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From a regular-season batch of 32 teams, to a Stanley Cup playoff field of 16, and now down to two, the NHL’s champion is close to being crowned for 2024.

A year after losing in the Stanley Cup Final to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Florida Panthers are out to finish their story and raise the Cup for the first time in franchise history.

For the Edmonton Oilers, a Stanley Cup would silence all the “yeah, but” conversations regarding superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and etch their names among the franchise greats from five prior Cup teams.

Game 1 is Saturday, June 8 (8 p.m. ET, ABC and ESPN+). Here’s everything you need to know about both teams, from key players to watch, goaltender confidence ratings, and the top trends for each team coming out of the conference finals.

Stanley Cup wins: None
How they got here: Defeated Lightning 4-1, Bruins 4-2, Rangers 4-2

Goalie confidence rating: 9 out of 10

Sergei Bobrovsky has been rock solid for the Panthers throughout these playoffs. Granted, the team’s excellent defensive play has aided Bobrovsky. But the veteran’s steady stream of quality performances gives Florida undeniable confidence Bobrovsky will be there to make the big saves.

He has earned a 12-5 record in the postseason, with a .908 save percentage and 2.20 goals-against average. The only playoff starter who has averaged fewer goals against per game than Bobrovsky was Boston’s Jeremy Swayman (and Bobrovsky ultimately won that battle when Florida sent the Bruins packing in their second-round series).

Bobrovsky had to be the Panthers’ hero during last season’s run to the Cup Final, and it wore him down in the end. This year’s workload has been more manageable, and that should set Bobrovsky up for continued success.

What the Eastern Conference finals taught us about the Panthers

Florida is the total package. The Panthers have star power, scoring depth, elite defensive habits, a top-tier goaltender and — perhaps most crucial of all — innate killer instinct.

The team was exceptional in the third period against the New York Rangers down the stretch of their series, winning the final three games by a one-goal margin. The Panthers also shut the Rangers down at 5-on-5 in that span, allowing just one even-strength goal while simultaneously rendering New York’s once-vaunted power play completely ineffective with a stifling penalty kill. And the way Florida held the Rangers’ elite scorers from producing — Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad combined for a single goal through six games — was a byproduct of the Panthers’ full-team buy-in on defense.

At the same time, Florida can be deadly off the rush while equally strong suppressing those chances from going the other way. Their ability to make New York pay for mistakes was another backbreaker for the Rangers, who couldn’t find the same opportunities to do damage. Florida rarely offers quality looks, and Bobrovsky stood tall against the most glaring breakdowns.

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Panthers claw down Rangers to advance to second straight Stanley Cup Final

The Panthers take care of business against the Rangers in Game 6 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the second year running.

Players who will be key to the Cup Final

One of Florida’s strengths may be its defense in a collective sense. But the Panthers’ defensemen will certainly be in the spotlight when the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman try to get rolling.

Gustav Forsling has had a brilliant postseason going up against some of the toughest opposing matchups, and he has also contributed offensively (four goals and 11 points). Brandon Montour‘s physicality and active stick breaking up rush chances has been invaluable. Florida defends well and is aggressive in holding shooters to the outside and limiting action from the slot.

That will be critical in preventing the Oilers from running wild. Aaron Ekblad should also play a key role in steadying Florida from the back end — and this year he won’t be playing in the Cup Final with a broken foot. That’s a definite improvement.

Player who needs to step up

Carter Verhaeghe was a force for Florida early in the postseason. His production has been dwindling, though. Verhaeghe popped in five goals in five games against Tampa Bay, but he has just four goals total since then. He put only two shots on net in the final two games of the conference finals and wasn’t nearly as visible for the Panthers in creating opportunities around the net (although Igor Shesterkin did make a notable save on Verhaeghe in Game 6).

All of that is to say, Verhaeghe needs to recapture his first-series form in the Cup Final. There will be a laundry list of capable scorers across the ice — and some obviously elite talents, too — and the Panthers can’t afford any passengers in their group. Verhaeghe can absolutely be a difference-maker for Florida and drive its offense. Now is the time for him to shift gears.

Is there a coaching edge for the Panthers?

The Cup Final will feature two head coaches at opposite ends of the NHL spectrum. Florida coach Paul Maurice has been in the league for two decades, and he has now reached three Cup Finals (two with Florida). Edmonton’s Kris Knoblauch hasn’t even coached an entire NHL season yet, having replaced Jay Woodcroft in November as his first gig in the league. Will experience be a factor for either side?

