from Scott Burnside of ESPN,
Both these teams have earned their way here. Chicago is 8-2 in the postseason, including a second-round sweep of the Minnesota Wild. The Ducks arrive with an 8-1 postseason record after sweeping Winnipeg and dispatching a plucky Calgary team in five games.
But the Blackhawks and Ducks have reached this point playing very different styles.
The Blackhawks rely on skill and speed up and down the lineup, which allows them to track down the puck and keep it. And they're a battle-tested lineup that has won two Stanley Cups (2010, 2013) and appeared in another conference finals (2014) in the past five years.
The Ducks, meanwhile, are a big, physical team built more in the image of the Los Angeles Kings. They're happy to dump the puck in and then punishingly retrieve it before, usually, heaving it into the opposing goal. The Ducks may not have the playoff experience of Chicago, but they have the hunger of a team that has been knocked down a time or two in recent playoff years and is ready for the final steps toward a championship.
This series should be a rollicking affair, and our guess is the winner will be the favorite to win the Stanley Cup.
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