Panthers vs. Hurricanes: Who Will Represent The East In The Stanley Cup Final?

Carolina Hurricanes

First round – over NY Islanders in six

Second round – over New Jersey in five

Florida Panthers

First round – over Boston in seven

Second round – over Toronto in five

Goaltending

Hurricanes

Frederik Andersen – 5-0-0, 1.80 GAA, .931 sv%

Panthers

Sergei Bobrovsky – 7-2-0, 2.82 GAA, .918 sv%

Advantage – Florida

Andersen replaced Antti Raanta at the end of the Islanders and other than being pulled early in Game 3 against New Jersey has been excellent. Bobrovsky similarly replaced Alex Lyon midway through the first-round series against the Bruins and made some key saves in the seven-game upset, but Goalie Bob raised his game to a Vezina level in the Panthers five-game upset of Toronto, allowing the Leafs powerhouse offense only two goals per game in the series.

Defense

Advantage – Carolina

The Hurricanes arguably have the best blueline of the four remaining clubs in the race for the Cup, with Brent Burns being added to the complement of Brady Skjei, Jaccob Slavin, and Brett Pesce. Carolina’s top pairing of Burns and Slavin are a collective +22 and their defense has produced 27 points in the playoffs.

The Panthers have benefited from the phenomenal production of Brandon Montour, who scored five goals against the Bruins and two tallies in Game 7. Montour and Gustav Forsling are averaging over 25 minutes per night. Aaron Ekblad has been solid, but his offense is down reportedly because of an injury. Radko Gudas and Marc Staal are solid veteran defenders who are punishing but can be exposed by faster opposition.

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Forwards

Advantage – Florida

Carolina has been winning with an offense by committee. Eight players have scored three goals or more, and depth forward Jordan Martinook is tied with Sebastian Aho for the club lead with 10 points. The Hurricanes are getting Teuvo Teravainen back in the lineup after missing nine games with a broken hand, but they still miss the firepower of Andrei Svechnikov.

Florida has the most impactful forward in the series in Matthew Tkachuk, who will punish his opponents physically and create offensively. Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Anthony Duclair, and Sam Reinhart provide firepower, and Sam Bennett drives the play and forechecks with boundless energy.

Prediction – Carolina in 6

The Panthers will have to rely on Bobrovsky to steal games as he did against Toronto, which is possible but not likely. The Hurricanes have the ability that the Leafs did not have to put pressure on Florida’s defense and in the end, that will be the determining factor in the series.