The Florida Panthers will play in this year’s Stanley Cup Finals after completing the sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes with a 4-3 win in a tightly contested Game 4 on Thursday night.

This will be the second Stanley Cup Finals appearance for the Panthers and the franchise’s first in 27 years. Florida team last made the finals in the 1995–96 season, when they lost 4-0 in the series against the Colorado Avalanche. 

The star of the Panthers’ win was All-Star forward Matthew Tkachuk, who scored two goals, including the winning goal, with less than five seconds left in the third period.

“We earned that thing and definitely didn’t do it the easy way. We earned it,” Tkachuk told reporters after the game.

Panthers’ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky also played an important role in Game 4, stopping 36 shots with a .923 save percentage.

“It’s amazing,” Bobrovsky said. “We showed the resilience … and we’re lucky to have Chucky on our side. He knows how to score big goals.”

Not a lot of people expected Florida Panthers to have this deep of a playoff run, especially since they finished the regular season with a 42-32-8 record and entered the postseason as a wild-card team. However, the Panthers showed amazing resilience, taking down Boston Bruins, the NHL’s best team in the regular season, in the first round and then beating Toronto Maple Leafs in five games before sweeping the Canes.

The Panthers will now wait for the winner of the Western Conference Finals matchup between the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights to find out who is standing in their way of winning the Stanley Cup.

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The Edmonton Oilers’ star Connor McDavid sees a silver lining in his team’s early exit from the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. According to McDavid, this kind of disappointment is something every team goes through before it finds success.

The Oilers ended their postseason after losing the Western Conference semifinal series to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Golden Knights finished the job in six games with a 5-2 win on Sunday.

“I really feel like you’ve got to go through some of this to win,” McDavid told reporters.

McDavid has had a spectacular 2022-23 regular season with 64 goals and adding 89 assists. With 153 points, he became only the sixth player in NHL history to get over the 150-point mark. He also added 20 points in the playoffs, but it wasn’t enough for the Oilers to embark on a deep run they expected.

The Oilers previously reached the Western Conference Finals in 2021-22 but were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions Colorado Avalanche.

“It feels like every team that wins and goes on a stretch of winning kind of experiences this,” McDavid added. “Obviously, it’s not what you want to do, not what you want to feel. That being said, I really feel that you’ve got to go through some of this to win. I think we’ve seen that all the way through. Let’s hope it’s the last time.”

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The Carolina Hurricanes are the first team in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs to secure a spot in the conference finals. The Hurricanes wrapped up their second-round series against the New Jersey Devils with a 3-2 overtime win on Thursday. 

The Hurricanes will now wait for the conclusion of the series between the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs to learn about their opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Devils, who were blown out in Game 4 in a 1-6 loss, showed signs of life on Thursday by holding the lead twice. However, the Canes were determined to end the series after five games and managed to get back both times to force overtime.

In overtime, it was Carolina who showed more mental toughness. Seven minutes into the period, Jesper Fast deflected a shot by Jesperi Kotkaniemi into the goal and secured the Canes’ return to the conference finals for the first time since 2018–19.

Speaking with the reporters after the game, head coach Rod Brind’Amour said that the team would take some time to enjoy the achievement before setting their focus on the next opponent.

“We’re stacking memories here, and they’re giving them to me, too. So it’s pretty special,” said Rod Brind’Amour.

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The NHL’s 2022-23 regular season hasn’t officially wrapped up, but there are no more playoff spots up for grabs after Wednesday night. The New York Islanders got the last postseason ticket with a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. They have also eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins from playoff contention, ending their impressive streak of 16 consecutive postseason trips. 

The Penguins will finish 5th in the Metropolitan Division behind the Islanders regardless of the outcome of their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. 2022-23 will be the first season since 2005-06 that Pittsburgh isn’t in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It was a wild week for both the Islanders and the Penguins, with each team being in the driver’s seat for the last wild-card spot at one point. The New York team lost to Washington Capitals on Monday, which meant that Pittsburgh could get into the playoffs if they won out. However, the Penguins shockingly lost to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, giving the Islanders another chance to get the job done.