The Oilers have responded well to Knoblauch, and their on-ice success since he took over is abundantly clear. But when evenly matched opponents like Florida and Edmonton clash, there is generally an X factor that emerges to separate the sides, something more intangible. Things such as a critical line change, or knowing when to take a timeout, or being able to read the demeanor of your team and adjust accordingly. All of that will be heightened given the stakes in the Cup Final.

We’ve already seen in the playoffs how well-timed coaching decisions have helped secure wins in tight contests. The margins for error in this series will be slim. The edge could lie not with who is sitting on the bench, but standing behind it.


Stanley Cup wins: 1990, 1988, 1987, 1985, 1984
How they got here: Defeated Kings 4-1, Canucks 4-3, Stars 4-2

Goalie confidence rating: 9 out of 10

There were certainly questions about Stuart Skinner earlier this postseason. But how he has performed since Game 6 of the second round has only added to what makes the Oilers such a problem in the defensive zone. They enter the Stanley Cup Final allowing just 25.1 shots per game, the third fewest among 2024 playoff teams.

With a penalty kill that held the Dallas Stars to zero goals through the conference finals, the Oilers have one of the strongest defensive identities in the league.

Complementing that with a consistent version of Skinner — who had a 1.95 goals-against average against the Stars — only adds to the argument that the Oilers might be the most complete team in the playoffs.

What the Western Conference finals taught us about the Oilers

That anyone who still believes this team is just Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid has not been paying attention. The path they took to beat the Stars in the Western Conference finals is proof.

In the Oilers’ victories in Games 4 and 5, they received key goals from players such as Mattias Janmark, Ryan McLeod, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Philip Broberg. Their penalty kill was perfect against the Stars, including going 3-for-3 in the pivotal Game 6.

They’ve developed a two-way identity that has allowed them to play comfortably in one-goal games, including the closeout in Game 6. They’ve made goal prevention a serious component to their success, and it has only added to the looming threat that the Oilers could break out to score more than four goals in a game as well.

A team that has been billed as an offensive juggernaut has shown it can be the complete package.

Players who will be key to the Cup Final

The Oilers have Draisaitl and McDavid, a pair of elite forwards who have four Hart Trophies between them. But again, they are more than that.

Zach Hyman has given them a forechecking winger who can control the net front. They have a puck-moving defenseman in Evan Bouchard, who, along with Mattias Ekholm, gives the Oilers a trusted top pairing.

This postseason has elevated Nugent-Hopkins’ profile as a two-way player because of what he has been able to do at 5-on-5, on the penalty kill and on the power play; he could be their most important forward not named Draisaitl or McDavid.

There’s also what Darnell Nurse accomplished against Dallas, going from a figure under scrutiny to being one of the Oilers’ most consistent players to close out the series. That includes logging more than 21 minutes with three hits while not being on the ice for a goal against in Game 6. That version of Nurse would be instrumental in helping capture the franchise’s first title since 1990.

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Oilers celebrate advancing to the Stanley Cup Final

The Oilers hang on to defeat the Stars in a hectic finish to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

Player who needs to step up

Evander Kane. At his best, Kane is a physical power forward who can cause problems in the slot and at the net front, with a shot that can also make him dangerous on the perimeter. That has made him one of the NHL’s most consistent goal scorers over his career, with a run of nine seasons with more than 20.

It’s also what makes his recent scoring drought (six straight games, going back to Game 7 of the second round against the Vancouver Canucks) so puzzling.

Kane opened the conference finals with nine shots in his first two games, only to then record four shots combined in Games 3, 4 and 5. He was moved down from the second line to the third line as a result in Game 5, resulting in a significant decline in his work rate compared to his first two postseasons with the Oilers.

It’s possible Kane could be on the mend going into the Stanley Cup Final. After delivering a check early in Game 6, he skated to the bench and logged only 4:39 of ice time via nine shifts.

Hiring Kris Knoblauch could be the latest move in a certain trend

Moving on from Jay Woodcroft and hiring Kris Knoblauch not only saved the Oilers’ season, but allowed them to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in nearly two decades. Whether the Oilers win the Cup or not, the move raises a debate about the expectations for an NHL coach in his first season with a new team.

This trend started in 2019, when Craig Berube, who had 161 games of NHL head-coaching experience, was made the interim coach of the St. Louis Blues … and won the Stanley Cup in what was his first of five-plus seasons with the club.

A year later, veteran coach Rick Bowness was an interim who guided the Dallas Stars to the Cup Final.

In 2021, Dominique Ducharme, an interim coach with no previous NHL head-coaching experience, guided the Montreal Canadiens to a Cup Final.

Last year saw Bruce Cassidy, who had 500-plus games of experience, win a title in his first campaign with the Vegas Golden Knights.

