Each round of the playoffs, I forecast the round simply by using shots on goal and goaltender save percentage to come up with a baseline for the series. Its not intended to be some magical formula and doesnt apply any context, like, for example, taking injuries into account. This method was 5-3 in the first round and is currently 2-1 in the second round, with the Kings favoured entering their series against Anaheim (Game Seven goes tonight in Anaheim). More on context in a moment. The expected goals for each team in the series are determined by taking each teams shots for and against over the course of the season, as well as through the first round of the playoffs, and splitting the difference. So, for example, the New York Rangers, over the regular season and playoffs have averaged 32.9 shots on goal per game and the Montreal Canadiens have allowed 31.0 shots on goal per game; the average of those two numbers, 31.95 shots, is the number that is then multiplied by (1 - the opposing goaltenders save percentage) to determine an expected goals per game for the Bruins. Finally, the number is multiplied by seven to indicate an expected goal total for a seven-game series. Theres no guarantee that scoring more goals in a series will result in winning four games first, but the odds certainly favour the team that scores more. So, lets see how the numbers shake out for the Conference Finals: Team SF SA Goaltender SV% Expected GF/Series Montreal 28.7 31.0 Carey Price .927 15.92 N.Y. Rangers 32.9 29.6 Henrik Lundqvist .922 16.33 Verdict: This series projects to be very closely contested. Through the first two rounds this year, only the two Los Angeles series projected to have a closer differential than the forecasted 0.41 goals between the Rangers and Canadiens, and both of those series were seven-gamers. Montreal has been a subpar puck possession team this year, but it turns out that they have a great goaltender and a dangerous power play, one that was 32% (8-for-25) against Boston. Knock off a few power play goals or give Price a save percentage below the .936 that he posted against the Bruins and it would be easy enough to see Boston in this spot. As for the Rangers, they were a strong puck possession club during the season that eliminated Pittsburgh despite losing the possession game to the Penguins in Round Two. The Rangers also have the benefit of good goaltending, as they rallied from a three-games-to-one series deficit, as Henrik Lundqvist stopped 102 of 105 shots (.971 SV%) in the last three Rangers wins. It would be too simple to suggest that goaltending determines this series, since both Price and Lunqvist are among the best, so there are other factors to consider. Both teams top-scoring forwards havent produced in the postseason. No one on the Rangers has more than Brad Richards nine points in 14 games and Rick Nash has yet to score a goal. Montreals big goal-scorers, Thomas Vanek and Max Pacioretty, combined to score four goals in Game Six and Seven against Boston, after combining for four in the first nine games of the playoffs. The lack of a go-to-scorer for both teams has emphasized the team approach. For Montreal, Lars Eller, Brendan Gallagher, Daniel Briere, Dale Weise and Rene Bourque are among those that have risen to the occasion at times in the playoffs, while the Rangers supporting cast of Benoit Pouliot, Derick Brassard and Carl Hagelin has been able to score just enough for the Blueshirts to reach the Conference Final. If there is a single non-goaltender with the power to shift the series, it could be Montreals P.K. Subban, the top-scoring defenceman in the playoffs who has been in the middle of just about everything that happens with the Canadiens. If Subban is great, that alone could be enough to overcome the slight statistical disadvantage in this forecast. Team SF SA Goaltender SV% Expected GF/Series Chicago 32.4 27.7 Corey Crawford .919 17.64 Los Angeles 31.5 26.9 Jonathan Quick .915 16.78 Team SF SA Goaltender SV% Expected GF/Series Chicago 32.4 27.7 Corey Crawford .919 10.71 Anaheim 30.7 28.8 John Gibson .950 16.56 Verdict: Since there isnt much of a window between the second round ending, Friday night, and the Conference Final round beginning, Saturday at 1:00 pm ET, were going to look at both options in the Western Conference. Chicago hasnt even played their best hockey in the postseason, yet its still