The NHL Eastern Conference Finals begins tonight as the Florida Panthers take on the New York Rangers. The series is a great matchup on paper, but who will come out on top?
The series may very well come down to goaltending and both teams have a more than serviceable option in net. The Panther’s Sergei Bobrovsky has more experience than his counterpart. However, in my opinion he also has the higher likelihood of struggling in the series. The Ranger’s Igor Shesterkin is a world class netminder that I believe on paper should give New York the advantage in this category.
How do the defenses stack up against each other? Simply put, there might not be a better defensive group in hockey than the Florida Panthers. Sure, Adam Fox of the Rangers might be the best defenseman in the series, but the group that the Panthers possess is unmatched. Throwing out a top 4 group that consists of Ekblad, Montour, and Forsling give the Panthers the advantage in this area.
How about top end talent? Give me the Panthers all day long. I am a huge fan of Sam Reinhart and Aleksandar Barkov. Both players in my opinion are highly underrated around the league. Not only that, but few players can influence a game the way Matthew Tkachuk can. He is that perfect combination of size, speed, and toughness.
Lastly, let’s look at depth. Both the Panthers and the Rangers have excellent depth in their forward groups. However, if I had to pick, I’ll take the Panthers. Sam Bennett and Ryan Lomberg play with a degree of feistiness that can impact the series. The combination of Kyle Okposo, Carter Verhaeghe, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Evan Rodrigues help provide secondary scoring and veteran leadership.
This should definitely be an exciting and close series. I am personally taking the Florida Panthers to win in 6 games.
Who do you think will win the series? Comment below!
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