Preview: Stanley Cup Final - Panthers vs Oilers Showdown
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Still two days away from the start of the Stanley Cup
00:06 final on a Saturday night in Sunrise, Florida,
00:09 between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers.
00:12 Joining us now live right here on this Thursday,
00:15 48 hours out from the NHL, it is Pete Jensen.
00:19 Pete, as always, we appreciate the time.
00:21 As we get ever so closer to the start of the Cup
00:25 final on Saturday, where's your excitement level at the moment?
00:29 Hmm.
00:30 Yeah, it's a great matchup, really, on paper.
00:33 The offense of Edmonton, the vaunted power play
00:36 of Edmonton against a defensive possession-savvy team
00:40 led by Alexander Barkov, who is the Selke
00:43 trophy winner this season as top defensive forward.
00:46 Gus Forsling has been a beast on his own end
00:49 and chipping in points, too.
00:51 Those are like the shutdown crew.
00:52 They just shut down the Rangers.
00:54 They shut down the Rangers' power play.
00:56 They're going to look to do it again here
00:57 and avenge losing in the Cup final last year to Vegas.
01:02 So as we get ready for this Stanley Cup
01:05 final on a Saturday night in sunrise,
01:07 Pete, we have the Florida Panthers back into the Cup
01:09 final for the second consecutive year.
01:12 The Edmonton Oilers here for the first time
01:14 in nearly two decades, their last trip, 2006.
01:19 As you look back on how this Stanley Cup postseason has
01:22 played out, on how the entirety of the National Hockey League
01:25 season has got us to this point, how likely did you
01:28 see it at any point throughout this run
01:31 that we would have Edmonton versus Florida
01:33 with a Stanley Cup at stake?
01:37 So back in the preseason and also the start of the playoffs,
01:40 I did pick Edmonton to win the Cup.
01:42 So I'm happy to see them here.
01:44 It's one of those things where you thought they were capable.
01:47 But remember, early on in the season,
01:49 they were one of the worst teams in the league that
01:51 had to make a coaching change.
01:52 So they kind of scared me and everybody else
01:55 that was backing them a little bit with that early season
01:59 slide.
01:59 They lost that game to the Sharks,
02:01 who were the worst team in the league that one game.
02:03 But they've turned it around under Chris Knobloch,
02:06 led by McDavid, Dreisaddle, Evan Bouchard,
02:09 that full-fledged breakout season and postseason.
02:12 So long story short, I'm not surprised to see Edmonton
02:15 here at the end of the day.
02:16 But Florida, I was a little lower on in the preseason.
02:20 I actually didn't even think I had them making the playoffs,
02:22 just because they were dealing with some significant injuries
02:25 entering the season.
02:26 Brandon Montour, Aaron Ekblad, maybe Cup Final Hangover,
02:30 that type of thing.
02:31 But Florida, I think, reminded us like a month or two
02:33 into the season.
02:34 They were really one of the best possession teams in the league.
02:37 And they were out for some blood this season,
02:40 in terms of avenging last year.
02:42 So if you asked me in about December or January
02:46 if this could be the matchup, I probably
02:47 would have said it wouldn't be number one on my list.
02:50 But it would probably be in my top five
02:52 or something like that.
02:54 Pete, let's take a look at the tail of the tape
02:56 here between the two teams.
02:57 No surprise here.
02:57 Obviously, you're going to have a good record
02:59 if you advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.
03:00 12-5 for the Panthers, 12-6 for the Oilers.
03:03 And also, no surprises here.
03:04 Guess which team scored more goals here in the playoffs?
03:07 It's been the Edmonton Oilers, 63-55 over the Panthers.
03:10 But also, in the same exchange, which team stopped more pucks?
03:13 It was the Florida Panthers, only giving up 39 goals
03:15 to the Edmonton Oilers, 47.
03:17 When we look at this matchup style,
03:19 who do you think it benefits?
03:20 Are we getting more offensive series, which
03:22 means the Edmonton Oilers will carry that,
03:24 or more defensive series from the Florida Panthers?
03:27 If it gets higher scoring, that'll certainly
03:29 benefit the Edmonton Oilers.
03:31 I'm curious to see how both teams react in game one.
03:34 I tend to lean toward the fact that Florida
03:37 has had a tougher road.
03:39 Edmonton has had some trouble despite having an easier road.
03:43 So maybe game one could be a reality check
03:45 for the Edmonton Oilers.
03:47 Maybe even like a multi-goal win for Florida.
03:50 We've seen a couple of those massive wins
03:52 at home in the playoffs.
03:54 But they did drop game one against the Bruins,
03:57 so they're not invincible either.
03:58 It's going to be a great series.
04:00 I think that Stewart Skinner versus Sergey Bobrovsky,
04:03 that's at least a slight advantage in Florida's favor,
04:06 with Bobrovsky being a two-time Vezina winner.
04:09 And Skinner, let's be honest.
04:10 He was good last round and stole game six and a couple
04:13 of those games along the way against Dallas.
04:15 But he lost his job in round two against Vancouver,
04:18 and they needed Calvin Pickard to pick up the slack
04:20 a little bit for a couple games there.
04:23 So Florida, the home ice favorite for game number one
04:26 at minus 137 on that money line.
04:29 As you saw in the series outright numbers to win the Cup,
04:33 the odds makers favor the Panthers as well at minus 128.
