The Florida Panthers will play the Dallas Stars or the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers advanced to the Cup Final for the second straight season by eliminating the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final with a 2-1 win in Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday. They also defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the first round and advanced to the conference final with a six-game series win against the Boston Bruins.
Florida (52-24-6), which is the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division, would host Edmonton (49-27-6), but open on the road against Dallas (52-21-9), the top seed in the Western Conference. The Oilers lead that series 3-2 with Game 6 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, TVAS).
“I think there’s a lot of New York Rangers in both these teams," said Florida coach Paul Maurice. "Like, the brilliant speed and dynamic off the rush. That would be our sense, that the Boston Bruins series to the New York Rangers series is completely different. This would be more akin to what we’ve seen in our last series. We think we’ve seen three completely different styles in some ways."
The Panthers are 0-2 in the Final. They lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights last season and were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.
Forward Matthew Tkachuk leads the Panthers in the playoffs with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists), and forward Carter Verhaeghe (nine goals, eight assists) and center Aleksander Barkov (six goals, 11 assists) each has 17 points. Forward Sam Reinhart has 12 points (eight goals, four assists).
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has started every game, going 12-5 with a 2.20 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. Backup Anthony Stolarz has not played in the playoffs.
Dallas won the first round against the Golden Knights in seven games and defeated the Avalanche in six games in the second round. The Stars are looking to advance to the Cup final for the fourth time since relocating from Minnesota for the 1993-94 season and first time since 2020, when they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Dallas won the Stanley Cup in 1999, defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six games in the Final.
Edmonton defeated the Los Angeles Kings in five games in the first round and the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in the second round. The Oilers last advanced to the Cup Final in 2006, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. Edmonton has won the Stanley Cup five times, the last coming in 1990.
“We see them play, so we see that they're both unreal teams, unbelievable teams, really good players on both teams," said Barkov. "I’m not going to go into details about the teams right now, but, for sure, either of those teams you’re going to be [playing] against is going to be a very tough matchup. So, obviously, rest right now, recover and then wait for the opponent and then get back to work.”
Florida was 2-0-0 against Dallas this season, winning 5-4 at home on Dec. 6 and 4-3 on the road on March 12. Barkov had five points (three goals, two assists), and Reinhart and forward Evan Rodrigues each had two goals and two assists. Bobrovsky was 2-0-0 with a 3.50 GAA and .889 save percentage.
For Dallas, center Wyatt Johnston and forward Mason Marchment each had three points (one goal, two assists) against the Panthers in the regular season. Forwards Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski and defenseman Thomas Harley each had a goal and an assist. Goalie Jake Oettinger started each game, going 0-2-0 with a 4.67 GAA and .852 save percentage.
The Panthers were 2-0-0 against the Oilers, winning 5-3 at home on Nov. 20 and 5-1 on the road on Dec. 16. Verhaeghe had five points (three goals, two assists), center Sam Bennett had four points (two goals, two assists) and center Kevin Stenlund had three points (one goal, two assists). Bobrovsky was 2-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .941 save percentage.
For Edmonton, center Connor McDavid had three points (two goals, one assist) against the Panthers in the regular season. Forwards Zach Hyman and Evander Kane each had one goal. Starting goalie Stuart Skinner did not play against the Panthers in the regular season. Backup Calvin Pickard started each game, going 0-2-0 with a 4.59 GAA and .873 save percentage.
“Two really good teams," Bennett said of Dallas and Edmonton. "I think the final four were the four best teams. So now it’s going to be another challenge, but we’re ready for it.”
