Who doesn’t love a sequel?
The Panthers discovered their opponent for his or her third consecutive journey to the Stanley Cup Closing on Thursday night time. Florida, which punched its ticket with a Recreation 5 win over Carolina on Wednesday, will face the Edmonton Oilers, who clinched the Western Convention closing with a win over Dallas on Thursday.
The Closing is a rematch of final yr’s championship spherical, which went seven video games earlier than the Panthers received their first-ever Stanley Cup. The primary sport will probably be on June 4 in Edmonton. Video games 3 and 4 and a possible Recreation 6 could be in Dawn.
The Oilers function lots of the similar stars from their run to the Stanley Cup Closing final yr. Celebrity Connor McDavid was fourth within the league with 74 assists and notched 100 factors through the common season.
McDavid groups with prolific scorer Leon Draisaitl, who led the NHL with 52 regular-season targets and was third within the league with 106 factors.
Edmonton options two of the very best defensemen within the NHL, Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm. Bouchard had 14 targets and 53 assists through the common season; his 67 factors ranked fifth amongst defensemen. Ekholm has been out with an undisclosed harm for over a month however returned for Recreation 5 towards Dallas on Thursday.
The Oilers will begin goalie Stuart Skinner, who has had an up-and-down run on this postseason. The 26-year-old began the primary two video games of the primary spherical towards the Kings, however after surrendering 11 targets in these video games, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch benched Skinner in favor of veteran backup Calvin Pickard.
However Pickard suffered an harm two video games into the Oilers’ second-round collection towards Vegas, and Skinner was thrust again into the beginning function. Since Recreation 3 of the second spherical, Skinner has a 5-2 file with a 1.57 targets towards common and a .941 save share getting into Thursday’s sport.
Right here is the total Stanley Cup Closing schedule. All video games are at 8 p.m. and will probably be broadcast on TNT.
Wednesday, June 4: Recreation 1, Panthers at Oilers
Friday, June 6: Recreation 2, Panthers at Oilers
Monday, June 9: Recreation 3, Oilers at Panthers
Thursday, June 12: Recreation 4, Oilers at Panthers
Saturday, June 14: Recreation 5, Panthers at Oilers (if wanted)
Tuesday, June 17: Recreation 6, Oilers at Panthers (if wanted)
Friday, June 20: Recreation 7, Panthers at Oilers (if wanted)
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