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Will this year‘s Finals will be different than last year‘s? My Pick….. |
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And then there were two.
Tonight we get what is probably indeed the two best teams in the NHL battling it out for the Stanley Cup. Stories, abound, everything from McDavid and Canada winning a Stanley Cup to the Florida Panthers, turning into the first hockey dynasty in the NHL since the Chicago Blackhawks.
What’s the same?
The Panthers are a machine, and that machine is every bit as oiled and ready to go as it was last year…if not more . They will frustrate teams almost every minute of every game, they have four lines that can beat you at any time, and a goaltender that gets better and better the closer he gets to the championship.
The Oilers have changed around a lot of their secondary pieces. And those secondary pieces came alive in the playoffs. McDavid, Draisaitl and company have been through this before and appeared to be much more relaxed heading into this final than they were last year. Like last year goalie Skinner is playing to his potential and is coming in white hot to the Stanley Cup finals
What’s different?
The Panthers now know how to win a Stanley Cup, and the Oilers know how to compete in a Stanley Cup final. Both were not the case last year.
The Panthers are healthy and have added two major players in Brad Marchand and Seth Jones, both of whom have found their game in the last few rounds of the playoffs. Last year this team was way more dependent on Matthew Tkachuk carrying them. That is no longer the case.
Last year, the Oilers felt a ton of pressure, and this year despite the fact that Canada does have a big desire to win another Stanley Cup, I get the idea that Edmonton’s just wanting to get revenge on last year and not really so worried about failing. And that’s very important for a team like Edmonton.
What will be the difference?
In my opinion, the difference will be if Skinner can continue his magic against a different kind of attack than Dallas. The Panthers will shoot from everywhere and they will be ready to pick up rebounds. Dallas wasn’t so good at jumping on the rebounds in the last series and started to get too fancy with their passes in order to beat Skinner.. Florida doesn’t fall into that trap ever.
My pick?
Florida in 6
ENJOY!
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