It’s a trend that continues with Knoblauch, whose head-coaching roles had previously been in the AHL and junior hockey. Knoblauch has the chance to be the first coach since Dan Bylsma in 2009 to win the title in his first year behind an NHL bench.

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Panthers one game away from another Cup Final: Grades, biggest takeaways from Game 3

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Panthers one game away from another Cup Final: Grades, biggest takeaways from Game 3

One team is a win away from advancing to a third straight Stanley Cup Final. The other is about to once again come up short in a conference final. As drastic as that sounds, that is the reality facing the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes following the Panthers’ 6-2 win Saturday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers opened the series by scoring five goals in each of the first two games and exposing the Hurricanes in a way that hadn’t been done by another team this postseason. On Saturday, it appeared that the Canes may have found a solution as they entered the third period tied at 1-1 … before the Panthers exploded for five straight goals to close out Game 3 in emphatic fashion.

How did both teams perform? Who is worth watching in Game 4? And given that there’s a sweep in play, what could Monday mean for both teams, knowing that one of them could see their season come to an end? Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton answer those questions while reviewing what has been a lopsided Eastern Conference finals.

The Panthers withstood an expected early push from Carolina and settled swiftly into their own game. They failed to capitalize on their first-period power-play chance but made up for it by opening the scoring with a goal credited to Niko Mikkola (that actually went off Carolina’s Dmitry Orlov) midway through the first. It was a deflating marker for Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov to cede right after a solid Hurricanes penalty kill and appeared to diminish Carolina’s confidence.

There was potential to shift Carolina’s momentum, though. Before the first period ended, Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen finished a check sending Jackson Blake awkwardly into the boards. That earned Luostarinen a five-minute penalty and game misconduct, putting the Panthers down two of their top forwards in Luostarinen and an injured Sam Reinhart. But Florida didn’t let the lengthy man advantage hurt its momentum. The Panthers killed it off and matched Carolina’s shot total while shorthanded.

While the score was tied at 1-1 going into the third, Florida regained its lead with Jesper Boqvist undressing (to put it mildly) Orlov in shocking fashion. Boqvist entered the lineup to replace Reinhart, and it was the type of contribution Florida could only hope to see from its depth skater.

It was all Panthers from there, with goals from Mikkola, Aleksander Barkov (capitalizing on a turnover by Orlov), Evan Rodrigues and Brad Marchand giving Florida a 6-1 lead halfway through the third and putting Carolina against the ropes going into an elimination Game 4. Florida will wonder about Mikkola’s status ahead of that tilt. (He left in the third period Saturday after slamming into the end boards.) But the Cats can’t be too frustrated given their win. — Kristen Shilton

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Jesper Boqvist puts Panthers back ahead

Jesper Boqvist goes through the goaltender’s legs to restore the Panthers’ lead vs. the Hurricanes.

Unofficial Canadian poet laureate Avril Lavigne once posed one of more philosophical questions of her generation: Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?

Everything the Hurricanes did through the first two periods of Game 3 created the belief that they could potentially stick with the Panthers. Only to then fall apart in the third period. Again.

There are numerous reasons why losing Game 3 is so damning for the Hurricanes. What might be the most prominent and prevalent is there might not be anything else they can do at this stage. We have seen the Panthers take a 3-0 series lead only to be pushed to a Game 7 in a playoff series. That was the case in last year’s Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers.

But through three games of this series? The Hurricanes have switched goaltenders, adjusted their lineups and sought out other alterations within their structure — and still lost by a large margin while once again falling prey to being on the other end of a big period. — Ryan S. Clark


Three Stars of Game 3

Mikkola has had quite a series. The defensemen has broken up plays, taken command off the rush and created quality scoring chances. He had two goals in Game 3 for his first career multigoal playoff game and the fourth multigoal playoff game in Panthers franchise history.

It was two goals and a helper for the Cats’ captain. This was Barkov’s 20th career multipoint playoff game, the most in Panthers franchise history.

3. The Panthers’ third period

The Panthers unloaded in the final frame, scoring five goals to run away with Game 3 by a final score of 6-2. Five tucks is the most in any period in a playoff game in franchise history. The Hurricanes have now lost 15 straight conference final games since they won the Stanley Cup in 2006. — Arda Öcal

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Panthers pour it on with 2 more quick goals

The Panthers net two more goals in just over a minute to pad their lead vs. the Hurricanes.


