​To quote Coldplay, possibly for the first time in a hockey article, 'and it was all yellow'. The yellow-clad Nashville Predators will meet the black-and-yellow (black-and-yellow!) Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. The two teams looked wildly different from each other in the regular season and took different paths to get to this point. In the playoffs, the Predators’ depth and outstanding goaltending and the Penguins’ high-octane offense allowed each team to rack up 12 wins. The two also differ in pedigree, with Nashville making their first appearance in the Final and Pittsburgh making their fourth trip since 2008 and their second in as many years, as they look to become the first repeat champions since the 1997 and 1998 Detroit Red Wings.
 
Here’s the 'Tale of the Tape' for what should be an outstanding matchup, including how each team got there and what they’ll need to do to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup. 

​How Nashville Got Here:
The Predators entered the playoffs as the Western Conference’s eight seed, but have torn through the playoff bracket to notch their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history. The Preds weren’t anything spectacular by basic stat measures in the regular season, finishing around the middle of the pack for both goals scored and goals allowed. Even Pekka Rinne, their playoff MVP-caliber goalie, wasn’t in the top 10 of any key goaltending stat.
 
The playoffs were a whole different situation for Nashville. There, they went from good to great. Pekka Rinne was the most notable individual player to flip the switch. Rinne is the playoff leader in every major category: goals against average (1.70), save percentage (.941), wins (12), and shutouts (2). The team is clicking on the offensive side too, with Filip Forsberg (8 goals/7 assists), Ryan Johansen (10 assists, out with an injury for the remainder of the playoffs), and Viktor Arvidsson (8 assists) leading the way. Veteran defenseman P.K. Subban has been a valuable addition in both leadership and performance. 

How Pittsburgh Got Here:
The Penguins began the season as the odds-on favorites to repeat as champions, following their 2015-16 Stanley Cup campaign. Their regular season performance didn’t disappoint. Pittsburgh finished the year with the second-best record in the entire league. This year’s Pens team also ranked as the league’s highest scoring offense, lighting the lamp 282 times for 3.4 goals per game. They faced some injuries and slumped a little towards the end of the season, but were still good for 50 wins when all was said and done.
 
The Penguins’ ship was sailing strong against a fleet of tough teams blocking their way to the Final. They took out the strong Columbus Blue Jackets and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in the first and second rounds, respectively. The Eastern Conference Finals may have brought about their toughest challenge, as the upstart Ottawa Senators took the Penguins all the way to game seven, and to double OT in that game to boot. But an abundance of scoring and offensive contribution from Evgeni Malkin (7 goals, 17 assists), Sidney Crosby (7 goals, 13 assists), Phil Kessel (7 goals, 12 assists), and Jake Guentzel (9 goals, 7 assists) was enough to push them through.
 
Pittsburgh’s Keys to Success:

• Video Game Numbers: So much scoring. As if leading the league in goals in the regular season wasn’t enough, Pittsburgh has kept the goals coming in the playoffs, leading all teams with 58 scored. As mentioned above, Malkin, Crosby, Kessel, and Guentzel are just making opposing defenses and goalies look foolish. Nashville is stout defensively, so Pittsburgh will need those four key players to keep putting the biscuit in the basket.
• Riding the Hot Hand: Pittsburgh is in a unique situation with its goaltenders. Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray have split time this postseason. Fleury filled in when Murray went down with an injury and performed very well, but Murray was swapped back in as the starter when the Pens fell behind the Senators in the ECF. Do you ride with the steady replacement veteran or the spark who was meant to start anyway? Coach Mike Suillivan must gauge the situation as the series progresses.
• Veteran Presence: Back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances compared to Nashville’s first in franchise history. Pittsburgh easily has experience on their side; they know exactly what it takes to play (and win) on the sport’s biggest stage.

 
The Final Say: Pittsburgh may have too many offensive weapons and too much experience for Nashville to overcome. On the other hand, Nashville is easily the hottest team of this year’s playoffs, and the team with the best goalie often wins. The Preds have that in Pekka Rinne. As potential repeat champs faceoff with newcomers, I’m rolling with the new kids on the block…
Series Pick: Nashville Predators in 7 

So…remember that notion that the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers might not meet in the NBA Finals for the third straight year? That this year’s playoffs weren’t a foregone conclusion and were actually up for grabs for many of the 16 teams? Well…maybe never mind…
 
Like the Judge Doom death scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? that ruined my childhood and scarred me for life, both Golden State and Cleveland completely steamrolled their way to the Conference Finals, sweeping the first two rounds. And while those two teams were getting their eight wins out of the way quickly, their Conference Finals opponents were slogging through their respective series. The San Antonio Spurs needed six games to oust Memphis in the first round and another six to take out Houston in the second. The Boston Celtics had an even tougher going, surviving a close six game series against Chicago in the first round and then going to the wire in a seven game series against Washington.
 
