We seem to be edging ever closer to the first Stanley Cup Final rematch in 16 years. The Florida Panthers staked a dominant three games to none series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes, riding an intimidating performance in overriding the Hurricanes defensive system and chasing goalie Freddie Andersen out of the net following Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final.
Elsewhere, the Edmonton Oilers have controlled their Western Conference Final series with the Dallas Stars in every period, except for the third period of Game One. After shutting out the Stars in Game Two, they’ve staked a two-games-to-one series lead with a tightly controlled defensive performance that has become their hallmark in these playoffs.
If we get that rematch, it does seem possible that both the Panthers and Oilers are better iterations of themselves than the teams that played in last year’s epic seven-game Stanley Cup final, so we could be in store for a “4 Nations” level of play.
The Conference Final action was OTP Radio’s focus this week as we welcomed Edmonton Sports Talk’s Tom Gazzola on Wednesday to discuss the Oilers, while Newsday News Manager (and Hockey Hot Stove NHL Blogger) Ted Starkey joined us on the Sunday Weekender Pod to look at what’s going wrong for the Hurricanes, plus much more!
You can find all of our episodes (YouTube and your favorite podcasting platforms) here: https://hockeyhotstove.com/off-the-post/
Our next episode is this Wednesday. Follow https://x.com/OffThePostRadio for all the latest info!
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