been good enough to dispatch St. Louis and Minnesota. Corey Crawford deserves some credit, because his .931 save percentage in this years playoffs is right on track with what he did last year (.932) on the way to the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup. Chicago was a dominant possession team during the regular season, second only to Los Angeles in Fenwick Close, but havent held that same edge in the playoffs. Better opposition, and all that. The same could be said for the Kings, who earned 56.7% of the unblocked 5-on-5 shot attempts during the regular season, but havent held that same territorial dominance in the playoffs. The interesting thing is that, while hes had some strong games in the playoffs -- both this year and historically -- Jonathan Quick hasnt been much better than average this year. Its reasonable enough to forecast the Blackhawks to survive that possible matchup, and not just because we know the Blackhawks will for sure be in the Conference Final. When it comes to breaking down the Chicago-Anaheim series, the model gets busted by Ducks rookie goalie John Gibson. Its one thing to have a goalie that has played a grand total of six games in the NHL as the starter, but his .950 save percentage in those games, stopping 171 of 180 shots, is a completely unsustainable level of play. Thing is, unsustainable levels of play can get a team through a playoff series. Gibson was a wildcard injection into the second round, against Los Angeles, after Frederik Andersen was injured, and gives the Ducks a chance in Game Seven. However, its not remotely reasonable forecast to suggest that the Ducks would be 5.85 goals ahead of the Blackhawks in a head-to-head seven-game series. The Ducks arent as strong a possession team as Los Angeles, or Chicago, and have relied on extraordinary shooting percentage, in addition to their hot goalie. The Blackhawks have been a team of high-percentage finishers too, so the Ducks best chance, should they survive the Battle of Los Angeles, may be for Gibson to keep on keeping on. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy Sports on Facebook. Jordan 12 For Sale Uk . The Indians scored twice in the top of the ninth, getting the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by closer Matt Lindstrom. Axford (0-1) came in seeking his fifth save in as many chances. Air Jordan 12 For Sale Cheap . Starting from pole, the 26-year-old Vettel turned in a trademark clinical performance to win the Indian Grand Prix on Sunday and join F1 greats Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher as just the third driver to win four consecutive championships. http://www.cheapairjordan12uk.com/ .A. Happ capped a challenging season with one of his best efforts of the year. Air Jordan 12 Retro Uk .ca. Kerry, I hope you address Ron MacLeans comment during the second intermission of Game 4 in Montreal-Tampa series. Basically, he suggested that the NHL should not have used a referee from Quebec, following the Game 3 disputed non-goal, because the referee could be biased towards Montreal. Air Jordan Retro 12 Wholesale . Which is to say, the top of this years draft class is not as dynamic or exciting as the 2013 class of Nate MacKinnon, Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Drouin and Seth Jones and its not as strikingly promising as the highly-anticipated 2015 slate of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin.QUEBEC - Kurt Etchegary scored a power-play goal 2:25 into extra time as the Quebec Remparts held on to defeat the visiting Rimouski Oceanic 5-4 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Anthony Duclair scored once and set up three others for the Remparts (20-11-7), who blew a 4-2 lead in the third period, while Olivier Archambault had a pair of goals. Cody Donaghey added a single goal to round out Quebecs offence. Peter Trainor and Samuel Morin each had a goal and an assist for the Oceanic (21-11-7), who picked up at least one point in their seventh straight game, and Alexis Loiseau and Michael Joly had a goal apiece. Francois Brassard made 30 saves for the Remparts while Rimouskis Philippe Desrosiers stopped 24-of-29 shots in a losing cause. Quebec went 2 for 6 on the power play as the Oceanic scored three times on six chances with the man advantage. --- SAGUENEENS 2 DRAKKAR 1 BAIE-COMEAU, Que. -- Julio Billia stopped 46-of-47 