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To be honest, I was quite surprised at this matchup. I didn't expect Ottawa to break into the conference finals over the New Jersey Devils for one, much less to beat the President's Trophy winning Buffalo Sabres in five games. They have clearly worked some kind of wonders in the system between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs - reaching the Stanley Cup finals after only 15 games is a huge accomplishment for any team, let alone the fourth seed in the conference.

Anaheim on the other hand have been a strong team throughout the whole season and have played some brilliant hockey throughout the whole year, and they are one of the most resilient teams in the league. They have had some close series to get to the finals, and have had a very tough time in getting through, playing teams like Vancouver (against a goalie who tied the previous record for most wins in a regular season, Roberto Luongo) and Detroit and beating them in less than 7 games is a good accomplishment as well.
I personally think that this last series will be all about the goaltending and defensive units. Ottawa's first line has been unstoppable so far and it will be hard to shut them down. But then again, I think that the Western conference has shown some excellent defensive play and most of the games in the Western Conference playoffs have been low scoring, mainly having a winner by a single goal and the goaltending has been nothing short of first-class. Then again, in the best league in the world, that's exactly what you'd expect. Perhaps Anaheim might just have the defense that the dreaded Heatley-Alfredsson-Spezza line will have a lot of difficulty breaking down. As for the rest of the Ottawa lineup - they have something like 25 goals between the three lines in 15 games. That first line has about 23 to themselves. If Anaheim can shut them down then according to statistics, half of their troubles will be over with right there.
On the other hand, Ray Emery has been on top form for the Sens and jamming the puck past him will be challenging for the Ducks. The Ducks have no significant differences in their lines stats, each line has made a big contribution to their current situation and Emery will have a hell of a time trying to keep a team as consistent and aggressive as Anaheim off the board. They have a lot of talented forwards and offensive defenders, and they are not afraid to make their physical presence show either. The Senators are in for a bumpy ride over the next couple

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