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And Then There Have been 4

Now that we’ve seen the all-too-familiar Toronto Maple Leafs vanquished in a Sport 7 and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning squad eradicated early (this time the Winnipeg Jets), the Stanley Cup Playoffs have reached the convention finals.

These ought to each be doozies — even with all 4 division champs ousted within the second spherical.

Within the Jap Convention last, the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers — the lowest-seeded crew remaining of the ultimate 4 — face the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s a rematch of the 2023 conflict to succeed in the Closing, which Florida gained in a four-game sweep, albeit needing quadruple additional time within the collection opener, additional time in Sport 2, and one-goal victories within the final two clashes.

Within the West, the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars meet within the third spherical for consecutive years. Edmonton gained in six video games a 12 months in the past, closing out the collection with three consecutive wins.

Right here’s a have a look at why all 4 groups are able to advancing to the Closing amidst what was a unbelievable first two rounds of the Stanley Cup chase.

Florida Panthers

The champions till they’re unseated, the Panthers made quick work of the Tampa Bay Lightning within the first spherical however appeared on the ropes once they dropped the primary two video games towards the Maple Leafs earlier than discovering their kind.

Florida is searching for a 3rd consecutive journey to the championship spherical, and arguably has a extra full crew than a 12 months in the past — particularly with its third line of Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarainen, who’ve mixed for 10 targets, greater than the Aleksander Barkov-led prime line.

Carolina Hurricanes

Andrei Svechnikov, who missed the 2023 playoffs and final assembly with Florida attributable to a knee damage, has scored eight targets — second solely to Mikko Rantanen of the Dallas Stars — whereas the Hurricanes dispatched each the Montreal Canadiens and convention champion Washington Capitals in 5 video games.

The oddsmakers are selecting the Panthers, however don’t gloss over the truth that Carolina boasts the perfect crew goals-against common and penalty kill so far within the playoffs — largely as a result of goaltender Frederik Andersen has a league-best 1.36 goals-against common and .937 save proportion.

Dallas Stars

Dallas arguably has gone by the hardest opposition to succeed in this level, first beating the Colorado Avalanche in seven video games after which taking out the Jets in six.

The kicker is that Dallas has not been clicking on all cylinders. Not solely have the Stars been outscored 38–34, however whereas Rantanen has been a dominant pressure, Jason Robertson and Matt Duchene have each failed to attain a objective. Key will likely be for Dallas to proceed boasting lights-out particular groups. The Stars even have the higher goaltender within the collection in Jake Oettinger.

Edmonton Oilers

Everyone knows how the Oilers boast the sport’s greatest offensive dynamic duo in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. An enormous distinction from the previous is the supporting solid, with the likes of Corey Perry (5 targets), Evander Kane (4 targets), Connor Brown (4 targets) and Adam Henrique (three targets).

The opposite new facet of the Oilers is their much-improved defensive play, particularly after the primary few video games of their six-game opening-round collection with the Los Angeles Kings. Edmonton’s protection — which is anticipated to obtain an enormous enhance with Mattias Ekholm coming back from damage this spherical — has been an enormous issue because the crew gained eight of its final 9 video games and closed out the Vegas Golden Knights with consecutive shutouts.