A new set of playoff series lay in front of us. The NBA finals and the Stanley Cup Semi Finals here are some playoff blurbs about each of the three remaining series in the playoffs.

NBA Finals

Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and crew are out for another championship. Standing in their way are the defensively brilliant Boston Celtics.

It would be easy to surmise this is an offense vs defense series but the way the Warriors play offense complicates that. The issue Boston faces is that the Warriors simply have far too many quality shooters that can hurt you at the right times throughout a game. The addition of Jordan Poole makes this lineup almost impossible to stop offensively.

It is a cliche but the Warriors truly have changed the way basketball is played in the modern era. Boston, despite a plethora of defensive weapons, do not have the kind of shooting lineup that can compete with Golden State.

Jason Tatum has arrived as an absolute NBA super star in these playoffs but he and Jaylen Brown plus the defensive brilliance of Marcus Smart are just not enough to stop the Warriors.

Golden State 4 Boston Celtics 2

Avalanche Oilers: Western Conference Finals

If you believe in numbers, you might as well just wrap this series up right now. The Oilers dominate the numbers game, from goaltending (even though the eye test says Mike Smith is a heavily over rated NHL playoff goalie), to plus-minus numbers the Oilers dot the top ten like specs of light across the United States on a satellite image.

The Oilers have the better numbers going into this series. Easy to see why as well, Connor McDavid is playing at a playoff level that frankly we just haven’t seen many players get to and he’s accompanied by his linemate and scoring partner Leon Draisaitl. Not to mention the likes of depth scorers that have emerged like Ryan Nugent Hopkins and suddenly incredible Zach Hyman.

That all said, the Avalanche still boast the best roster in the NHL. They have a real issue at goaltender, but the defense has picked up the slack all year long. This series has to get physical if you’re the Avalanche, you cannot win a track meet against these Edmonton Oilers, the pace needs to slow, the physicality needs to ramp up. That, and Darcy Kuemper has to start playing reliable goalie again. A lot has to go the Avalanche’s way, but they have one intangible that gives them the edge and that is playoff experience. I almost picked the Oilers here, but I can’t do it, I will die a painful death.

Avs 4 Oilers 3

Tampa Bay Lightning vs New York Rangers Eastern

Conference Finals

This is a great goaltending series, but of course it also contains two names I always have to double check the spelling on. Andrei Vasilevskiy against Igor Shesterkin. We will call it Vassy v Igor though for our purposes. Vassy leads the league in GAA if you only count goalies still playing. 2.22 a game and with that a 93 save percentage. Those numbers, just to put it bluntly, over eight games, are BONKERS.

Those are some of the best goaltending numbers around this time of year on record. Igor clocks in just below him with a 92 save percentage and allows 2.68 goals per game.

I only emphasize goaltending numbers here because that will probably be the difference in the series. Both offenses have performed very well throughout the playoffs and the Ranger’s power play has performed at an extremely effective clip through the past two games, putting them on par with Tampa’s tremendous unit.

I have to go with the goalie I trust more, and there is simply no one I would pick right now over Vasilevskiy. If Igor gets the win and outperforms him though, that will all change.

Lightning 4 Rangers 3