The Eastern Conference Final is upon us, as the Rangers and Panthers drop the puck at 8pm for Game 1. The Blueshirts have eliminated the Caps and Canes while the Panthers have taken out Tampa and Boston. The Rangers will look to capitalize on the most penalized team in the NHL, while Florida will look to play its heavier game style and beat the Rangers into submission.
This is a matchup between, in my opinion, the two top teams in the East and two of the top three teams in the NHL (Dallas). The Rangers went through the fourth best team (again, just my opinion) in Carolina, while Florida hasn’t had a true test yet. The Blueshirts offer a unique blend of skill, goaltending, and special teams dominance that Florida hasn’t seen yet.
Of course, the Rangers haven’t faced a goalie like Sergei Bobrovsky in the playoffs yet.
If you missed our previews, check them out: Stats preview. Systems preview. Goaltending preview. Keys to victory.
Panthers Lines
Vladimir Tarasenko-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe-Sam Bennett-Matt Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Evan Rodrigues
Ryan Lomberg-Kevin Stenlund-Nick Cousins
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Dimitriy Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky gets the start
Rangers Lines
Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Jack Roslovic
Filip Chytil-Alex Wennberg-Kaapo Kakko
Will Cuylle-Barclay Goodrow-Jimmy Vesey
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Erik Gustafsson-Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin gets the start
Injuries: None (technically)
Crazy Prediction: Chytil scores.
Game time is 8pm.
