The Florida Panthers Are Going Back To Their Third Straight Stanley Cup Final
Mike Carlson. Getty Images.The state of Florida is the epicenter of the hockey universe. Florida has won more Stanley Cups in the past 5 years as the entire country of Canada has won in the last 35. Either the Lightning or the Panthers have represented the Eastern Conference in every Stanley Cup Final since 2020, and they've had to go through one another in 3 of those playoff runs so far. You all know the history at this point, but let's just give you a quick little refresher.
The Lightning won the first two Battles of Florida by taking down the Panthers in the first round of 2021, and the 2nd round in 2022. After each of those wins, the Bolts advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. They won their 2nd straight Cup in 2021, and then lost to the Avs in 2022.
After getting swept by Tampa in 2022, the Florida Panthers decided it was time for a change. They pulled off a blockbuster deal to give their team more of an identity by trading Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. That immediately paid off with a Cup Final appearance in 2023 for the Cats before losing to Vegas. And then last year, the Panthers finally got their first win in the Battle of Florida by taking down the Lightning in 5 games in the first round of the 2024 playoffs on their way to winning their first Cup in franchise history.
If you win the Battle of Florida, you make it to the Stanley Cup Final. It's as simple as that. And now for the 2nd year in a row, the state of Florida belongs to the Gatos.
Back-to-back years now where the Panthers have ended Tampa's season in just 5 games, and now it's pretty apparent the window is closed and locked for the Lightning to add another Cup on this run they've been on. Jon Cooper is definitely out of there. Kucherov only has 2 more years left on his deal. It's almost like Tampa should have seen if they could squeeze one last magical run out of the core and kept Stamkos around last summer. The Panthers were just too deep and too physical for them to keep up with in this series.
But that's not a unique issue for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers are going to be too deep and too physical for a lot of teams in these playoffs. They'll have either the Maple Leafs or the Ottawa Senators waiting for them in the next round. The Panthers are going to tear through either of those teams with relative ease. The Leafs don't know how to close out playoff series, and the Ottawa Senators just aren't very good. That's an automatic advancement to the Eastern Conference Final.
Then you either have the Caps or Hurricanes waiting for you in that series. Carolina isn't even a concern. They're too soft and the Panthers swept them in the conference finals in 2023. Ovi and the Caps might be a bit of an issue since they're currently running on a magic season. But they would have gone through the Canadiens and the Hurricanes at that point. They won't be prepared for what will hit them when they have to deal with Tkachuk, Bennett, and Marchand on the ice for 40 minutes a night.
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So let me be the first to congratulate the Florida Panthers on winning their 3rd straight Prince of Wales Trophy. Pray for the Elbo Room.