shots, including all 17 he faced in the third period, as Chicoutimi held on to edge the Drakkar. Thomas Gobeil gave the Sagueneens (19-19-1) a 1-0 lead in the first period and Laurent Dauphin scored the eventual winner midway through the second. Baie-Comeaus (24-10-4) Alexandre Ranger scored at 14:58 of the second to make it a one-goal game heading into the final period. Philippe Cadorette made 14 saves for the Drakkar, who have dropped back-to-back contests. --- TIGRES 5 CATARACTES 3 SHAWINIGAN, Que. -- Mathieu Ayotte scored twice and Samuel Blais had a goal and two assists as Victoriaville came from behind to down the Cataractes. Ross Johnston had a goal and an assist for the Tigres (14-17-6), who trailed 3-1 after 20 minutes of action, while Gabriel Gagnes power-play goal at 17:07 of the third period stood up as the eventual winner. Alex Pawelczyk had a pair of goals for Shawinigan (9-26-3) and Dylan Labbe scored once. Victoriavilles Charles-Olivier Lajoie made 30 saves for the win as Storm Phaneuf turned aside 27 shots for the Cataractes. --- VOLTIGEURS 5 PHOENIX 2 SHERBROOKE, Que. -- Matthew Boudens scored once and set up two more and Frederick Gaudreau added two goals as Drummondville extended its win streak to six games by downing the Phoenix. Olivier Caouette and Jerome Verrier also scored for the Voltigeurs (25-11-2), who are 9-1-0 in their last 10 outings. Time Wieser and Jean-Christophe Laflamme supplied the offence for Sherbrooke (13-22-4), which is on a three-game slide. Louis-Philip Guindon made 22 saves for Drummondville while Francis Desrosiers kicked out 32-of-36 shots for the Phoenix. --- ISLANDERS 4 TITAN 0 CHARLOTTETOWN -- Antoine Bibeau earned his first sshutout of the season and sixth of his career as the Islanders blanked Acadie-Bathurst.dddddddddddd Bibeau stopped 30 shots for Charlottetown (15-19-5) while Daniel Sprong led the club offensively with a goal and two assists. Jack Nevins, Alexandre Goulet and Alexis Pepin also scored for the Islanders. Matthew Boudrea led the Titan (14-20-4) with six shots on Bibeau and Jacob Brennan made 18 saves in defeat. --- MOOSEHEADS 5 SCREAMING EAGLES 3 HALIFAX -- The Mooseheads scored four unanswered goals in the third period to hand Cape Breton its fourth loss in a row. Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice for Halifax (24-14-1), who trailed 3-1 heading into the third, while Vincent Watt, Cavan Fitzgerald and MacKenzie Weegar added a goal apiece. Julien Pelletier, William Carrier and Charles-Eric Legare scored for the Screaming Eagles (19-16-3) and Justin Hache chipped in with two assists. Keven Darveau made 42 saves for the Mooseheads as Chase Marchand allowed four goals on 18 shots for Cape Breton. --- WILDCATS 5 SEA DOGS 4 SAINT JOHN -- Christophe Lalondes goal at 14:26 of the third period stood as the winner as Moncton slipped past the Sea Dogs for its ninth straight victory. Ryan Penny, Will Smith, Stephen Johnson and Christopher Caissy also scored for the Wildcats (21-17-2) while Lalonde tacked on two assists for a three-point night. Matthew Highmore had two goals for Saint John (9-24-3) and Jurij Repe and Stephen Anderson each scored once. Alex Dubeau made 35 saves for Moncton as Sebastien Auger turned away 27-of-32 shots for the Sea Dogs. --- OLYMPIQUES 4 ARMADA 2 GATINEAU, Que. -- Emile Poirier had a hat trick for the Olympiques as they doubled up Blainville-Boisbriand, the leagues top team. Poirier scored even strength, shorthanded and once on the power play for Gatineau (24-13-1) while Marc Beckstead produced his clubs fourth goal. Nikita Jevpalovs and Olivier Picard scored for the Armada (25-6-7), which has a five-point edge over Baie-Comeau for first in the QMJHL. Robert Steeves made 17 saves for the Olympiques as Etienne Marcoux stopped 13-of-16 shots for Blainville-Boisbriand. --- FOREURS 5 HUSKIES 4 (OT) VAL-DOR, Que. -- Guillaume Gelinas scored 47 seconds into overtime as the Foreurs downed Rouyn-Noranda. Randy Gazzola, Samuel Henley, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Jeremie Fraser also scored for Val-dOr (26-12-1) and Louis Marcotte chipped in with two assists. Gabriel Slight scored twice for the Huskies (22-10-5), Jean-Sebastien Dea had a goal and two assists and Francis Perron added a single goal. Francois Tremblay made 27 saves for the Foreurs while Alexandre Belanger stopped 32 shots for Rouyn-Noranda. ' ' '