The stage is set for the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, as the Florida Panthers will look to win the Cup after falling short last season, and they'll do so against Connor McDavid and the high-flying Edmonton Oilers.
The Panthers got through three rounds in the Eastern Conference, beating the New York Rangers in the conference final, while the Oilers are the last team standing out of the Western Conference after a hard-fought series win over the Dallas Stars.
The Oilers have not been to the Stanley Cup Final since they lost in 2006, and they're looking to become the first Canadian franchise to capture the Cup since 1993.
Florida was in the final just last season, but they are looking for their first Cup win in franchise history after losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023.
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Stanley Cup Final Preview: How do the Panthers and Oilers Stack Up?
The pre-series vibe to this matchup feels awfully similar to the one from before Edmonton's series against Dallas, although there are a couple of key differences between the Panthers and Stars.
We'll start with Edmonton then. Connor McDavid is playing at a level where if he brings it every night and a few things go right for the Oilers, he could more or less win this series by himself.
We know for sure he'll get strong support from Leon Draisatil, winger Zach Hyman, and defenseman Evan Bouchard. Those four playing at their current level makes the Oilers very difficult to beat, and Edmonton has been lethal on special teams in the postseason.
On the negative side, there's a possibility that goaltender Stuart Skinner could return to his less effective ways at any point in this series. If we see anything close to the worst of Skinner, and we've already seen it in this postseason, Florida will win.
Edmonton's defense beyond Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm is an area of concern as well, with Darnell Nurse vacillating between effective and ineffective and generally having a rough go of it in the playoffs.
Florida is more solid between the pipes, although Sergei Bobrovsky has not played quite as well as he is capable of. Florida and Dallas are both solid top-to-bottom teams, but Florida's excellence comes from its defense, while Dallas brings it by rolling three lines' worth of very strong scoring threats.
Edmonton could outscore Dallas' depth with its high-level talent, but can Florida's relentless pressure and dominant defense stifle McDavid just enough to win this series?
There's reason to believe it could, and there's also reason to believe it could make it so that McDavid basically does have to do everything itself.
The Panthers' top pairing of Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad have absolutely dominated Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, and Artemi Panarin in the first three rounds, nearly completely taking them out of the series. None of those three are on McDavid's level, but it's three legitimate MVP candidates.
Florida brings a wholesale defensive effort that is tough to match, and we just saw a solid offensive team in New York absolutely floundering trying to find goals against them.
This is all to say nothing of the offensive excellence that Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, and Sam Reinhart bring to the team up front.
While Edmonton could handle the well-balanced nature of Dallas' game, I'm not sure Florida's blend of it is as favorable of a matchup for the Oilers.
The Prediction: Florida Panthers in 7 Games
When and How to Watch the Stanley Cup Final
Both teams will come into this series fairly rested, with the Panthers having earned a week off since beating the Rangers and the Oilers having six days of rest.
The Panthers will have home ice advantage in the series, as they finished ahead of the Oilers in the regular season.
Here is the full schedule for all seven games of the Stanley Cup Final, which will run from June 8th to June 24th if the full seven games are required.
Game 1: Oilers vs. Panthers, June 8 (8:00 PM, ABC)
Game 2: Oilers vs. Panthers, June 10 (8:00 PM, ABC)
Game 3: Panthers vs. Oilers, June 13 (8:00 PM, ABC)
Game 4: Panthers vs. Oilers, June 15 (8:00 PM, ABC)
Game 5*: Oilers vs. Panthers, June 18 (8:00 PM, ABC)
Game 6*: Panthers vs. Oilers, June 21 (8:00 PM, ABC)
Game 7*: Oilers vs. Panthers, June 24 (8:00 PM, ABC)
* if necessary
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