The upstart Florida Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes in four games of the Eastern Conference Finals, which came as a surprise to many Canes fans.
Carolina battled through a six-game series with the New York Islanders in the opening round, then easily dispatched the New Jersey Devils in five games during the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
What happened in the Stanley Cup Finals, however, also came as a shock to many in the hockey world.
Florida, coming off a career series from Sergei Bobrovsky in which he allowed just six goals in four games, was extremely outplayed by the Cup-winning Vegas Golden Knights in a five-game set.
The Panthers had no trouble finding the back of the net in the Cup Finals, scoring at least two goals in each game and continuing their impressive overtime winning streak in a 3-2, Game 3 victory.
Defense, however, wasn’t able to hold up like it did in the ECF.
Bobrovsky looked human and more like his regular-season self.
Vegas tacked him for 21 goals in the entire series, including eight in their cup-clinching, Game 5 domination. Florida head coach and former Carolina boss Paul Maurice pulled Bobrovsky for Alex Lyon in Game 2, after the former allowed four goals on just 13 shots.
This poses the question – why could the Knights crack Bobrovsky at ease, while the Canes had to throw virtually everything at him to just get a solid chance?
The most glaring reason was Vegas’ ability to create traffic in front of the net and find open ice with ease.
From going back and watching the highlights, nearly every Knights goal came from a screen in front of the net.
Carolina created a majority of its chances from the blue line, with defensemen like Brian Burns sending wristers on net and relying on deflections from his centers and wingers.
There was one issue – the Canes rarely put bodies in front of Bobrovsky.
A lot of Carolina’s chances were blocked by defensemen. Florida’s defensemen played a big role in shutting down the Canes, too, but Carolina missed a lot of opportunities.
When all a team does is rely on shots from the blue line, it’s pretty easy for the opposition to shut down their attackers.
Whereas the Canes’ offense disappeared in the playoffs, Vegas’ came to life.
Four Knights finished with double-digit goals – Jonathan Marchessault (team-high 13), captain Mark Stone and William Karlsson (11 each), plus Chandler Stephenson (10).
Carolina’s leading postseason goal scorer was Jesper Fast, who finished with a meager six when compared to Vegas’ red-hot offense. Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis each contributed five.
This stat particularly stands out – the Canes scored 46 goals throughout the entire postseason, while Vegas’ top four combined for 45.
Are the Canes really still that far away from a Stanley Cup trophy?
Their run to the ECF tells the hockey world no. They have the offensive talent in Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, some of the best depth in the NHL, one of the strongest defensive players in Jaccob Slavin, plus a solid Frederik Andersen-Antti Raanta goaltending duo. Oh – and Pyotr Kochectkov is waiting in the rafters for his starting opportunity, which could come closer than fans may think.
It’s not often that teams have two solid goalies, but the Canes have the luxury of three.
If Carolina wants to make that next move, they may want to package Andersen and Raanta for a superstar scorer.
Take someone like Auston Matthews, who consistently finishes near the top of the NHL in goals scored (100 goals in last two seasons combined). Maybe pry the 2022-2023 top offensive producer Connor McDavid (64 goals, 89 assists) away from the Oilers, a consistent playoff team like Carolina who, on the contrary, has an electric offense but struggles defensively? What about Tom Wilson, a big, physical scorer on the rival Washington Capitals who consistently produces at a top-line level (20 goals in three of the past five seasons)?
The NHL draft is Wednesday, June 28 – maybe the Canes find their offensive answer that way, meaning they likely wouldn’t have to give up as much.
Regardless of what direction Carolina goes, they need more offensive talent and production if they want to win their second Stanley Cup.
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