Why each of the NHL’s 4 remaining playoff teams can win the Stanley Cu…

Heading into these NHL playoffs, even the boldest contrarian wouldn’t have predicted the final four to shake out this way. Injuries to key players rapidly made the Carolina Hurricanes look more like underdogs than juggernauts. The Florida Panthers needed to scratch and claw their way into the playoffs. The Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights weren’t the sexiest picks compared to the Colorado Avalanche or Edmonton Oilers.

Although this quartet may seem a little surprising at first glance, each squad brings plenty to the table as three division winners from this season and the league’s best team from a year ago square off in the Conference finals.

Here’s why each of the Golden Knights, Hurricanes, Panthers and Stars could win it all.

Carolina’s calling card: Unmatched defense, structure and intensity

Injuries to star scorers like Andrei Svechnikov and Max Pacioretty definitely made the Hurricanes less explosive, especially on paper. However, you could argue those losses forced Carolina to double down on what they already do best: play like the on-ice embodiment of their head coach Rod Brind’Amour.

From their world-class penalty kill to their mix of elite defensemen (Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns) and shutdown forwards (especially Jordan Staal), no team is tougher to score against. In the very rare moments there’s a mess left behind, their reliable goaltending trio of Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov tend to clean things up.

You can see it in the underlying stats, or simply note that they easily top all remaining playoff teams in goals allowed (2.55 per game). In fact, they’re the only team left who allows less than three goals per game (Vegas averages exactly three while Dallas and Florida are at 3.08).

No doubt, a lot of the Hurricanes offense results from attrition: overwhelming opponents with pressure, making…