The new Stanley Cup champion will be crowned in a little over a month
By CAROLYN (CARI) FENN — sports@theaggie.org
With the first round of the playoffs in the National Hockey League (NHL) completed and the Super 16 now becoming the Elite 8, one team is a step closer to claiming the coveted Stanley Cup. The Elite 8 teams entering the second round of the playoffs are the Florida Panthers, the Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Dallas Stars, the Colorado Avalanche, the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers. Of the eight remaining teams, all are ranked first or second within their division except for the Avalanche, ranked third, having beaten out the second-ranked Winnipeg Jets.
While all the teams are vying for the coveted title of champion and the ability to hold the Stanley Cup over their head in celebration, for some, the win would be a rather monumental occasion for their franchise. For the Canucks and Panthers, this year could signify their first-ever Stanley Cup win. The Canucks have been in the NHL since 1970, and the Panthers have been in the NHL since 1993, so for both teams, a Stanley Cup win this season could end a franchise-long drought.
Although no team has officially claimed a spot in the conference finals, many have predicted who they believe will make it to the final four from each division matchup.
Atlantic Division: A1 Florida Panthers vs. A2 Boston Bruins
Going into game three, the series between the Panthers and Bruins is tied 1-1. Despite the current tie, the Panthers are given better odds of winning the next matchup with a money line (ML) of -125, while the Bruins have an ML of +105. Additionally, of the 24 workers at ESPN who were asked to predict the winner of each division, they predicted that the Panthers would win in 23 of the 24 picks, with the most common prediction being that the Panthers would win in six.
In the first matchup between the Bruins and Panthers, the Bruins won by a landslide with a final score of 5-1. The large deficit for the Bruins was due to goalie Jeremy Swayman’s impressive performance, who saved 38 shots and had an impressive save percentage of 0.947%. Although the Bruins won game one by a large margin, the Panthers didn’t allow the Bruins to celebrate for too long, as in game two, the Panthers came back and beat the Bruins 6-1. While many players contributed to the Panther’s overwhelming victory, center Aleksander Barkov, who had two goals and Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at "ice hockey" – Google News…