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The Stanley Cup Final is set as the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins are set to begin their best of 7 series on Monday night in Pittsburgh. Our final predictions of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be made and our pool will wrap up at the end of this round. Our standings got a lot closer last round after our leaders fell and others rose.
Here's a recap of our predictions:
5 Points for Correct Series Win, 3 Points for Correct Games Amount, 4 Points per Correct Bonus Question
| Matchsticks and Gasoline Writers Playoff Pool 2016 | ||||||
| Writer | FlamesMM | TraciKay | BizzleJ | markparkinson14 | jshanny14 | HockeyGoalieEh |
| Eastern | ||||||
| TB vs PIT (7) | Penguins in 6 | Penguins in 6 | Penguins in 6 | Penguins in 6 | Penguins in 7 | Penguins in 7 |
| Western | ||||||
| SJ vs STL (6) | Blues in 5 | Sharks in 7 | Sharks in 6 | Sharks in 7 | Blues in 7 | Sharks in 6 |
| How many Shutouts (2) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| # of OT Games (2) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
| Most Goals Scored | Crosby (PIT) | Tarasenko (STL) | Pavelski (SJ) | Tarasenko (STL) | Tarasenko (STL) | Marleau (SJ) |
Our updated pool standings are as follows:
| M&G Writers Playoff Pool Standings (Rounds 1,2,3) | ||||||
| Rank | Person | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total Pts | |
| 1 | FlamesMM | 26 | 18 | 5 | 49 | |
| 2 | HockeyGoalieEh | 22 | 8 | 16 | 46 | |
| 3 | BizzleJ | 18 | 10 | 17 | 45 | |
| 4 | markparkinson14 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 40 | |
| 5 | TraciKay | 18 | 8 | 10 | 36 | |
| 6 | jshanny14 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 34 | |
4 of our 6 writers correctly predicted what the Stanley Cup Final matchup will be as the standings narrowed from the last round meaning that this next round will definitely decide the pool.
San Jose is making their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final with veterans Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau making their first ever appearance on the leagues biggest stage. Pittsburgh makes their first appearance since winning the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals over Detroit. The Penguins are going for the fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history this year.
Here's the schedule for the Stanley Cup Final
- Game 1: @ Pittsburgh May 30th 6PM MST
- Game 2: @ Pittsburgh June 1st 6PM MST
- Game 3: @ San Jose June 4th 6PM MST
- Game 4: @ San Jose June 6th 6PM MST
- Game 5: @ Pittsburgh June 9th 6PM MST
- Game 6: @ San Jose June 12th 6PM MST
- Game 7: @ Pittsburgh June 15th 6PM MST
The setup is the same as the other rounds but with more bonus questions this time around. The points system will be the same as last round with 5 for correct series winner, 3 for correct games amount, and 4 per bonus question. Without further adieu, here's our Stanley Cup Final predictions:
| Writer | FlamesMM | TraciKay | BizzleJ | markparkinson14 | jshanny14 | HockeyGoalieEh |
| Stanley Cup Final | ||||||
| SJ vs PIT | Penguins in 6 | Penguins in 7 | Penguins in 5 | Penguins in 6 | Sharks in 6 | Sharks in 6 |
| Bonus | ||||||
| Player with Most Pts | Thornton (SJ) | Pavelski (SJ) | Pavelski (SJ) | Crosby (PIT) | Pavelski (SJ) | Pavelski (SJ) |
| Team with Most Goals | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | San Jose | San Jose |
| # of Overtime Games | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Conn Symthe Winner | Crosby (PIT) | Murray (PIT) | Murray (PIT) | Crosby (PIT) | Pavelski (SJ) | Pavelski (SJ) |
The Penguins are the 4-2 favorite for us to win the Stanley Cup but we are mostly picking a Shark player (Joe Pavelski) to lead the series in scoring. Should be a very entertaining end to a very entertaining playoffs.
Tell us in our poll who you think will win the Stanley Cup this year. Enjoy the Stanley Cup Final!