ESPN Forecast: Finals predictions

Before the skates hit the ice for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, we asked the NHL experts on our ESPN Forecast panel to predict each game.[br /][br /]Our panel sees the [url TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://espn.go.com/nhl/team/_/name/chi/chicago-blackhawks" ]Chicago Blackhawks[/url] raising another Stanley Cup, their sixth overall, most likely winning in six games. Meanwhile, our voters give the [url TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://espn.go.com/nhl/team/_/name/tb/tampa-bay-lightning" ]Tampa Bay Lightning[/url] better than a one-in-three chance of pulling the upset and taking their second championship.[br /][Ads /][br /]We also asked about who would win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP, and votes broke down along similar lines. The Blackhawks have three main candidates: [url TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://espn.go.com/nhl/player/_/id/2306/duncan-keith" ]Duncan Keith[/url] (39 percent likely to win), [url TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://espn.go.com/nhl/player/_/id/3735/patrick-kane" ]Patrick Kane[/url] (22 percent) and [url TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://espn.go.com/nhl/player/_/id/3669/jonathan-toews" ]Jonathan Toews[/url] (11 percent). The Lightning have two: [url TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://espn.go.com/nhl/player/_/id/5706/tyler-johnson" ]Tyler Johnson[/url] (22 percent) and [url TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://espn.go.com/nhl/player/_/id/5037/steven-stamkos" ]Steven Stamkos[/url] (6 percent).[br /][br /]How it works:[/b] The ESPN Forecast panel predicted each team's likelihood of winning each of the seven potential games and each team's likelihood of winning the series. The top-line "Forecast" is based on a combination of the mean, median and mode of the predictions for each series.[br /][br /][i]Editor's note: Predictions were made prior to the start of the series.[/i]-->[br /][br /]Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Chicago Blackhawks[br/][br/][sectionHeader]Related Video[/sectionHeader][promoExternal HREF="http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13000069&ex_cid=espnapi_internal" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/2015/0602/dm_150602_nhl_burnside_lebrun/dm_150602_nhl_burnside_lebrun.jpg" TITLE="Who will win Conn Smythe Trophy?" DESCRIPTION="Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun discuss the players who could win the Conn Smythe Trophy." ][br /]