The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings gear up for a winner-take-all Game 7 Friday night (Friday evening if you’re on the left coast) while the Chicago Blackhawks eagerly await the winner for Sunday’s Game 1.

Meanwhile in the Eastern Conference the matchup has been set as the Montreal Canadiens host the New York Rangers by virtue of upsetting the higher seed earlier this week. It’s an Original Six matchup for all of you that appreciate the history of the NHL.

While that means nothing to the current incarnation of the players who will line up across from each other in red, white and blue sweaters, the rich history provides a deeper and more passionate fan base.

The Rangers and Canadiens have met 15 times in the playoffs before, most recently in 1996 to add the factor of total irrelevance to the matchup. The most important thing about this series is that each club came back from a 1-3 series deficit by incorporating a complete team effort and leaning heavily on superior goaltending.

The Rangers enter the final after rallying from the jaws of certain defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. There can be a valid argument made that their presence in the final has as much to do with a Pittsburgh collapse, there is no question about the perseverance of the 2014 New York Rangers. The team seemed to rally around the tragic circumstances surrounding Martin St. Louis and Henrik Lundqvist slammed the door on the high-scoring Penguin attack

The Canadiens employed a similar strategy to get past the top-seeded Bruins in a classic matchup that put the best rivalry in hockey on display. Montreal frustrated Boston at every turn, goading the normally efficient Bruins into mental errors. Not even the goaltending of Tuukka Rask could keep the relentless Canadiens off the score sheet. While P.K Subban and Carey Price have been the stars, 13 total Montreal players have found the net in the 2014 postseason.

Offense

The key to both clubs so far has been balance of scoring. Both teams are loaded with big-name snipers but the high scorer between the two teams in Thomas Vanek with five goals. If the Canadiens were balanced in the goal-scoring department, the Rangers have them trumped. With 15 goal scorers on the roster for New York, none of them are named Rick Nash. You read that correctly. While he leads all players with 52 shots, Nash has yet to light the lamp for New York.

The Rangers have been able to roll four lines consistently with ice time spread evenly throughout. With Nash struggling on the top line the Rangers were able to get production from the second and third line with Derick Brassard and Brad Richards coming up big against Pittsburgh.

The Habs don’t have as many big names producing but have been just as deep. Coach Michel Therrien has been leaning on a four-line rotation throughout the playoffs and has been rewarded with production from all four. Vanek headlines the goals corers but Lars Eller was the most consistent threat against the Bruins.

Daniel Briere discovered some old playoff magic and Dale Weise has been a productive pest in both the first and second rounds. Alex Galchenyuk could become available in the conference finals after being sidelined since early April with a knee injury.

Defense

Subban has been the star of the playoffs so far with his play at both ends of the ice and his uber-creepy kiss of Pierre McGuire’s melon. Subban has been averaging almost 30 minutes a game and has shown maturity against a particularly abrasive Boston team. What is overlooked with all the flash skating, puck handling and cannon-shot is that Subban has turned into a really, really good defenseman.

The Canadiens need to find the best possible defensive rotation to get Subban some rest while refraining from using Douglas Murray. While he has the physical presence of a steamroller, Murray also shares the agility and hockey sense of a lumbering piece of construction equipment. Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin and Mike Weaver have been solid defenders, keeping Price’s view unobstructed. The Habs have also been spectacular at blocking shots, an area that the Rangers also excel.

New York has certainly been put to the test offensively in the first two rounds. Particularly against the Penguins, New York was forced to adjust to matchups with a very productive and dangerous Pittsburgh offense. Ryan McDonagh and Daniel Girardi anchor the corps with Anton Stralman, Marc Staal and Kevin Klein supporting.

 The Rangers defense is built around reducing their opponent’s quality chances through shot blocking and general obstruction and disruption. They aren’t overly physical and have shown that they can skate with elite offensive players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. New York doesn’t get a ton of offensive production from this unit, which tends to embrace their primary function of destroying their opponent’s offensive rhythm.

Goaltending

In New York there isn’t much to add to the coverage that Lundqvist has been getting. While it is deserved, the iconic Swede is still sailing in relatively uncharted territory. While he has a resume that guarantees his induction into the Hall of Fame one day, the “King” has never been beyond this point in the playoffs.

The same can be said for Price who is looking for his first trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Both goaltenders have been around long enough to know what is at stake, so expect excellence from both and a long playoff series.

…..So How Does it End?

I hate to sound like a pessimist, but this series has all the makings of a relatively unspectacular seven-gamer. While that may sound like an oxymoron, the Rangers and Canadiens are so similar, they practically cancel each other out. Each team relies on depth and great goaltending. While Subban is the star among the skaters, the rest of the defense is designed to limit shots, take very few chances and play conservatively with the puck.

I’ll never say that hockey is boring, but this series will push even the most die-hard purists to their own limits. There will be a premium on scoring and an endless number of overtimes. Goals will be a currency as rare as Krugerrand or Bit-coin and the margin of victory will always be a single goal.

Don’t get me wrong there will be plenty of excitement and every game will be worth the time investment. I suppose what is lacking is some villain-ry. The Bruins and Penguins were easy marks to dislike because of the post-whistle shenanigans and general contempt for fair play. Montreal and New York are both underdogs, overcoming huge odds to play for the right to represent the Eastern Conference.

Home ice won’t matter any more in this series than it did in previous rounds. Both teams have shown that they are immune to the vitriol from enemy fans and will win on away ice. This series cannot go any less than seven games. That almost seems like a scientific impossibility. In the end I believe the Rangers are the more talented team with Lundqvist just a slight nod better than Price. Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final in seven games.