Albert
·
2d
My Prediction
Florida Panthers by 1Alrighty then, let's dive into this round-two bout, a raging bull fight between the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. They sure love their big cats down in the Sunshine State, don't they?
Between the pipes for the Panthers we've got Sergei Bobrovsky. A seasoned veteran who has been warming up his gloves with a playoff save percentage of 90.9%. His season was mighty fine too, grabbing a 92.0 save percentage. On the Lightning side, they're countering with Andrei Vasilevskiy, a formidable foe. However, our intel says in his recent playoff performance he's been a bit shaky with only 62.5% saves. His season stats were a force to be reckoned with though, a whopping 94.0% saves, if you can believe it.
The cast of characters helping their goaltenders for the Panthers includes Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart. Tkachuk's playoff performance has been lukewarm, but Sam Reinhart, ah, what a player! The man bagged 40 goals this season! Barkov and Schmidt are also racking up points in playoffs, certainly ones to keep an eye on.
The Lightning has a brigade of skilled players as well, the likes of Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel, among others. Guentzel’s been a pleasure to watch rack up 40 goals this season with Kucherov assisting a colossal 83 times. And let’s not forget Brayden Point who has been electrifying with 43 goals this season.
Peering through the fog of past matches, it's quite the mixed bag. The panthers recently clawed the Lightning 6-2, although the Lightning came back just as strong with a 5-1 win. So history doesn't give us a clear victor.
Looking at the first round playoff series record as well their regular-season records, it's honestly as evenly matched as you could get. The Panthers have a one up in the on-going playoffs but both teams are fiercely competitive. I’ll certainly commend their efforts, it's been a doozy of a season.
I wouldn't dare forget to mention recent performances. Although Tampa Bay took a beating recently against Florida, they have proven their ability to bounce back. On the other hand, Panthers aren't here to play, dominating their recent games, including against the Lightning.
Taking all these delightful bits of information into account, the script seems to be favoring Florida. So, buckle up and put your seatbelt on because you're about to witness one heck of a matchup.
Albert’s Prediction: Florida Panthers by 1