The Florida Panthers and New York Rangers are set to start the Eastern Conference Finals in the National Hockey League. The Florida Panthers will start on the road for the first two games. This is a best of 7, with the winner heading to the Stanley Cup. The winner will take on the winner of the Western Conference Finals.
The Florida Panthers came into the postseason with a 52-24-6 record. The Panthers beat the Bruins by a point in the divisional standings. Florida then eliminated Boston in the second round. Florida took down Tampa Bay in the first round.
For the New York Rangers, they are the top seed in the entire National Hockey League. New York went 55-23-4 during the regular season. After taking down Washington in five games, the Rangers eliminated Carolina on the road in six games.
The Florida Panthers are small favorites in this game. The Panthers are -115 over the New York Rangers in Game 1
Upstart Florida Panthers
Sergei Bobrovsky is set to take on the Rangers offense. The netminder has been strong in the postseason. In fact, he has gone five straight games of allowing 2 goals or less. Twice in the postseason, he has allowed 4 or more, but the rest were solid performances. He allowed 2.37 in the regular season.
Defensively has been how the Panthers have been having so much success in the postseason. In all four wins over the Bruins, they held them to 2 or less goals. Offensively, the Florida Panthers saw Gustav Forsling score his second goal of the series to win Game 6. The first goal came from Anton Lundell, also his second of the postseason.
Sam Reinhart was the best Florida Panthers scorer in the regular season. Reinhart had two goals and four assists in the series against Boston. Next for Florida has been Matthew Tkachuk. In the series against Boston, he scored a goal and dished out 4 assists.
Top Seeded Rangers
The New York Rangers are led by Artemin Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Chris Krider and Adam Fox. Those four have been the top scorers all season long. In the postseason, that foursome has been solid. Panarin had two assists in the Game 6 win, and finished the season with 2 goals and 6 assists.
Trocheck had a goal and assist in the game, and also had 8 points in the series. Kreider finished the series strong with a hat trick. He had six goals in the series, and 2 assists. Fox was not as strong as the others, but had an assist in the first two games of the series.
The goaltender for the Rangers will be Igor Shesterkin. He has made the start in every game for the Rangers in the postseason. He turned away 33 shots in the Game 6 win. Shesterkin went 36-17-2 in the regular season, with a 2.58.
Rangers Top Panthers in Game 1
The New York Rangers have been really good at home this season. Madison Square Garden has been a special place. They did lose Game 5 there, and came back and won in Game 6. The Rangers are hoping for at least four more home games this postseason.
We like the Rangers to protect their home ice with a win here. Our final bet here is the New York Rangers at +100 over the Florida Panthers in Game 1. Enjoy the game and best of luck with all your National Hockey League betting!
