NHL Playoffs 2019: Updated Eastern, Western Conference Bracket and Predictions

Three of the four spots have been secured for the conference finals of the NHL playoffs, and the last will be decided Wednesday night.

The St. Louis Blues clinched their place in the Western Conference finals with a double-overtime Game 7 victory at home against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. The Blues were down 3-2 in the series before rallying to win Games 6 and 7 to advance.

After Wednesday's Game 7 between the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche, which will decide the second team to reach the Western Conference finals, the next round will begin with a Game 1 matchup between the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday.

Updated NHL Playoff Bracket

Eastern Conference Finals

Boston vs. Carolina

Western Conference Finals

St. Louis vs. Winner of San Jose-Colorado

Game 7 Prediction

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

The second round will conclude with a Game 7 matchup between the Sharks and Avalanche in San Jose at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.

San Jose had a chance to put this series away in Game 6 on Monday, but Colorado forced a Game 7 with an overtime victory at home. The two teams have alternated wins in this series, beginning with the Sharks' victory in Game 1, meaning the Avalanche have never led.

After notching a seven-game series victory against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round, the Sharks will outlast another opponent to move on to the Western Conference finals for the second time in four years.

"The team that wins has taken a little bit of a breath and the team that has lost the previous game digs in with a heightened desperation level for the next game, and that small margin has probably been the difference in just about every game," San Jose head coach Peter DeBoer said, according to NHL.com's Tim Campbell. "The beauty of Game 7 is that I don't think either of us are going to be taking a breath because we all know what's at stake."

Conference Finals Predictions

Whether the Sharks or Avalanche advance to the Western Conference finals, it's not going to matter. That team is going to lose to the Blues, who won a six-game series over the Winnipeg Jets in the first round and a seven-game second-round series against the Stars.

"I can't really describe the feeling," Blues center Robert Thomas said after their Game 7 win over the Stars, according to NHL.com's Louie Korac. "That's kind of been the story of the season. When our backs are against the wall, we play our best and find a way to fight through it."

St. Louis has proved it can win away from home ice, going 5-1 in road games this postseason. That's going to be valuable in the Western Conference finals as it will secure its spot in its first Stanley Cup Final since 1970.

As for the Eastern Conference finals, which begin with Game 1 on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, it could be tough for the Bruins to outlast the Hurricanes, who have been one of the surprise teams of the postseason.

Carolina beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals in a seven-game series in the first round, then swept the New York Islanders to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2009, which was also its last playoff appearance.

The Bruins should play a more competitive series than the Islanders did against the Hurricanes. However, expect Carolina to pull off another upset by winning a series that should go six or seven games.

"We have to play a certain way and it kind of doesn't really matter about the opponent," Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said, according to NHL.com's Kurt Dusterberg. "If we're not doing what we do, we have no chance. So that has to be the first step. You need to know what the other team is doing to give yourself the best chance to succeed. The balance is trying to figure out how much of one vs. the other when you only have so much time and attention."