The NHL's Eastern Conference Final is locked in. The Florida Panthers will take on the Carolina Hurricanes after both teams finished their second round series in only five games.
The Hurricanes entered the postseason as the Metropolitan Division winners and the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference, while the Panthers snagged the final spot in the postseason and are on a Cinderella run as the No. 8 seed.
Let's take a look at the series odds and then I'll break down my pick to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Panthers vs. Hurricanes series odds
Panthers vs. Hurricanes series prediction
I had concerns about the Hurricanes heading into the second round with the amount of injuries they've had to deal with, most notably Teuvo Teräväinen, who suffered a hand injury in the first round series against the Islanders. He's unlikely to return to play in the Eastern Conference Final as well.
But, the Hurricanes went on to dominate the New Jersey Devils, even without Teräväinen, as well as two of their other top wingers, in the lineup. That is a huge testament to head coach, Rod Brind'Amour, who has establishes a style of play that can overcome missing pieces.
That same style of play is going to cause the Panthers a ton of issues. Florida is an offense-first team and if they don't receive top notch goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky, they're going to be in trouble.
Luckily for them, they got exactly that in their second round series against the Maple Leafs. Bobrovsky is sporting an impressive .918 save percentage so far in the playoffs, but can he keep that up?
I say no. he had a completely average save percentage of .901 this season, and hasn't had a save percentage close to what he has in the playoffs since the 2016-2018 season.
Eventually, his stats will regress to the mean and that's going to cost the Panthers against a strong team like the Hurricanes.
Carolina can shut Florida down and take advantage of the offensive chances it receives.
I'll back the Hurricanes as favorites to get the job done and advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
