The much awaited Stanley Cup Final commences on the 1st Saturday in June from America’s Playground, Las Vegas. We’ve had to wait a long time but the show has arrived. The Panthers made it to the Final in fashion as they swept the Metropolitan Division Leaders while the Golden Knights shut out the Stars in a Game 6 blowout. Matthew Tkachuk of Florida netted 3 game winning goals for the Cats in that Hurricanes series while netminder Adin Hill of the Knights recorded two shutouts in that series vs Dallas. I expect a really close and tight series between the Panthers and the Golden Knights.
The Florida Panthers dream run has been nothing short of extraordinary. If someone told me in April that the Cats would be the 1st team to make it to the Final, I would’ve told them they are dreaming. After their insanely good regular season last year, they disappointed in the playoffs but came at this year’s playoffs with more hunger. In that last series, they simply brushed away Carolina. They just had that extra goal in them for all the games in that series. In addition to Tkachuk’s heroics, Sergei Bobrovsky was brilliant. He faced 174 shots in that series and only gave up 4 of them. After his mind-boggling 63 save performance in that quadruple OT Game 1, you might’ve thought he would slow down but no, he backed that up with another strong showing. The Canes averaged 1.5 goals a game and simply could not find a way to beat him. The amount of consistency we’ve seen from all the Panthers players is amazing and that’s why they are in the Stanley Cup Final. To win this series, Florida really needs to stay disciplined and they have to have that “get the puck out of the defensive zone” mentality against Vegas. The Vegas power player is great and it could be really momentum killing for Paul Maurice’s side. Also, Vegas has a really aggressive forecheck so instead of turning the puck over, the Panthers have to get the puck out as soon as possible. It’s going to be a tough series against the top team in the West but as we’ve seen already, the Panthers are capable of surprising the hockey world.
In that last series against the Stars, I thought the Golden Knights were exceptional. They looked in control for the majority of the time and always had a lurking presence. They won that series because they are a four line team while the Stars are a 1 line team. Vegas got contributions from everyone and that’s why it’s so important to have good depth in the playoffs. Amadio, Kolesar, and Carrier each tallied two points in Game 6 and they are 3rd/4th line forwards. Playoffs bring out the best of some players like Adin Hill who has certainly leveled up his game. Dallas had some really good chances to score in those 6 games but Adin Hill just stopped most of them. The Stars averaged 2 goals per game and their high powered team couldn’t break through Adin Hill. Vegas has to play the same way against the Panthers as they did vs Dallas and then they can really put pressure on the Panthers.
My Game 1 prediction is that Vegas will win 4-2 and my series prediction is that the Panthers will win in 6 games. In Game 1, I feel like we’ll see a lot of rust coming from the Panthers side. They haven’t played in nearly two weeks and even though rest is good, I feel like it’ll take some getting used to for Florida. The Las Vegas fans will be jumping and I’m sure they’re excited to be back in the Stanley Cup Final. I’ve seen a lot of the Panthers games in the playoffs and I have noticed very minimal flaws. Over the course of the series, I feel like they have the advantage. When you line these teams up, they’re actually so similar. Both have really strong goalies and have tremendous depth. It’s either going to be a series about depth or the stars are going to shine. That makes an extremely intriguing series and it should be epic. Game 1 can be viewed on Saturday, June 3rd at 8:00 PM EST from T-Mobile Arena. This game can be watched on TNT, TBS, and TruTV. The entire series is streaming on TNT.
It’s the last best of seven series for the Golden Knights and the Panthers but one will only walk away with a trophy. Will the Florida Panthers take down another giant to win the Cup or can the Golden Knights win their 1st Stanley Cup in their recent franchise? We’ll find out from Las Vegas, Nevada as Game 1 begins on Saturday night.
THE END