The Winning Formula for Every Conference Finalist in 2013 NHL Playoffs

The NHL and its fans should be extremely excited about the conference final matchups that will begin on Saturday night. Both series feature teams with plenty of star players, exciting styles of hockey and compelling storylines to follow before and during each matchup.

Since the four conferences finalists have all won championships in the last four years, we should expect two highly competitive and entertaining series. Per Craig Custance of ESPN:

"

According to the NHL's morning release, 56 players on the remaining 4 teams have won a Stanley Cup - LA 19, BOS 18, PIT 11, CHI 8.

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) May 30, 2013"

Let's look at the winning formula for the four conference finalists.

Boston Bruins

Winning Formula: Strong Performance from Goalie Tuukka Rask

The Boston Bruins will not beat the Pittsburgh Penguins without a great series from starting goaltender Tuukka Rask.

The 26-year-old star has been magnificent for the Bruins through two rounds with an 8-4 record, a .928 save percentage and a 2.22 GAA. Rask has given Boston a great chance to win almost all of its 12 playoff games by allowing two goals or fewer eight times.

But he will need to take his game to another level against a Penguins offense that leads the playoffs in goals scored per game (4.27), 5-on-5 goals (27), first- and second-period goals (35) and power-play goals (13).

Rask has been the Bruins' MVP all season, and his matchup with Penguins netminder Tomas Vokoun is one that Boston has to win to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

The Bruins aren't built to win a series that includes lots of high-scoring games against a Penguins team that has four lines capable of creating quality scoring chances. If Rask gives up three or four goals consistently in this series, there is a very small chance that the Bruins will be gathering around the Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference champions.

"Tuukka’s [Rask] been good. We need that from our goaltender," said Bruins head coach Claude Julien after Monday's practice.

"For the team to continue to move forward here, you need your goaltender to be good. We’ve seen that in every team that’s won in every situation, whether it’s Tim Thomas, whether it’s [Jonathan] Quick, whether it’s other goaltenders from the past, it doesn’t matter...Goaltenders play a big role in the playoffs. Tuukka, right now, has been extremely good for us. We’ve got another round here that will be even more challenging than the first two. We need Tuukka to be at his best."

Pittsburgh Penguins

Winning Formula: Consistency from Goalie Tomas Vokoun and an Effective Power Play

The dominance of the Pittsburgh Penguins' offense has been well-documented in this year's playoffs, but this team's chances of winning the Stanley Cup are going to be impacted far more by the play of veteran goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Vokoun began the playoffs as a backup but took over in Game 5 of the first round against the New York Islanders when starter Marc-Andre Fleury allowed 14 goals in his first four starts of that series.

The 36-year-old veteran has gone 6-1 with a .941 save percentage and a 1.85 GAA, which are impressive numbers for a goalie who's under a lot of pressure to perform at a high level on the team favored to win the Stanley Cup.

The Bruins are capable of generating offense from all four of their lines, and they crash the net and pounce on rebounds better than any team left in postseason. Vokoun must control his rebounds and give his team confidence by making important late-game saves against a Boston offense that ranks second in third-period goals (14) in the playoffs. The Penguins won't win this series if Vokoun struggles.

Another key for Pittsburgh in this series is capitalizing on its power-play opportunities. Boston's penalty kill worsened in the final few weeks of the regular season and has not improved through two rounds of the playoffs. The Bruins have the worst penalty-killing percentage (81.1) of the four conference finalists, and they allowed two power-play goals in each of the last two games of their second-round series against the New York Rangers.

The Penguins lead the playoffs in power-play goals (13) and head coach Dan Bylsma has many superstars (such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang) to put on the ice in these situations.

The Bruins are a very physical team and are prone to taking stupid penalties when frustrated. If Pittsburgh draws a good amount of penalties and maintains its current level of power-play success, it will defeat Boston and reach the Cup Final.

Los Angeles Kings

Winning Formula: Brilliance from Jonathan Quick and Strong Penalty Killing

Reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Quick has been the most outstanding player of the 2013 playoffs through two rounds with a postseason-leading 1.51 GAA and .948 save percentage. He's won eight of his last 11 games with two or fewer goals against in eight of his last nine starts.

For the Kings to defeat a four-line Blackhawks team with an incredibly skilled top-six forward group, Quick needs to be spectacular. Los Angeles won't become the first defending champion to return to the Stanley Cup Final since the 2008-09 Detroit Red Wings if it has to score three or four goals each game to beat Chicago. The Kings are averaging 2.00 goals per game in the playoffs, which is 0.75 goals per game less than the three other conference finalists.

Another key for the Kings in this series against the Blackhawks is to kill penalties consistently. Los Angeles has given up a power-play goal in four of its five losses through two rounds, which helps prove how important good special teams play is to this team's success.

Here's a quick breakdown of their special teams performance in wins and losses during the playoffs.

	PP	PK
Wins	5-22	19-20
Losses	2-13	18-23

The Blackhawks lead the playoffs with a 97.1 penalty-killing percentage and their power-play started to heat up late in the second round with goals in two of the last three games versus the Detroit Red Wings.

If Los Angeles' offense fails to be more productive, this team will have to win the special teams battle to defeat a well-balanced Chicago squad that scores goals consistently and plays great defense.

Chicago Blackhawks

Winning Formula: Star Players Must Shine and Protect Home ice

The Blackhawks will not beat the Kings if their four best forwards—Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane—fail to produce offensively in the Western Conference finals.

When these players fail to score goals and create offense for their teammates, Chicago is a much easier team to beat. Here's a breakdown of how these four stars performed in the wins and losses from the Blackhawks' seven-game second-round series against the Red Wings.

Round 2	Toews	Sharp	Hossa	Kane	Total
Wins	1G, 3A	2G, 2A	2G, 3A	0G, 2A	5G, 10A (15 pts)
Losses	0G, 0A	0G, 1A	0G, 0A	2G, 0A	2G, 1A (3 pts)

Against a physical team that plays responsible defense and has an elite goaltender in Quick, the Blackhawks will not win this series and reach the Stanley Cup Final if these star forwards do not score goals and contribute to the power play.  

Toews, in particular, must generate more offense because his scoring and playmaking has a tremendous impact on the success of the team's first line.

In the second round, he was frustrated and unproductive (one goal in seven games) against Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg, who is among the league's best defensive forwards. In the conference finals, Toews will likely be matched up against Kings forward Anze Kopitar, who is another great defensive player with his physical style of play, high hockey IQ and great stick work. If Chicago loses the Toews versus Kopitar matchup, it will be at a distinct disadvantage in this series.

One goal and a plus/minus rating of minus-two through 12 games is unacceptable for a player of Toews' caliber. As a great leader and one of the best two-way players in the NHL, the Blackhawks need a better performance from their captain and No. 1 center. 

Another important aspect of this series will be defending home ice. The Kings have been nearly unbeatable at home with a perfect 7-0 record at Staples Center, but they are just 1-5 on the road. Since Los Angeles plays so well in its own building, Chicago cannot afford to play poorly at the United Center and lose the home-ice advantage.

The Blackhawks have averaged 3.29 goals scored per game with a 6-1 record at the Madhouse on Madison during the playoffs, and they will need to maintain this level of success on home ice to win this series.

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Nicholas Goss is an NHL Lead Writer at Bleacher Report. Nick was a credentialed reporter at the 2011 Stanley Cup Final and 2012 NHL playoffs, and he is also a credentialed writer at the 2013 NHL playoffs in Boston.