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Here is a glance at the Eastern and Western Conference finals as well as predictions from CBCSport.ca's Jeff Marek, Scott Morrison and Tim Wharnsby.

(7) Philadelphia (41-35-6, 88 points) vs. (8) Montreal (39-33-10, 88 points)

The skinny: This is the first time a seventh-seed has met No. 8 in a conference final ... Since the lockout, no team had made the playoffs with as few as 88 points until the Canadiens and Flyers this spring ... The Canadiens limited Alexander Ovechkin in the first round and held Sidney Crosby to one goal in the second round. Now the task becomes to successfully check Daniel Briere and Simon Gagne, among others. Briere scored three goals, including a game winner, and six points in the past four games, while Gagne checked in with four goals (two game-winners) and five points since he recovered from toe surgery four games ago ... Even though Briere is from Gatineau, Que., he is not a popular figure at the Bell Centre after choosing the Flyers over the Canadiens as a free agent three summers ago ... Of the four teams remaining, Philly has the best power play with a 21.7 per cent success rate, but only slightly better than Montreal's 21.6. The Canadiens, however, have a narrow edge in penalty killing at 85.5 per cent to the Flyers' 83.6 ... Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak has a sensational .934 save percentage in 13 appearances, but Philadelphia's Michael Leighton is even better at .944 since he returned from a high-ankle sprain three games ago ... Montreal sniper Michael Cammalleri has scored 12 goals in 14 outings, just five shy of Newsy Lalonde's club record set 91 years ago ... Philly sniper Jeff Carter, out after foot surgery last month, likely won't be available. But there is a slim possibility for the return of superpest Ian Lapierre (head injury) later in the series ... Canadiens defenceman Hal Gill is making his third consecutive appearance in the East final ... Flyers were the first team in 35 years and only third club in NHL history to win a seven-game series after losing the first three games against Boston. They also rallied from an early 3-0 deficit in the deciding game to win 4-3. Not since 1991 had a team surrendered a three-goal lead and lost in a Game 7, when the Calgary Flames suffered a 5-4 overtime defeat against the Edmonton Oilers.

Season series - Tied 2-2-0.

CBCSports.ca's predictions

Jeff Marek - Flyers in 7.
Scott Morrison - Flyers in 6.
Tim Wharnsby - Canadiens in 7.

(1) San Jose (51-20-11, 113 points) vs. (2) Chicago (52-22-8, 112 points)

The skinny: The Sharks can book their first-ever ticket to the Stanley Cup final, while the Blackhawks are looking for their first trip since 1992. Montreal has suffered a 17-year absence and Philadelphia hasn't been back since 1997 ... This collection of teams in the final four means the NHL will see its fifth different Stanley Cup winner since the lockout ... The Blackhawks have to watch their discipline. The Sharks have drawn a league-high 57 man-advantage situations through the first two rounds, but were short-handed only 38 times. Chicago, on the other hand, has been short-handed 53 times. But they have the most efficient penalty-killing unit of the four teams remaining at 88.7 per cent ... This series will feature quite a Canadian Olympic team reunion. On the San Jose side there is Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley and Dan Boyle. The Canadian Olympians on Chicago include captain Jonathan Toews, defencemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook ... Toews enters the conference final with an active nine-game scoring streak, tallying 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in that span. He leads all scorers in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs with 6-14--20 in 12 games ... Sharks general manager Doug Wilson spent 14 of his 16 NHL seasons in Chicago and won a Norris Trophy as a Blackhawk in 1981-82 ... Wilson acquired current Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell at the 2008 NHL trade deadline, but he signed with Chicago later that summer ... Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa will make his third straight conference final appearance with a third different team after wins with Pittsburgh and Detroit ... Chicago's Adam Burish and San Jose's Joe Pavelski were teammates at Wisconsin when the Badgers won the 2006 NCAA title ... Two of Chicago's regular-season wins over San Jose were in overtime, but there also was a 7-2 Blackhawks romp on Nov. 25.

Season series -- Chicago 3-1-0.

CBCSports.ca's predictions

Jeff Marek -- Sharks in 7.
Scott Morrison -- Sharks in 6.
Tim Wharnsby -- Blackhawks in 7.

Overall first-round records

Jeff Marek -- 8-4.
Scott Morrison -- 6-6.
Tim Wharnsby -- 6-6.

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