2013 NHL Playoffs: Biggest Reason to Doubt Each NHL Conference Finalist

We are only a few games into the conference final round of the 2013 NHL playoffs and already we have reasons to doubt each of the four remaining teams, even those with leads in their series.

Here we take a look at the biggest reasons why. 

Feel free to chime in with your opinion, but please back it up with some evidence. Keep in mind we are listing only one reason for each team.

Pittsburgh Penguins

While it may be easiest to point to the shaky goaltending, the biggest issue the Penguins have is their overall team defense.

No doubt that both Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun have struggled at times, but the biggest problem the Penguins had in the first two games against Boston is the number of quality scoring chances they have allowed.

In Game 2, Vokoun gave up three goals, but none of them were really considered "soft." Two of them came on breakaways and the other was a rebound where two opposing players were alone and unattended just outside the crease.

Unless the Penguins figure out how to stop turning the puck over and play more responsible defense, Patrick Roy, Jacques Plante, Dominik Hasek and Glenn Hall together wouldn't be able to help them win games.

After Game 2, Sidney Crosby told Yahoo! Sports, "I mean, tonight was terrible. There’s no other way to describe it. We were not good in really any area."

The Bruins have scored nine goals in the first two games of the series; the Penguins have scored just one. Unless the Penguins play better team defense and prevent the Bruins from getting so many odd-man rushes, it will be very difficult for them to win one game, let alone get back into this series.

Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins have already proven they can win a Stanley Cup without having much success on the power play. In 2011, the Bruins scored just 10 goals with the man advantage in 25 playoff games and had a meager 11.4 percent success rate in the postseason.

This year, the B's are again struggling on the power play in the playoffs. Their power-play percentage is higher, (18.9), but the goals have come in bunches and mostly in their cakewalk series against the Rangers.

In the opening two games of the Pittsburgh series, the Bruins have yet to score a power-play goal, but they are ahead 2-0 in the series.

Still, over the long haul, the Bruins need to get more consistent production from their power play if they are to win another Stanley Cup.

Both potential opponents in the Stanley Cup Final feature superb goaltending and defense. That usually means tight, low-scoring games, and that makes the power play even more important.

The Bruins can also use a little more offensive production from players like Jaromir Jagr and Tyler Seguin, who both figure to see power-play time for Boston as long they remain in the playoffs.

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings have struggled to score goals in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs. While they do have arguably the best goaltender in the game today in Jonathan Quick, unless the Kings can score more consistently, they will struggle to repeat as champions.

The Kings are averaging just 1.89 goals per game through their first 15 playoff games this season. That leaves very little margin for error for Jonathan Quick and the Kings' defense.

Several players are not scoring as much as the Kings expected, including their top offensive threats, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty and Dustin Penner.

Unless these players step up their offensive production, the Kings are likely to fall short in their effort to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

Chicago Blackhawks

Of the four remaining teams in this year's playoffs, none has a lower power-play percentage than the Chicago Blackhawks.

Joel Quenneville's team has a success rate of just 16.3 percent and has scored just seven power-play goals in their first 14 playoff games.

The Blackhawks have plenty of weapons to succeed on the power play. Other than Marian Hossa (who has three), no Chicago player has more than one power-play goal in the postseason.

Players like Patrick Kane, Andrew Shaw and Brent Seabrook need to be more productive on the power play for Chicago to win their second Stanley Cup since 2010.