their game.

If the NHL had to put their dream match up together for the TV markets it would be Montreal or Toronto and those are the two huge markets in Canada and any of the New York teams. That’s the media, that’s the heart of the USA and for Canada. The NHL is probably loving this match up.

It’s good hockey teams playing good hockey teams, it’s been a long time since there has been a hockey team to come out of Canada to represent the country. Team Canada has won the gold medal in the Olympics in the last two years. That’s given them a little taste of the stuff that could happen.

Anaheim vs. Los Angeles: As you watch these two teams you can watch the bounce of the puck,you can see the pucks bouncing one way for one team and not the other. Whoever is going to take those lucky breaks is going to win this series.

These two teams are so evenly matched, the talent levels, you might see a lot of pucks off the posts that go wide or you see guys wide open and the puck bounces over his stick you know the puck is really not going that way.

In this series you would have to give the edge to the Kings on Friday night in this game seven. They’ve been in that situation so many times, more than Anaheim in the past. Either way this is going to be a good hockey game at the Honda Center. It’s going to be tight.

The key to game seven is to stay out of the penalty box. You don’t want to give your team any disadvantage and that’s when the hitting gets pulled back a little you don’t want to take those penalties, you want to stay on your game and play more of a defensive game. The winner of this series plays the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL Western Conference Finals.

Larry Leavitt is covering the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com