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Silverman: NHL Playoffs Once Again The Most Underrated Story In Sports

By Steve Silverman
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Is it crazy to think that the Yankees are just about ready to get back in the AL East pennant race? I'm not overreacting to a six-game winning streak, but I do know the three-headed monster at the back end of their bullpen is as good as it gets.

The Mets may have the best starting pitching in baseball on paper, but the transformation of Matt Harvey into a human piñata is going to drag the team down in a very short time.

The record-setting Golden State Warriors have picked the wrong time to get cold feet as they are in danger of disappearing when they return home Thursday night for Game 5 of their Western Conference final series with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Those items are all worthy, but the story that few are paying attention to this spring is the magnificent play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The New York City locals have long been eliminated, but the drama of the two conference final series has been remarkable.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Tampa Bay Lightning are going seven games in the East, and the Blues and Sharks will do the same if the St. Louis can win Wednesday night at the Shark Tank in San Jose.

While Game 6 won't start until 9 p.m., hockey fans know that this series is worth the loss of sleep. The Sharks are a game away from going to their first Stanley Cup Final, while the Blues are trying to get back to the championship round for the first time since 1970 when they were a third-year expansion team playing in their third straight Final.

While we won't go into the history lesson of how that was possible, suffice it to say the final goal of the 1970 Cup Final was perhaps the most famous in NHL history, scored by a heaven-bound Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins.

Blues-Sharks
The Blues' David Backes, left, has a pass deflected by the Sharks' Brent Burns during the third period of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on May 23, 2016, at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

The Sharks have a sharpshooter in Joe Pavelski and a Gatling gun in Brent Burns. Pavelski is a brilliant weapon around the net because he can deflect any point shot with his magical hands. Burns can shoot from any angle and put the puck on net. As soon as he crosses the blue line, he's a threat to launch his rocket and create a scoring threat.

Throw in Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau and Joel Ward, and former Devils head coach Peter DeBoer has a ton of weapons who can fill the net.

DeBoer, who has the look of a funeral director's assistant, has turned the Sharks around. They were chokers in the past, but now they are on the verge of glory.

The Blues are close as well, as Troy Brouwer, Robby Fabbri and David Backes are pulling with all their might to overcome the non-stop San Jose offense. However, stud scorer Vladimir Tarasenko has picked the wrong time to stop producing. He has not scored a goal in this series, and unless he breaks through, it will be difficult for the Blues to advance.

The Penguins came through with a somewhat heroic performance on the road in Game 6, as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Kris Letang all excelled in a win-or-go-home game.

The Penguins have gone through a remarkable transformation this season, and it started when Mike Sullivan took over behind the bench. The former Rangers assistant got Crosby going after a poor start, and the Penguins have played with speed and precision since late February.

The Lightning are without their best player in Steven Stamkos and No. 1 goaliie in Ben Bishop. Rangers fans remember how Bishop blanked the Blueshirts in the seventh game of last year's conference final at Madison Square Garden, but he went down in the first period of Game 1 against Pittsburgh.

Backup Andrei Vasilevskiy has stepped in and performed admirably. Stamkos has been out with a blood clot issue, but the Lightning have jumped on the backs of Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman to get to another seventh game.

This series is so close it would not be a shocker if Thursday's finale was decided in overtime.

Few are paying attention and it may not be water-cooler conversation, but the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most compelling entrée on the sporting menu right now.

Please follow Steve on Twitter at @ProFootballBoy

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