The second round of the NHL playoffs is in the history books, and it’s again time for our series predictions.
In the second round, we went 2-2 with our picks, and overall this Stanley Cup playoffs, we’ve gone 8-4. Not all that shabby, right?
We’ve already shared our prediction for the Western Conference final. Now, let’s move on in this file to our Eastern Conference final selection.
Never forget, what follows is this writer’s educated guess on the series that remain. Let’s get to it:
Carolina Hurricanes (M2) vs. Florida Panthers (A3)
Season series: 2-1 Florida
Why Carolina will win: After steamrolling the New Jersey Devils in a five-game series win in Round 1, the Hurricanes looked just as good, if not better, in Round 2, eliminating the Washington Capitals in five games.
Carolina has thrived on defense, averaging only 1.80 goals against per game, which is more than a half-goal fewer than the next-best defensive squad in the post-season, the Panthers at 2.42.
Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen’s 1.36 goals-against average and .937 save percentage are much better than Panthers counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky’s 2.31 GAA and .901 SP.
And Carolina’s penalty kill has been nearly perfect at a 93.3-percent kill rate. By just about every metric, the Hurricanes have been better in their own zone than Florida has been – and the Panthers have a strong defense this post-season, so that’s really saying something. If you believe defense wins championships, you have to believe the Hurricanes are in a very good position here.
Carolina is a fast, deep, hungry and well-coached group that can take it to the Panthers.
It’s not going to be a walk in the park for the Hurricanes to beat Florida. And we all saw in Round 2 that, even if the Panthers go down 2-0 in a series, the way they did to the Toronto Maple Leafs, they’re far from on the brink of elimination. But Carolina was a sexy pick to come out of the Eastern Conference because they check a lot of boxes. Nothing has changed in that regard through two rounds.
Why Florida will win: The Panthers have played a lot of high-impact, high-stakes hockey in recent years, and they outlasted two above-average teams in the Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning this spring because they were able to summon the intestinal fortitude to overwhelm them. You can argue that Florida was able to contain higher-end talent in Toronto and Tampa Bay than they’ll be facing against Carolina in Round 3.
The Panthers’ brand is mean and nasty, push-the-envelope hockey. With due respect to the Capitals and Devils, the Hurricanes haven’t yet encountered a playoff opponent this spring who can impose their will the way Florida can.
The Panthers have a grind advantage, and they can make adjustments from period to period and game to game to shake down Carolina in ways the Devils and Capitals did not.
So long as Bobrovsky plays the way he performed in the Panthers’ series comeback against the Leafs and not how he played in Games 1 and 2, the Panthers will provide the Hurricanes with their toughest test yet. While Florida had some unsatisfactory showings against the Leafs in particular, the Panthers’ wealth of experience will serve them well against a Hurricanes core that doesn’t yet have that type of championship pedigree.
NHL Playoff Predictions 2025: Will The Stars Or Oilers Win The Western Conference Final?The second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are over, so it’s once again time to offer our series predictions. In the second round, we went 1-1 with our Western picks, and we’re back to offer up our projections for the Western Conference final.
Prediction: Hurricanes in six games
The Hurricanes got to the Conference final after making some massive in-season changes, including trading away one of their best players, right winger Martin Necas, and then moving the star they acquired for Necas, right winger Mikko Rantanen. Although they landed right winger Logan Stankoven from the Dallas Stars for Rantanen, that should tell you all you need to know about the depth Carolina has up and down the lineup.
And that brings us to arguably the biggest X-factor in Carolina’s favor – its defense corps. From this writer’s perspective, the Hurricanes’ collection of blueliners is the best group remaining in the post-season, and whether it’s Jaccob Slavin, Brent Burns or Dmitry Orlov, Carolina has a slew of experienced hands in their own zone that makes life significantly easier for Andersen.
You have to give the Panthers their due for taking out two solid squads to get to the Eastern Conference final after making the Cup final the last two years. But we’re picking the Hurricanes to win this series – and they won’t need the full seven games to win it, either.
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