The best against the best: what awaits Bobrovsky's team in the final episode

This year, the Panthers repeated the achievement of their neighbors in the state from Tampa. The Lightning dominated the early 2020s and won two consecutive titles. Paul Maurice's team now has a chance to do their championship double. Florida lost to Vegas in the finals two years ago (1-4) and a season later brought the club its first Stanley Cup in a dramatic series with Edmonton (4-3, led 3-0 and scored a victory in the seventh match). This summer, the Panthers and Oilers will play again, now the Canadian club will have the advantage of its ice. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are aiming for the first championship of their careers and the first for the club since 1990. Canada has been waiting for the Cup to return for a long time. Sergey Bobrovsky and his partners will do everything to leave the trophy in the south of the United States.

In favor of the Oilers

For the second year in a row, the same teams will play in the Stanley Cup Finals. This has not happened in the NHL since 2009, when Pittsburgh took revenge on Detroit. It's possible to speculate for a long time about why the most unpredictable league in the world turns into the most predictable. In the meantime, it is worth noting one fact — from the "East" to the decisive series in six years, only two teams representing one region with the most lenient taxation have reached compared to the vast majority of other clubs.

The Stanley Cup has not been won in Canada for 32 years, and it seems that Edmonton is closer than ever to ending this long streak. The team has clearly become stronger compared to the last final, when it was just one victory short of the title. The famous portal The Athletic conducted an anonymous survey of general managers and head coaches of NHL clubs. Of the 40 participants, more than half — 21 people — preferred the Oilers. Last year, according to the results of the same vote, Florida was the clear favorite.

Edmonton has dropped sharply in terms of actions in the minority and ranks only 14th with 66% of neutralization (a year ago it was the first line and a fantastic 94.3%). In the previous round, the team also lost striker Zach Hyman, who had the most power plays (111) in the current playoff draw, until the end of the season.

Otherwise, the Oilers look great. Goalkeeper Stuart Skinner, who now looks no worse than Sergei Bobrovsky, has gained excellent form — six wins in the last seven matches with a 94.4 percentage of reflected shots and three "breadcrumbs". The defense is also very solid. She was clearly strengthened by the return of her best defender, Matthias Ekholm, after an injury.

The most important thing is that the team has stopped depending on the Connor McDavid–Leon Draisaitl duo in attack. When none of these superstars were on the court in the current playoffs, Edmonton outscored their opponents in goals (21-10). To understand how important this figure is, it is enough to emphasize that over the past seven Stanley Cup appearances, the Oilers have only once had at least a neutral goal difference in this indicator (2-2 in the 2019/20 season). In the other five— the percentage of goals they scored ranged from 29 to 45.

"I think we've gotten better after going through everything last year," McDavid said at a press conference. — We got and learned a great experience, it really moved us all this year. I think this campaign feels different compared to the past. Normal feelings. I wouldn't call such a feeling completely boring, but there aren't so many emotions. We had no ups, no downs. It's just stability, and I think it puts us in a good position.

Capital Chance: Will Ovechkin win a second Stanley Cup

All pairs of the first round of the NHL playoffs became known.

Reaching the finals for the third time in a row in the era of a tight salary cap is an outstanding achievement for Florida, designed by the brilliant work of general manager Bill Zito. Tampa had shortened seasons and won the title in the bubble. Even now, when analyzing the Panthers game, the last thing I want to think about is human fatigue. The team has a decent depth of composition, acts best in pressure and constantly keeps the opponent's defenders in suspense, using power techniques more often than others. The energy-intensive manner has not yet affected the freshness of the Florida.

Therefore, we can expect that the Southerners will try to knock Edmonton out of its usual state due to aggressive, tough and power play. Sometimes dirty and even over the edge. The Oilers should be ready for this. They also have tough guys like Evander Kane, Darnell Ners, and Trent Frederick. The team drew conclusions from the defeat in last year's finals, which is reminiscent of Florida, which came to the Stanley Cup through failure in the decisive series with Vegas in 2023.

Victory calculation: Ovechkin and McDavid will be eliminated, and Bobrovsky will go further

Predictions for the second round of the Stanley Cup

The Bobrovsky factor

Bobrovsky became a champion for the first time in his 14th NHL season and after five years at Florida. The former Philadelphia and Columbus goalkeeper with two Vezina Trophy awards has long since cleared up all questions about his importance to the Panthers. Each of the three trips of Maurice's team to the finals was impossible without the outstanding performance of the Russian. The 36-year-old goalkeeper, along with his partners, appreciates the moment. After winning the series with Tampa (4-1), Toronto (4-3) and Carolina (4-1), the most important step needs to be taken.

"It's definitely a blessing to play in the finals three years in a row,— Bobrovsky said. — We are delighted with what will happen. We have passed three very good teams, and now we have a good challenge ahead of us too.

Bobrovsky separately described the confrontation with two of the best hockey players in the world — McDavid and Dreisaitl.

— Yes, again: It will be a great challenge for us. They have a balanced team, good defense and a great attack. It will be a good ending," Sergey said.

The goalkeeper tried to describe the secret of Coach Maurice's success.

— He also has serious experience and trusts the people around him. Paul knows the game very well, the properties of the human mind. He knows what to say and when to say it, a true leader. This is an important reason why we have three finals in a row," said the Russian.

The final series of "Florida" and "Edmonton" will begin in Canada on the night of Thursday, June 5 (Moscow time).