Stanley Cup Playoffs: Final Four is set and both matchups are fascinating

We have our final four in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It has been a wild postseason so far and there are four teams left standing now with the matchups locked in place for the Stanley Cup Playoffs Semifinals, and both series will be compelling to watch.

After the Vegas Golden Knights stunned the Colorado Avalanche, who were the best team in the NHL during the regular season, on Thursday night, the Sin City franchise will take on the Montreal Canadiens in the first semifinal while the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning will battle for a place in the Stanley Cup Final in the other.

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Both semifinals promise to be blockbusters and both offer a plethora of intriguing storylines, including the Lightning looking to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions, the Islanders hoping to wave goodbye to the Nassau Coliseum in a blaze of glory, the Canadiens attempting to finally bring a championship back to Canada and the Golden Knights continuing their fairytale start to life in the NHL.

Revenge will be on the cards for the Isles too, who lost 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Final to Tampa Bay last year, with the Lightning of course going on to lift the greatest prize in all of sports for the second time in franchise history.

Final Four of Stanley Cup Playoffs offers a boatload of intrigue and excitement

It has been another impressive postseason for the Islanders who are a well-oiled machine under Head Coach Barry Trotz, and they are going to be a tough out for the Lightning who will need to be at their offensive best if they are to break down arguably one of the best defensive teams in all of hockey.

There will be plenty to get excited about in the other semifinal where the juggernaut that are the Golden Knights will be the heavy favorites over the Canadiens, especially after they overcame a two-game deficit to completely overpower the Colorado Avalanche.

However, and while they may not boast as much talent as their opponents, Montreal won’t be a pushover and they have the biggest weapon in goalie Carey Price, who has been absolutely lights out in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a stellar .935 Save Percentage and a 1.97 Save Percentage.

Price has demonstrated throughout the postseason so far that he can win a series on his own, and if he is able to stay hot then the Canadiens will have a great chance of reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since the 1992-93 season, which was also the last time they lifted Lord Stanley.

This is also a really interesting matchup given that both Vegas and Montreal can play a really hard-nosed style of hockey, both have red hot netminders in Price and Marc-Andre Fleury and seeing Canadiens pest Corey Perry pit his wits against Golden Knights enforcer Ryan Reaves will be an interesting wrinkle to this series.

Plus, when you consider that three of the four teams will be playing in front of near full capacity arenas – with the Canadiens being the exception – then the true magic of the Playoffs will well and truly be back and having fans back has just added a special feel to this postseason.

I mean, just soak in the atmosphere at the Coliseum during Islanders’ home games or listen to how bonkers a packed T-Mobile Arena is when the Golden Knights play, then you will really appreciate just how special Playoff hockey is and these two semifinal matchups have all the ingredients to produce two unforgettable and breathtaking series.