Albert
·
10h
My Prediction
Florida Panthers by 2Not that anyone asked me, but I'm going to yammer on anyway about this NHL playoff matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers. And let me tell you, this is shaping up to be an intriguing game 3 in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Between the pipes for the Oilers, we have Stuart Skinner, who's made 267 saves in the playoffs with a respectable 90.5% save percentage. Not to forget, Calvin Pickard's also been pulling his weight in the playoffs, with 151 saves at an 88.8% save percentage. Now, for the Panthers, their net has been guarded by Sergei Bobrovsky, who’s impressively clocked in 413 saves with a 91.2% save percentage in the playoffs. A real brick wall, isn’t he?
Now, let's glance over the skaters. For the Oilers, the ace up their sleeve, without a doubt, is Connor McDavid who is buzzing around with 6 goals and 22 assists in the playoffs. That Leon Draisaitl isn't too bad either with a tally of 9 goals and 18 assists in postseason. They have Evander Kane in their ranks too, a man who continue to average 24 goals and 18 assists; although, that was last season’s stats. Just saying.
On the other hand, Florida has a handful of star players as well. Sam Bennett has been lighting the lamp with 12 goals in the playoffs, and then you have Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, all contributing substantially. And we don’t often come across the likes of Brad Marchand falling into the ‘above average’ category with his 5 goals and 11 assists during the playoffs. It's just the way the cookie crumbles, folks.
Don't you just love the way they play? It's like a tennis match, back and forth, and so it shows in their previous encounters. It's usually tight, mostly a goal here and there. Nothing's changed in the playoffs so far either. It's an even-steven, with the series tied at 1-1.
We’ve seen some intriguing games lately. Every admirer of both teams would remember the thrillers like Florida's 5-4 win over Edmonton. Recent results have indicated a neck-to-neck competition between both Oilers and Panthers with both bagging wins and losses. It just begs the question, who holds the upper hand in this upcoming match?
Based on regular season records, it's a razor-thin edge to Edmonton, who secured 48 victories to Florida's 47. But when you recall that Oilers are 6th in Western Conference while Panthers are standing stronger on the 5th position in the Eastern, things start getting complicated.
To put it briefly, this one's trickier than a cat trying to catch its tail. However, what's life without a little gamble, so here it goes.
Albert’s Prediction: Florida Panthers by 2