Quick Glance:

Belfast will need everything to go right to get past Minsk. Of course, they will need great goaltending from Braden Holtby or perhaps Alexander Salak. But they will also need to somehow force their way through Minsk’s rock-solid defense and pierce the Hussars’ strongest shield, Attila Adorjan. To do that, they will need Mitch Marner, Nathan MacKinnon and David Pastrnak to be at their very best. That gives Minsk something to worry about. A side note perhaps, but Belfast has four former Hussars in their lineup including Mattias Sjogren, who was let go by Minsk last off season, and they all welcome the chance to one-up their former teammates.

Goalies (in playoffs):

• Belfast- Braden Holtby (3.81 GAA; .869 save percentage)
• Minsk – Attila Adorjan (1.93 GAA; .926 save percentage)

Top Plus/Minus players (in playoffs):

• Belfast – Pavel Zacha, Mattias Sjogren and Nikita Zadorov (+2)
• Minsk- Vasily Podkolzin, Alex Formenton and Markus Granlund (+6)

Expert Panel Predictions:

• Commissioner Chuck: Minsk in 5 games. Minsk’s strength is their defense, but their offense has a chance to grab the headlines against the Giants, who were only a little above average in shots against and goals against during the regular season. Look for Aaron Ekblad’s cannon slapshot to be a formidable weapon in this series.
• Rose: Belfast in 7 games. I was pretty tough when I was a girl. I often played football (soccer) with the boys and loved stopping them and taking the ball from them. Some of them cried, I recall. Belfast was the toughest team in the league during the regular season, if you go by penalty minutes. If they take the body as all their coaches have always taught them, these players could wear down the Hussars and maybe even injure a couple of them. Playing tough is their best chance.