I think it's pretty clearly the best teams from each conference, and I think this is going to be a great series. My heart is pulling for Colorado, because I really don't like this Tampa organization, but I think the Lighting have the ability to shut down Colorado in a way that Colorado might not be able to do to Tampa.
I'm gonna say Tampa in 6.
Tampa has a resiliency that is unmatched right now. The Avs are just amazing, but they have not really faced any adversity. Even against St Loo, they were up 3-1 and lost in OT and just won Game 6 on the road. They swept in the other two series. So they have two losses all playoffs, and their worst situation was when they were 1-1 against the Blues. At no point have they been up against it.
Tampa was down 3-2 against Toronto and they broke their hearts with an OT win in Game 6 and a 2-1 road win in Game 7. No problem. And against the Rangers they were down 2-0 in games and 2-0 in Game 3 and they proceeded to outscore the Rangers 12-3 the rest of the series. And one of those 3 was the definition of a garbage time goal. And in every single game but 1, it was TB coming up big with a late goal where a goal against them might have been the end of them.
So this one will be interesting to see what happens if the Avs fall behind. If any team won't fall behind, it's the Avs. But I have TB in 6. They are just too talented and too tested.