STANLEY CUP SEMI-FINALS
Vegas Golden Knights (1) vs. Montréal Canadiens (4)
The Vegas Golden Knights finds themselves in the third round of the playoffs for the second straight season. The Montréal Canadiens has made it to the third round for the first time since 2014, before Vegas even began life as a franchise. This marks the first playoff meeting between the two teams. Montréal has received stellar goaltending from Carey Price so far in the playoffs, and that will be what they rely on if they are to make their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1993. Price is considered to be the best goaltender in the history of the franchise history who has never won them the Stanley Cup. Vegas are a more offensive minded team than the Canadiens, and will need to rely on offense to win the series.
Prediction: Vegas in six games.
Tampa Bay Lightning (2) vs. New York Islanders (3)
This marks the second straight year that the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders meet in the third round of the playoffs. Tampa Bay is hoping to win their second straight Stanley Cup, whereas the Islanders hope to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1984. The Islanders will want to make sure they keep their penalty time to a minimum throughout the series, due to the vicious power play that the Lightning have. Both teams are very strong in the goaltending department. The Islanders have two very strong goaltenders in Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varmalov, and could use either one throughout the series. The Lightning have former Vezina winner Andrei Vasilevskiy as their goaltender, and he has put up very strong numbers so far in this year's post-season.
Prediction: Tampa Bay in seven games.
Subject: The 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Third round predictions 
Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:27 pm
