Stanley Cup Finals: Five Conn Smythe candidates will play
The Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers are preparing to battle it out in the Stanley Cup Finals starting Wednesday at the Staples Center. Due to some amazing performances on the ice, there will be five Conn Smythe candidates to play in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded to the most valuable player throughout the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs. The trophy will not be handed out until after the conclusion of the cup and a winner is announced.
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Here is a look at the top five candidates:
New York Rangers
The Rangers goalie is known to be one of the top players on the team and is a huge part of why they advance so far this season. Lundqvist leads all goalies with a .928 save percentage in the playoffs. He is also second in the league with a 2.03 goals against average.
While winning seven of his last nine starts, Lundqvist has allowed eight goals throughout these games.
McDonagh has had an excellent playoff stint this postseason after recovering from a shoulder injury late in the regular season.
He is the first Rangers defenseman in history to have eight assists in one series and the second in history to have at least ten points in a series.
Los Angeles Kings
Doughty finished the Western Conference Finals with seven points, including three goals and four assists. He hit his peak in shots on goal during Game 5 with 9 shots on the Blackhawks goalminder.
Doughty leads all defenseman with 16 points in 21 games
Kopitar leads the league with 19 assists and 24 points in 21 games. He had five assists in the Western Conference Final. He won 16 of his 28 faceoffs in Game 7.
Carter is second in the playoffs in goals with 9 and points with 22 and is tied for the most power play goals at four.
He had 27 shots on goal and averaged 18:20 of ice time during the Western Conference Finals.