Panthers Take Down Bruins, Oilers Even Series
The Panthers, Oilers, and Stars all won their respective games last night to pull even in their series 1-1. Read on for my thoughts on how I think the Panthers and Oilers series will unfold moving forward.
Panthers vs. Bruins, Series Tied 1-1
The Panthers perhaps had the most notable win of the bunch, absolutely dismantling a Boston Bruins team that was heavily favored (-240) and expected to win in what is a 1 versus 8 seed matchup. The Panthers struggled much of the regular season but turned things around late in the year to sneak into the playoffs.
The team has plenty of offensive talent from team captain Aleksander Barkov and assistant Captain Matthew Tkachuk. The Panthers seem to have found some stability on the backend – at least for the immediate future – in goalie Alex Lyon. Lyon should be very proud of the way he played in the Panthers 6-3 win last night, saving 34 of 37 shots he faced.
The Panthers should feel like they are in a solid position to push this series to at least 6 games, and should even fancy their chances of winning the series outright if the team plays to their potential at home.
The Bruins are in trouble. Boston fans will likely feel insecure about that statement, and that’s because they’re insecure about the series.
Oilers vs. Kings, Series Tied 1-1
The Edmonton Oilers pulled even with the Los Angeles Kings with a 4-2 win to tie the series at 1 game a piece heading to Los Angeles. The Oilers had a jump on the puck last night, scoring the game’s first two goals and maintaining a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
The Kings came out in the second period and played spectacular defense. The Oilers, however, certainly had their chances to score and then late in the second period, Kings’ Phillip Danault and Gabriel Vilardi would tie the game at 2-2 going into the third period.
The Oilers came out in the third period absolutely buzzing on the fresh cut ice. Klim Kostin of the Oilers would find the back of the net for the home team just 2:20 into the final period, which would stand as the game-winning-goal in the Oilers’ 4-2 victory.
The Oilers should be disappointed they dropped a game at home but have shown that they are perfectly capable of beating the Kings when playing in Los Angeles during the regular NHL season, going 1-1 in LA, winning their most recent meeting on April 4th by a score of 3-1 in what was a playoff style atmosphere and game – the two teams had a good feeling they’d be seeing each other in the playoffs.
I don’t think this series will last more than 6 games, it won’t matter where McDavid and Draisaitl are playing hockey, if there’s a puck and a net to score on, they’ll get it done.