04:38 Pete, you just gave us a couple of the names
04:41 that we need to know for the Stanley Cup Final.
04:43 But when you look at this series in its entirety,
04:46 what do you believe is the key match-up
04:47 that will dictate who wins the Cup this season?
04:51 I think it's got to be the center match-ups,
04:53 because McDavid and Dry Saddle have been the two best
04:56 players in the NHL scoring-wise for at least five seasons now,
05:01 fantasy or reality.
05:02 They also both always get it done in the playoffs,
05:04 win or lose.
05:06 Sometimes they're leading the playoffs after two rounds,
05:11 when other guys haven't caught up to them after three or four
05:13 rounds.
05:14 So that's what we've seen in recent years.
05:16 If Barkov, the top defensive forward in the league this year,
05:20 can contain McDavid or Dry Saddle,
05:22 and then Sam Bennett, who has been explosive this postseason--
05:26 he's a physical force and plays on the same line
05:28 as Matthew Kachuk, who's another grinder who can score--
05:32 if that Kachuk-Bennett line can impose its will on either Dry
05:37 Saddle or McDavid or cancel them out,
05:39 that'll be enough for me.
05:41 I would expect Dry Saddle and McDavid
05:43 to have big series, point per game or better.
05:46 But anything less than that, I don't think Edmonton
05:48 can win this thing.
05:51 As a fans approach to it, we always like more hockey.
05:53 It's why we get excited for overtime, free hockey here.
05:56 If we're looking at the series prices, games 4, 5, 6, and 7,
06:00 and the length of it here, the favorite for the series to end
06:03 actually is listed in game 7 at a plus 194 price.
06:07 If we're being honest about the series itself,
06:09 is this an extended series for you, Peter?
06:11 Could it be a quicker series than maybe many
06:13 anticipated?
06:15 So Florida had a couple of one-goal wins
06:18 against the Rangers, even though they outplayed the Rangers
06:21 heavily, shot attempts and stuff throughout that series.
06:25 They were still close games.
06:26 So my pick was Florida in 6.
06:29 I wouldn't be surprised at all to see it be Florida in 5.
06:32 I don't think it's going to be a sweep either way.
06:34 I would expect Edmonton to win one of those
06:36 and grind out one of those two home games
06:38 that they're going to get games 3, 4, or 6.
06:41 So my pick would be 6.
06:43 But I think that Florida over the course of this series
06:46 will probably put the clamps down and claw
06:50 their way to a championship.
06:51 So that's why I got Florida, despite picking Edmonton
06:54 in the preseason.
06:55 I've seen a lot here in the postseason.
06:57 And I just like so much more of what
06:58 I've seen from the Panthers.
07:00 I mean, even game 6 for Edmonton against Dallas,
07:03 they only had 10 shots on goal.
07:05 And they somehow won that game.
07:07 That's a great story for them.
07:08 But can that really continue?
07:10 I don't think so.
07:12 So Pete, if you know the National Hockey League,
07:14 if you're even relatively familiar with hockey,
07:17 you know the best player in the sport plays for Edmonton.
07:20 And his name is Connor McDavid.
07:21 Yet he has never played in a Stanley Cup final
07:24 with the Oilers.
07:25 In what could be his de facto coming out party
07:28 to everybody on the most significant stage of the sport,
07:32 McDavid is the favorite to win the Conn Smythe.
07:34 That is the playoff MVP within the Stanley Cup postseason
07:38 at plus 200.
07:39 Pete, do you think Connor McDavid
07:41 will match expectation for the Oilers in the Stanley Cup
07:44 final?
07:46 I think he will win or lose.
07:48 He was dealing with an injury at the tail end
07:51 of the regular season.
07:52 But as we saw over the course of the playoffs,
07:54 he's leading the NHL in playoff scoring this year.
07:57 But even in game 6, like he had that crazy dangle.
08:01 That's McDavid-esque, right?
08:03 That's the generational talent that we've
08:04 known all through the years with that game opening goal
08:09 in game 6.
08:10 So yeah, I know you can get good odds on him
08:13 to score the game opening goal in game 1
08:15 or to have a multi-goal game.
08:17 I think it's the same number on fan duel.
08:19 So either of those could happen easily.
08:22 And you're getting double digit odds type thing on that.
08:26 So I really like those plays.
08:28 Both things are certainly possible with a talent
08:31 like him.
08:32 And this is legacy type stuff for McDavid,
08:34 where if you're a casual sports fan out there,
08:38 we're always following these different storylines
08:40 with the larger than life athletes.
08:42 I mean, he's the best player in the sport right now,
08:44 getting there for the first time.
08:45 Can he will his team to victory?
08:47 You could actually, if you're backing Edmonton
08:49 to win the series, you get the better number on him
08:52 to win the Conn Smythe.
08:53 And I think if Edmonton wins it, he's most likely
08:55 going to win that award.
08:57 A great handicap there, to say the least.
09:00 Donnie likes to bring up of number 99 in Edmonton,
09:04 the great one, Wayne Gretzky.
09:06 Maybe number 97 will be remembered fondly
09:08 after this Stanley Cup final as well.
09:11 Pete Jensen from the NHL, we appreciate the time
09:13 on this Thursday.
09:15 Thank you for being.
09:17 (upbeat music)
09:20 [BLANK_AUDIO]