That leaves the Spurs and the Celtics to face two well-rested powerhouses, each hell-bent on building a dynasty. That’s not to say they can’t do it. The Spurs are perennial contenders and the Celtics put together a great season of their own this year. It is to say, though, that they have their work cut out for them. 

Game one of this series was very telling. Early on the Spurs looked dominant, building a 25 point lead and showing that they can compete with anybody. Then, in the third quarter, Spurs’ star and leading scorer Kawhi Leonard reinjured his ankle and left the game. The Warriors rallied, putting together an 18-0 run after the injury, ultimately winning the game by two. Kawhi’s health and how the Spurs respond will dictate how the series plays out. San Antonio has persevered without Kawhi earlier in the playoffs, but they’ll need all hands on deck in the WCF. Leonard has already been ruled out for game two, so look for the Warriors to capitalize. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant combined to drop 74 points and 12 rebounds, a pretty scary thought considering how many other playmakers they have on the roster. What should be an intriguing brawl between consistency/fundamentals and superstars/scoring has already gotten off to an unexpected start.
 
Series Prediction: Golden State Warriors in 6 (or in 5 with Kawhi Leonard setbacks)

With as good as the Cavs are, it’s hard to imagine them as the seed underdogs. But that’s technically what they are in their showdown with the Celtics. The Cavs’ late season struggles allowed Boston to sneak up and compile the Eastern Conference’s best record. While Boston has had consistent team play and a superstar in Isaiah Thomas, Cleveland far and away has the upper hand in pure roster talent. The four matchups between the two teams were high-scoring affairs, with Cleveland taking three of the four. The Celtics’ one win came when they were able to hold the Cavs to fewer than 100 points. That being said, the Celtics have a few players that can cause matchup problems for the Cavs. They also have a lot of heart and emotion right now to at least make it a series.
 
Series Prediction: Cleveland Cavaliers in 6

This year’s Western and Eastern Conference Finals are set and are eerily similar as far as storylines go. Each series features a relatively new team lacking tons of playoff history, with the Ottawa Senators making it to the Conference Finals for just the third time in franchise history and the Nashville Predators making it for the first time ever. A Stanley Cup Finals berth would be huge for either club, as both look to hoist the trophy for the first time.
 
In the other corners are the Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins, two experienced and powerful avian teams coming off game seven victories. The Ducks, who had been eliminated for four years straight in every series that went seven games, finally exorcized their “game seven” demons with a win against the Edmonton Oilers. The Penguins, on the other hand, prevented the exorcist from visiting the possessed Washington Capitals who suffered another playoff collapse following an impressive season. The Pens hope to become the first back-to-back champs since the 1997 and 1998 Detroit Red Wings. The Ducks last won it all in 2007. 

While the Ducks were going the distance with the Oilers, the Predators were done with their series and resting up. Anaheim will take the ice for game one on less than 48 hours rest, having just finished their second round on Wednesday. The Preds come into this series with a few days of extra rest and will look to jump on the banged up Ducks early to steal a road win.
 
Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf is on a tear, second in playoff scoring (eight goals) and third in playoff points (15 points). Winger Jakob Silfverberg isn’t far behind with seven goals of his own. That offense, along with an impressive top couple of defensive lines, could make the Ducks a contender, as long as young goalie John Gibson can hold his own.
 
Nashville will hope that goalie Pekka Rinne hasn’t cooled down. With Nashville’s deservedly vaunted defense, that shouldn’t be too much of a worry; the team has done a great job in minimizing shots against throughout the playoffs. Despite entering the playoffs as the West’s eight-seed, the Predators have been the most dominant team, cruising to the Conference Finals in just 10 games, fewer than any other team.
 
Series Pick: Nashville Predators in 6

These two strong Eastern Conference teams should come together for a highly exciting matchup. The Senators took the Bruins and Rangers out in six impressive games each.  The march of the Penguins to the Eastern Conference Finals hit some snags as the well-matched Washington Capitals rallied, but Pittsburgh has begun to look like the Cup winners of last year.
 
I owe a fair number of apologies to the Ottawa Senators (insert joke about Canadians stereotypically saying “sorry” here). I thought the Senators were the most flawed team in the entire playoff bracket and I picked against them in both the first and second round. With plenty of goals from Jean-Gabriel Pageau and with Erik Karlsson finding everyone’s stick with assists, Ottawa has shown that they belong. Things will get a bit tougher this next round as they take on a higher-seeded opponent for the first time, but they have the talent to at least make it a series.
 
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a very powerful, high scoring, finely-tuned athletic machine. They’ve overcome key injuries (like…I don’t know…to their starting goalie) and put themselves in a position to repeat. The Pens are dominating the offensive stat sheets, with Evgeni Malkin leading the playoffs in assists (13) and points (18), and with Jake Guentzel leading in goals (9). They’ve also got some guy named Sidney Crosby sitting fifth in points (14) and fourth in assists (10). With so much production coming from all around their lineup, Pittsburgh is hard to stop.
 
Series Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins in 6