The Florida Panthers will play either the Dallas Stars or the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers advanced to the Cup final for the second consecutive season by eliminating the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference final with a 2-1 victory in Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday . They also defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the first round and advanced to the conference finals with a six-game series against the Boston Bruins.
Florida (52-24-6), which is the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division, would host Edmonton (49-27-6), but would open on the road against top-seeded Dallas (52-21-9). in the Western Conference. The Oilers lead that series 3-2 with Game 6 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, TVAS).
“I think there are a lot of New York Rangers on both teams,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “Like the brilliant speed and dynamism in the run. That would be our feeling that the Boston Bruins series and the New York Rangers series are completely different. This would be more similar to what we have seen in our last series. “We think we’ve seen three completely different styles in some respects.”
The Panthers are 0-2 in the finals. They lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights last season and were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.
Forward Matthew Tkachuk leads the Panthers in the playoffs with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists), and forward Carter Verhaeghe (nine goals, eight assists) and center Aleksander Barkov (six goals, 11 assists) have 17 points each. one. Forward Sam Reinhart has 12 points (eight goals, four assists).
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has started every game, going 12-5 with a 2.20 goals-against average and a 0.908 save percentage. Reserve Anthony Stolarz has not played in the playoffs.
Dallas won the first round against the Golden Knights in seven games and defeated the Avalanche in six games in the second round. The Stars are looking to advance to the Cup final for the fourth time since moving from Minnesota for the 1993-94 season and for the first time since 2020, when they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Dallas won the Stanley Cup in 1999, defeating the Buffalo Sabers in six games in the finals.
Edmonton defeated the Los Angeles Kings in five games in the first round and the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in the second round. The Oilers last advanced to the Cup final in 2006, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. Edmonton has won the Stanley Cup five times, most recently in 1990.
“We watch them play, so we see that they are both unreal teams, incredible teams, really good players on both teams,” Barkov said. “I’m not going to go into details about the teams now, but, of course, any of those teams you’re going to play against will be a very difficult matchup. So, obviously, rest now, recover and then wait for the opponent and then go back to work”.
Florida went 2-0-0 against Dallas this season, winning 5-4 at home on December 6 and 4-3 on the road on March 12. Barkov scored five points (three goals, two assists), and Reinhart and forward Evan Rodrigues each scored two goals and two assists. Bobrovsky went 2-0-0 with a 3.50 GAA and .889 save percentage.
For Dallas, center Wyatt Johnston and forward Mason Marchment each scored three points (one goal, two assists) against the Panthers in the regular season. Forwards Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski and defenseman Thomas Harley each had a goal and an assist. Goalie Jake Oettinger started each game, going 0-2-0 with a 4.67 GAA and .852 save percentage.
The Panthers went 2-0-0 against the Oilers, winning 5-3 at home on November 20 and 5-1 on the road on December 16. Verhaeghe scored five points (three goals, two assists), center Sam Bennett scored four points (two goals, two assists) and center Kevin Stenlund scored three points (one goal, two assists). Bobrovsky went 2-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .941 save percentage.
For Edmonton, center Connor McDavid scored three points (two goals, one assist) against the Panthers in the regular season. Forwards Zach Hyman and Evander Kane each scored a goal. Starting goaltender Stuart Skinner did not play against the Panthers in the regular season. Backup Calvin Pickard started each game, going 0-2-0 with a 4.59 GAA and .873 save percentage.
“Two really good teams,” Bennett said of Dallas and Edmonton. “I think the final four were the four best teams. So now it will be another challenge, but we are ready for it.”
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.