Jets Oust Predators to Advance to NHL West Final

We will see two different teams in the Stanley Cup Finals this time around. The Winnipeg Jets took an early lead and never looked back as they beat the defending Western Division champion Nashville Predators 5-1 in Nashville on May 10th in Game 7 of their playoff series. The Washington Capitals had already eliminated defending Cup champion Pittsburgh.

Tyler Myers and Paul Stastny scored at 8:41 and 10:47 of the first period, and the Predators lifted goalie Pekka Rinne in favor of backup Juuse Saros. But the Predators couldn’t catch up. Rinne is one of the top goalies in the league, but he did not have a good series; this was the third time he was lifted. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellenbuyck, on the other hand, stopped 36 of 37 shots.

So now we will have a Western Conference final of the Jets and the first year expansion Vegas Golden Knights, which nobody would have predicted back in October. The Jets were somewhat under the radar, but they finished with 114 points, second in the league to Nashville, and they beat the Predators three times on the road in their playoff series. The Western Conference final begins May 12th in Winnipeg. The Eastern Conference final begins May 11th, with Washington at Tampa Bay.