NHL Notebook: Conference Finals Preview

The puck drops in the conference finals for the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight. We’ve got Carolina-Florida in the East, televised by TNT and Dallas-Edmonton in the West will be on ESPN. Here’s our preview of both matchups. Betting odds are listed next to the favorite…

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Carolina vs. Florida (-125)
The Hurricanes and Panthers have been the two best defensive teams in the playoffs. They have done it the same way, by playing physical hockey, limiting shot attempts and making opponents feel like they’re at the dentist’s office. They’ve done it against high-quality offenses, with Carolina locking up Alex Ovechkin, and Florida shutting down Toronto and Tampa. Each has a veteran goalie playing well, 35-year-old Frederik Anderson for the Hurricanes and 36-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky for the Panthers.

Florida has gotten a major offensive lift from another proud veteran, Brad Marchand, acquired from Boston at the trade deadline. Marchand has nine assists in the playoffs to go with his three goals. Along with Eetu Luostarinen, he’s tied with Florida for points, while center Sam Reinhart’s four goals lead the scoring. Carolina’s top-heavy offense has been led by the eight goals of Andrei Svechnikov. It’s not hard to see why oddsmakers have this series priced so close. The Hurricanes have spent the past few years knocking hard on the door, while the Panthers are the proud defending champs. It’s a great matchup in every way, except if you want wide-open, high-scoring hockey. Hurricanes in 7.

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Dallas vs. Edmonton (-120)
If the East offers two teams that are almost identical twins, the West provides the true clash in styles. The Oilers play wide-open hockey. They’ve averaged almost four goals per game in the playoffs, second-best in the postseason and the highest of any team remaining. They do it by playing at an accelerated pace, generating a lot of shots, with Connor McDavid acting like the point guard on the fast break, with 14 playoff assists. Leon Draisaitl has five goals and 11 assists himself. But Edmonton also has, by far, the leakiest defense of any of the four remaining teams.

The Stars are doing it—fittingly—with stars. The production has been top-heavy. Miko Rantanen has been the best player in the postseason overall, with nine goals and ten assists, there hasn’t been enough depth to the Dallas attack and their offense has easily been the least productive of the four remaining teams. Defensively, Dallas is being carried by the superlative play of goalie Jake Oettinger, who is being exposed to a lot of traffic, but keeps delivering. The Stars need to grind these games to a halt, lest Oettinger have to do it again against McDavid and Draisaitl. Oilers in 6.