NHL Eastern Conference Finals: Panthers Eye Victory

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00:00Welcome back, big night in the National Hockey League.

00:03Is this the end in the Eastern Conference Finals?

00:05Will the Florida Panthers advance?

00:07Let's check in with Shukri Wright, who joins us now.

00:09Before we do that, let's take a look here at how these series are going.

00:13Shukri, anything surprising to you thus far?

00:15I mean, I know that, you know, Carolina was a little bit of a favorite.

00:18You know, initially there was some thought that Dallas would get it done,

00:21but it does seem like we're headed toward a rematch of the finals last year.

00:26First and foremost, thank you for having me on, Craig.

00:28It's a privilege to be on with you this morning.

00:31And as far as if there are any surprises for me here in the Conference Finals,

00:36I would say yes.

00:37There is one major surprise for me,

00:39and that is the fact that the Dallas Stars scoring problems

00:43have really become front and center for the Dallas Stars,

00:47where I knew that when Mikko Ranssen was red-hot scoring

00:52early in the playoffs through the first two rounds,

00:55that their inability to generate scoring from their secondary,

01:00like scoring, whether it be that the second line or the third line,

01:02was going to be problematic.

01:03And in the Eastern Conference Finals,

01:05it certainly has been a major problem and a big reason why

01:08they are currently down 3-1 to the Edmonton Oilers.

01:11And it does look like that we are looking towards potentially a rematch

01:17in the Santa Cup Finals for the second straight year,

01:19something that hasn't happened since 2008-2009 when the Detroit Red Wings

01:23and Pittsburgh Penguins met in back-to-back years in the Santa Cup Finals.

01:28So do you think that Game 5, it ends, Shukri, before we get to tonight's game?

01:32Do you think that the Oilers take care of business and this moves on?

01:35I think it does come back to Edmonton for game number six.

01:41And the reason is because there was major news that broke by

01:45Elliot Freedman of Hockey Night in Canada and NHL and Sports that moments

01:48before we hopped on that Zach Hyman is likely to be done for the season

01:53due to a hit that he took in last night's game,

01:58wished that he did not return after playing only a grand total of 3 minutes

02:02to 11 seconds of all-nice time.

02:05So I do think that the loss of Hyman cannot be overstated for the Edmonton Oilers

02:10who had five goals and 11 points through these playoffs.

02:13And last year he had 16 goals as the Oilers made it all the way to game seven.

02:20So I think the Oilers will feel the loss of Zach Hyman for sure.

02:24So I do think Dallas does find its game back on home ice in the series,

02:28just back to Edmonton, where I think they will win game six.

02:32All right, meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers live to fight another day

02:36and they fight tonight against the Florida Panthers.

02:39Panthers are favorites on the road, 8 o'clock Eastern game, Shukri.

02:43This is where the Panthers have been at their best, it seems like.

02:45Just when you think that they're not going to play great, they come through.

02:48What do you think about the East Finals tonight?

02:50Minus 132 on the FanDuel Sportsbook, total 5.5 in the game.

02:54I'm going to go over on the 5.5 because Florida, for some reason,

03:00especially in elimination or closeout games, they seem to really raise up the ante

03:06in terms of offensively where I do see a scenario where they score four or more goals tonight,

03:11especially considering that game number four, I thought it was by far the worst game they played

03:18in the last couple of rounds.

03:20But I will go as far as to say that in terms of the favorites, I think Florida,

03:25you've got to grab the minus on 132 for tonight's game number five.

03:29And as far as in terms of tonight's game, I do think that Sergei Wabrowski will have a huge bounce-back game

03:38and along with as well as a huge game potentially from Oniko Mikula,

03:43who has been a stallion for the Panthers and as well as Matthew Kuchuk as well.

03:50And to win the cup, Shukri, do you think it's still the Panthers?

03:53They and Edmonton are basically neck and neck.

03:55I still think that it is plus one on five on Florida Panthers.

04:01They absolutely should still be the favorites.

04:03And there's no question as to why the Panthers should not win the cup.

04:07I think they still should, in fact, win the cup based on how the roster constructed

04:10and ultimately how they will get past the Carolina Hurricanes in the Houston Conference Finals.

04:17All right, Shukri, thanks again for coming on. Appreciate it.

04:20My pleasure, Craig.

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