This Week in the NHL Bubble: Unlikely Heroes

This week saw the commencement of the Conference Finals in two epic battles to see who will face off for the Stanley Cup. Let’s take a look at how those series have been going so far.

The Islanders aren’t going down without a fight

As great as the Islanders run has been, the Tampa Bay Lightning are another beast entirely. Even without Steven Stamkos available, the Bolts made their authority known with an 8-2 blowout in Game 1, featuring a monster five point performance from Brayden Point.

Game 2 was much tighter, to say the least, with the Lightning pulling out an incredible victory on a Nikita Kucherov goal with just nine seconds remaining in regulation.

The Isles made it a series, however, by taking care of business in Game 3, putting up five goals and being part of a full-on melee after Kucherov tried to cut down the tree trunks that are Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s legs on an empty net breakaway. No one likes a sore loser.

Game 4 is on Sunday at 12:00 PM Pacific on NBC.

The Stars show they belong here

After what many called a shocking upset with the Dallas Stars eliminating the Colorado Avalanche in seven games, the question of if they could do it again against the Vegas Golden Knights came alive. So far, the answer is yes.

The Stars held an offensively potent Golden Knights team to just 25 shots in a monumental defensive effort, with the only goal coming from John Klingberg. Vegas got payback in Game 2, however, handing Dallas their own shutout, 3-0. It seemed as if they remembered who they were and asserted themselves.

That didn’t last long, despite the best efforts of Shea Theodore to control the game and destroy the hearts of Ducks fans. Alex Radulov gave the Stars a 2-1 series lead just 31 seconds into overtime on an incredible shot. I mean, look at how beautiful this thing is!

Game 4 is tonight at 5:00 PM Pacific on NBC.