While this seems like an unlikely Stanley Cup Finals, it’s a match-up of the Western Conference’s number one seed versus the number one overall seed last year. But let’s discuss how we got here. Although all the games were close and could have gone either way, the Florida Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the closest sweep ever. The Hurricanes are the only team to be swept this postseason.
As for the Dallas Stars, yikes. If they had won Game 2, which they should have, there would have been a Game 7, which they should win since their coach has never lost one. But you can blame that loss on Ryan Suter, who played poorly at key moments all series. It’s hard to imagine how you can lay two eggs at home. In Game 3, you can make an excuse because of an early goal and the Jamie Benn penalty. But there’s no excuse for Game 6. And how does Benn feel right now? They won the games he didn’t play and played poorly in his return. They lost those games by a combined score of 10-0. He shouldn’t be a captain anymore. The Stars are the more talented team, but they didn’t play to their potential. The Stars are too linked to Jake Oettinger’s play. He over-committed on the first goal in Game 6, and I knew that was it. He played great in Games 4 and 5 but not so much in the others.
Interestingly, the Stars and Boston Celtics, both green jersey-wearing teams, were linked. They both won two must-win games at the same time, and they both laid an egg at home in their final games.
Now that the Panthers are in the finals and won eleven of their last twelve games, it doesn’t make the Boston Bruins look so bad. I never believed the Bruins choked, and they would have won in five games if not for Linus Ullmark. There’s a good chance the Bruins will be the only team to beat the Panthers three times in a series. They deserve your respect. Even more interesting is if the Pittsburgh Penguins had won one more game, the Bruins would be in the finals. If the Panthers had won one more game, they would have played the Bruins in the conference finals. It’s funny how things work out sometimes.
This seems like an anticlimactic final. The Panthers are a very lucky team, and luck wins championships. This match-up reminds me of the St. Louis Blues vs. Boston Bruins 2019 final. The Bruins were the better team, but the Blues were the hotter, luckier team. And who won that Stanley Cup?
The one thing the Golden Knights have going for them is they have four of the top seven plus minus spots and the top two. The team that usually has the most in the top five wins. The last time they didn’t? You guessed it, when the Blues beat the Bruins, who had the top two spots. Okay, the Golden Knights don’t have that going for them, either.
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. W2 Florida Panthers
Season Series: 1-1
Playoff Series History: None
What We Learned: The Golden Knights continued to eke out close games they shouldn’t have won and have the occasional blowout. The Panthers keep rolling through anyone in their path, almost like a hurricane.
Stars to Watch: Jack Eichel is still scoring quietly. Jonathan Marchessault, Mark Stone, Ivan Barbashev, Chandler Stephenson, and William Karlsson round out the top six. Barbashev had a great series against the Stars. The Golden Knights have very balanced scoring and great depth. Matthew Tkachuk leads everybody with four game-winning goals and is second in points. Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett round out the top five, but the Panthers are also fairly balanced. Brandon Montour had no points against the Hurricanes, and he’ll need to regain his earlier magic.
Goalie Problem: Adin Hill has played better than expected. He’s a primary reason the Golden Knights have made it this far and why the penalty kill has slightly improved. I don’t believe he will falter. I can’t believe a Sergei Bobrovsky-backed team has made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. But when he’s hot, which he is now, he’s exceptional. This should be a fun match-up.
X-Factor: Neither penalty kill is great, and neither power play is great either, but they score at key times. Whoever doesn’t stay out of the box will have a problem.
Fun Fact: Only seven players on this Golden Knights team played in the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals.
Prediction: It doesn’t matter what you did during the whole season, only what you’re doing now. The Panthers’ recent work is more impressive than the Golden Knights. Sure, the Panthers don’t blow people out, but they don’t need to. The Panthers got lucky in Game 5 against the Bruins with Ullmark’s mistake, in Game 5 against the Maple Leafs with the no-goal call and a missed penalty on the overtime goal, in Game 2 against the Hurricanes when a stick got stuck in Brent Burns and took two people out that led to the overtime goal. The Golden Knights are not that lucky because nobody is. The Panthers are 6-0 in overtime these playoffs too. The Panthers will win in less than seven, with a few overtime wins.