Stanley Cup Playoff Takeaways: Conference Finals
Photo by Jeff McIntosh from the Associated Press
The Stanley Cup Finals will be the longest distance between championship opponents EVER.
It will also break a drought, whether it be the Panthers never winning a Stanley Cup, or no Canadian teams winning a Cup since 1993.
Let’s dive into what we’ve learned.
Panthers defeat Rangers 4-2
Florida Panthers
Paul Maurice is a hell of a coach.
You can tell from the press conferences themselves that he is light and jovial, and that shows on the ice with the Panthers playing excellent, free flowing hockey with an emphasis on minimizing mistakes.
Because of that, and solid goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky, the Panthers had the highest expected goals for in the Eastern Conference.
It’s back to back years that the Panthers are headed to the Finals, and five straight years that a Florida based team has won the East.
They’re the new state of hockey.
Sorry, Minnesota.
New York Rangers
I said it a few rounds ago that all the Rangers needed to do was score some goals.
Not even a lot! They didn’t need to be the best offensive team in NHL history. They just needed to do something to get goaltender Igor Shesterkin the goal support he needed to shut the door.
They went completely dry.
Specifically Mika Zibanejad, who had a horrendous conference finals overall, but Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider who fell asleep themselves.
There’s no other way to look at this season except being a missed opportunity for the Rangers.
Their depth stepped up. Their goaltender stepped up.
Their stars disappeared.
Oilers defeat Stars 4-2
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers offensive game needs no explaining.
Connor McDavid. Leon Draisaitl. Zach Hyman.
They’ll score goals.
The issue was the defense and goaltending, and while Darnell Nurse has been atrocious this postseason on the back end, Stuart Skinner has been absolutely amazing down the stretch, specifically in game 6.
MoneyPuck’s simulations have the Stars “deserve to win” meter at 80.6%, but Skinner shut down every attempt remaining.
Skinner has still only saved 2.2 goals above expected, but that may be all he needs to do if the Oilers offense takes off.
Dallas Stars
The Stars did nothing wrong.
That doesn’t help at all, with players like Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Joe Pavelski all getting another year older without a Stanley Cup, but they led the postseason in expected goals for. Goaltender Jake Oettinger had 7 goals saved above expected.
They did everything right.
It just wasn’t their year.
Normally that’d be fine, but with a lot of key players aging, “not their year” may mean not many more chances for it to be their year.
Stanley Cup Final Prediction
Connor McDavid. Leon Draisaitl. Evan Bouchard.
The Oilers offense is so lethal that all they need is Stuart Skinner to be decent, and they’ll win with ease.
But while Skinner has been good recently, Sergei Bobrovsky has been good all postseason, and the Panthers have a plethora of offense themselves, without a Darnell Nurse sized liability on the blue line.
The Florida Panthers Win the Stanley Cup in 7 Games.