Players to watch in Game 4

There’s no question Florida’s netminder has been building a Conn Smythe case with his excellent play in this postseason. However, Bobrovsky hasn’t been at his most dominant in (initial) closeout games during the playoffs. He made 26 saves for an .897 save percentage in Florida’s Game 5 win over Tampa Bay to send the Lightning home, and made just 15 stops (.882 SV%) in Florida’s Game 6 loss to Toronto in the second round, when the Panthers had a chance to advance.

Bobrovsky was practically impenetrable in Game 7 of that series as the Leafs imploded, but it’s fair to wonder what version of Bobrovsky the Panthers will get in Game 4.

When Florida had an opportunity to close out Edmonton in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final last spring, Bobrovsky turned in his worst showing of the playoffs, with five goals allowed on 11 shots that saw him chased from the net in an 8-1 thumping. Florida has put itself in a good position to send Carolina home, but wouldn’t it be nice to do it sooner than later? Bobrovsky at his best will help Florida do just that. — Shilton

Benching Frederik Andersen was done with the belief that Kochetkov could give the Hurricanes a stronger chance to win. Through two periods, it appeared that that could be the case, as Kochetkov received the necessary support from the Hurricanes’ defensive structure, something that had been an issue in the first two games.

But the Panthers’ five consecutive goals in the third period derailed things. The Hurricanes have now allowed 16 goals over three games. It’s a stark contrast to the first two rounds, when Carolina allowed 18 total in 10 games against the Devils and Capitals.

Kochetkov’s first two periods of Game 3 provided a level of consistency the Hurricanes have struggled to find at times. Is it possible they take something from the opening two-thirds of Game 3 and parlay it into a different outcome in Game 4? Or will it be game and season over instead? — Clark


Big questions for Game 4

Is Florida ready to end this series?

The cliché that the fourth win of a playoff series is the hardest to get exists for a reason. The Panthers experienced that firsthand last season when they took a 3-0 lead over Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Final, then crisscrossed the continent over the next week as the Oilers clawed back to force a Game 7.

Did the Panthers learn their lesson on how to close an opponent out quickly? Florida did it to these very Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals two years ago with a tidy four-game sweep featuring many of the same elements we’ve seen from the Panthers in this round. But Florida appeared to have Edmonton well in hand 11 months ago, too.

Game 3 was arguably the Hurricanes’ best of the series. If they can channel some significant desperation into their game Monday, how will Florida handle the pressure of an urgent club trying not to be embarrassed with a 16th consecutive loss in a conference final situation? The Panthers can’t afford to look past what will be a dramatic Game 4. — Shilton

Is this it for the Hurricanes — and what comes next if it is?

That in and of itself is a rather loaded question for several reasons, with the obvious being: Will Monday be Carolina’s last game of the 2025 playoffs? If it is, what could that mean for the franchise going forward?

The way the Hurricanes have been constructed has allowed them to become a perennial playoff team with a legitimate chance of reaching the conference finals. But that comes with the caveat that the Canes might not go any further than that.

It was a dilemma the Panthers faced before making the changes that saw them not only win a Stanley Cup, but also be one win away from a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final. Maybe it doesn’t come to that point for the Hurricanes. But if they allow five or more goals for a fourth straight game while also struggling to score? It could lead to some difficult questions this offseason in Raleigh. — Clark

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Up 3-0, Panthers will not ‘start looking ahead’

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Up 3-0, Panthers will not 'start looking ahead'

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers are one win away from an Eastern Conference finals sweep. They’ve outscored the Carolina Hurricanes, a team that’s lost 15 straight conference final games, by a count of 16-4. Yet Panthers forward Brad Marchand is still ready for this series to go the distance.

“We’re prepared to go seven here,” he said after their 6-2 victory in Game 3 on Saturday night. “I mean, you can’t start looking ahead. That’s such a dangerous game to play.”

Contextually, that mindset might seem preposterous. The Panthers are trying to match the Tampa Bay Lightning as the only teams since the Edmonton Oilers’ 1980s dynasty to advance to the Stanley Cup Final in three straight seasons, having won the Cup last season. They’ve dominated the Hurricanes with their physicality, scoring depth and the goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky, who now has a .947 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average in the conference finals.

It seems like a matter of when, not if, Florida will eliminate Carolina — and the “when” is trending to be Monday night at home in Game 4. Yet the Panthers are the last team to take a 3-0 lead for granted.

Coach Paul Maurice recalled their semifinals series against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2023, when they went up 3-0 and dropped a Game 4 on home ice. “We wanted it so bad that we tried to win the game on every play,” he said.

Then came the ultimate lesson on how not to close out a series: The 2024 Stanley Cup Final, which saw the Panthers squander a 3-0 series lead to the Edmonton Oilers before finally winning Game 7 to hoist the Cup for the first time.

