The Stanley Cup Playoffs continued last night with one game. Last night was game one of the Eastern Conference Finals. The New York Rangers are playing the Florida Panthers in that series. There is one game tonight. The Western Conference Finals start tonight. That series is between the Edmonton Oilers and the Dallas Stars.
The New York Rangers played the Florida Panthers in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals. The New York Rangers swept the Washington Capitals and defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. The Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. This was the first game of the series. This game was in New York. With three minutes to play in the first period, #19 Matthew Tkachuk scored to give the Panthers the lead. His goal was assisted by #42 Gustav Forsling and #23 Carter Verhaeghe. The score was 1-0 Panthers after the first period.
Neither team scored in the second period. The score was still 1-0 Panthers going into the third period. With just under four minutes left in the third period, #23 Carter Verhaeghe scored to give the panthers a two goal lead. His goal was unassisted. With just over a minute left in the game, #9 Dam Bennett scored to give the Panthers a three goal lead. His goal was assisted by #19 Matthew Tkachuk. The final score was 3-0 Panthers. The Florida Panthers have a 1-0 series lead over the New York Rangers.
The Panthers get the big win in game one. They also got the shut out. That is huge. To shut out the Rangers at home in the playoffs. The Rangers are favored by a lot of people to win the cup. The Panthers show up and act like the Rangers are not even a challenge. What happened to the Rangers? the offense was not there. They did not look like the same team we have seen up to this point in the playoffs. The Rangers are finally facing a challenge. The Panthers have now shown that they are a huge threat to the Rangers. I expect a big response in game two from the Rangers.
Game two of the Eastern Conference Finals will be on Friday, May 23rd at 5:00 PM. That game will be in New York.
The Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, and Vancouver Canucks have been eliminated from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, and Dallas Stars have advanced to the second round.
The New York Rangers and Florida Panthers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
The number one seed Dallas Stars will take on the number five seed Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals. The Stars finished the regular season with a .634 win percentage. The Oilers finished the regular season with a win percentage of .598. The Stars won two out of their three meetings this season. Their last game was on April 3rd with the Stars winning that game 5-0.
The Dallas Stars knocked out the Vegas Golden Knights in round one. That series went to seven games. The Dallas Stars then eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in six games in round two. The Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Los Angeles Kings in five games in round one. The Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Vancouver Canucks in the second round. That series went to seven games. The Dallas Stars had a tough time in round one with the Vegas Golden Knights. That series could have gone either way with either team making the Western Conference Finals. The Colorado Avalanche almost forced a game seven against the Stars in the second round. The Stars have had plenty of challenges in their first two series. The Los Angeles Kings did not put up much of a fight against the Edmonton Oilers. The Edmonton Oilers had to fight off elimination from the Canucks. That series was very close and very back and fourth.
This is the Dallas stars seventh time in the Conference Finals. They were in the Western Conference Finals last season. This is the Edmonton Oilers tenth time in the Western Conference Finals. The last time they were in the Western Conference Finals was in 2022. The last time the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers faced off in the playoffs was in 2003. The Dallas Stars are a solid team with a mix of young and veteran talent. They have struggled to win close games in the playoffs. The Edmonton Oilers have a lot of star power. They are lacking defensively and in net but they have powered through that to find ways to win.
2024 regular season head to head record:
| GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 7 | +5 |
| Oilers | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 12 | -5 |
2024 regular season record:
| GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 82 | 52 | 21 | 9 | 113 | 298 | 234 | +64 |
| Oilers | 82 | 49 | 27 | 6 | 104 | 294 | 237 | +57 |
2024 playoff record:
| GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 37 | 31 | +6 |
| Oilers | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 46 | 33 | +13 |
Game one of this series is tonight. Game one will be in Dallas. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:30 PM. The winner of this series will face the New York Rangers or Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Zac Electrifly 
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