Maurice hopes his players understand the dynamics at play in Game 4.

“They have the desperation advantage. You have, potentially, the desire advantage. Both teams will fight that. Can we control the desire emotion and play the game? Can they control the desperation emotion and play the game? The common denominator is just playing the game,” he said.

Game 3 saw the Hurricanes play with more desperation than they’ve exhibited in this series. The game was tied 1-1 entering the third period after Carolina’s Logan Stankoven — who Bobrovsky robbed earlier in the second period with a lunging blocker save — managed to knock the puck past him for a power-play goal at 14:51 to even the score.

The Hurricanes were finally looking like the stingy, tight-checking team they’re known for being. Maurice wasn’t expecting a windfall of offense from the Panthers after the first 40 minutes of Game 3.

“We’re not going out to the third period saying, ‘Well, we can tell this is going to work out [for us]. I’ve got an extra piece of gum in my pocket for the second overtime. That’s how our experience with Carolina has been,” the coach said.

The gum stayed in his pocket. Florida scored five goals in the first 10:37 of the third period to put the game — and potentially the series — away.

“We knew we needed to be a little better than what we were in the second period, so we tried to keep things simple and I think we got rewarded for that,” said captain Aleksander Barkov, who had two of the goals in the onslaught.

Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour was left dumbfounded.

“We’re playing better and then we just turn pucks over. It’s not what we do. I think everyone’s just pretty surprised, you know what I mean?” he said. “Just you can’t do that. In a preseason game it’s going to cost you. But against that team, and you turn it over for odd man rushes? Forget it.”

The key to the rally was a goal by forward Jesper Boqvist, who was put on Barkov’s line as an injury replacement for Sam Reinhart, the Panthers’ leading scorer in the regular season. He took a short pass from linemate Evan Rodrigues and then turned Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov (minus-4) inside out before scoring on the backhand against Pyotr Kochetkov (22 saves), who got the start over Frederik Andersen in Game 3 for Carolina.

Boqvist had just one goal and one assist in 9 playoff games this postseason, averaging 8:53 in ice time. In Game 3, he had three points (1 goal, 2 assists) and skated 15:08 for the Panthers.

“He’s an extremely gifted player. I love playing with him. He can kind of play anywhere in the lineup and he’s such an incredible skater. So strong with the puck, so smart. And that was a massive goal,” Marchand said.

The Panthers won Game 3 without Reinhart and without having forward Eetu Luostarinen for most of the game, after he was ejected for boarding Carolina forward Jackson Blake in the first period. Luostarinen was tied for the team lead with 13 points entering Game 3, with 4 goals and 9 assists.

The Panthers would kill off that 5-minute major in what Maurice called “a real inflection point in the game,” considering that Florida was missing key penalty killers in Luostarinen and Reinhart, who is day-to-day with a lower body injury. When they needed him, Bobrovsky (23 saves) was a great last line of defense.

Thanks to their third-period deluge, the Panthers are now poised to sweep the Hurricanes in the conference final for the second time in three postseasons. Yet even with Florida’s domination of the series, Marchand said his team is anything but overconfident.

“I don’t think the way the games have been played is really an indication of what the outcome’s been, score wise. They’ve been pretty tight. It just seems like we’ve gotten a couple bounces, a couple lucky breaks here and there that have given us a pretty good lead,” he said.

“But it doesn’t matter. It’s not going to change anything about next game. We’ve got to come in and prepare the same way. It’s always the toughest one to get, so we got to make sure we bring our best.”

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Panthers’ Luostarinen ejected after check in 1st

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Panthers' Luostarinen ejected after check in 1st

SUNRISE, Fla. — Florida Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen was ejected from Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals after a boarding major against forward Jackson Blake of the Carolina Hurricanes.

With 3:01 left in the first period, Blake was chasing the puck back in his own zone with Luostarinen behind him. As Luostarinen reached out with his stick, Blake stopped short of the boards and Luostarinen hit through him. Luostarinen drove Blake’s head into the boards, bloodying the Carolina forward.

The on-ice officials gave Luostarinen a five-minute major and then reviewed the hit. They confirmed the call on the ice. Per NHL Rule 41.5, when a major penalty for boarding is called, a game misconduct is automatic. A major penalty for boarding is determined by “the degree of violence of the impact with the boards.”

Luostarinen was tied for the team lead with 13 points entering Game 3, with 4 goals and 9 assists. He scored 12 of those points on the road. Blake returned to action in the second period.

The Panthers lead the series 2-0 and had a 1-0 lead in Game 3 when the major penalty was called.

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