The Penguins’ 16-year playoff streak was the longest active across NHL, NFL, MLB, and NBA. Its 16 consecutive playoff appearances were also the most ever by a franchise in all of the history of American major sports. During that time, Pittsburgh reached the Stanley Cup Finals four times and won the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016, and 2017.

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Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, NHL successfully wrapped its 2019/20 season. And it was Tampa Bay Lightning who emerged as the team that managed the unusual situation the best, as the captured the elusive Stanley Cup on Monday night.

Lightning secured the trophy with a 2-0 win over Dallas Stars in Game 6, with Brayden Point and Blake Coleman getting on the scoreboard in the first and second periods respectively.  This was Tampa Bay’s second championship in franchise history and first since 2004.

Besides Stanley Cup, Lightning’s defenseman Victor Hedman ended up lifting the Conn Smythe Trophy as well, being crowned the playoff MVP.

“It takes a lot to be in a bubble for 80 days or whatever long it was,” said Hedman after the game. “But it’s all worth it now. We’re coming home with the Cup.”

While Hedman carried the load for Tampa Bay on the defensive end, Brayden Point was the man in charge of the offense. Point finished the postseason with playoffs-high 14 goals, while also adding 19 assists.

“The beauty of our team is everyone was chipping in,” said Point. “We got tremendous depth. We got contributions from anyone and everyone at different times, and that’s what makes this win so special.”

Tampa Bay Lightning demonstrated a dominant performance throughout the postseason, losing just one game in each of their first two rounds. They had to push to six games in Conference Finals against New York Islanders but were dominant in that series as well.

Lighting’s win gets more impressive when you realize that the team played almost the entire playoffs without their captain and one of the key players in Steven Stamkos.

“These last six weeks have been really emotional for my family and I, not only on the ice but off the ice,” said Stamkos. “I just want to say to my family: I love you guys so much. To all the friends and everyone who supported us along the way: We love you. We can’t wait to celebrate with you.”

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Vegas Golden Knights are the first team to advance to the second round of Stanley Cup playoffs. Golden Knights clinched their spot after a 4-3 comeback win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday in Game 5 of the series.

Entering the game on the brink of elimination, Blackhawks put up a good fight and got an early two-goal lead in the first period thanks to Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat. However, Vegas managed to get back into the game by scoring in the final minute of the first and opening minute of the second period.

Chicago didn’t give up and got to a lead once again with Patrick Kane’s goal, who scored 04:02 into the second third. Golden Knights rallied once again and erased the deficit before the end of the period via Alec Martinez.

Vegas showed better composure in the third, getting ahead early on with score from Alex Tuch and keeping the advantage for the rest of the game.

”We were glad to get it over with tonight because they weren’t going away quietly,” said Vegas’ head coach Peter DeBoer. ”They made us earn it. It was a hard, fought hockey game. We got in that hole early, and I just like how we’ve responded to adversity when it’s appeared during this playoff.”

Vegas Golden Knights will play the lowest-seeded team in the second round.

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After postseason qualifiers and round-robin tournament to determine seedings wrapped up over the weekend, NHL has officially set the bracket for the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Eastern Conference saw Philadelphia Flyers taking the No. 1 seed with three wins in the seeding round robin, and will now play Montreal Canadiens in the first round. Canadiens, who finished the regular season as the No. 12, made their way to the playoffs by upset 3-1 series win against the No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins.

”It was a tall task to get that No. 1 seed, and we did it,” said Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. ”We came in here and have been strictly business. I think for us to go out there and get three big wins in a row and get that No. 1 seed is huge for us.”

Other matchups in the East include Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins against Carolina Hurricanes.

In the Western Conference, Vegas Golden Knights claimed the top seed with three wins from three games and get to face Chicago Blackhawks in the next round. Blackhawks’ clinched the ticket to the postseason by eliminating the fifth-seeded Edmonton Oilers.

The No.2 seed Colorado Avalanche play against the Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars are pitted against Calgary Flames, while St. Louis Blue Jackets face Vancouver Canucks.

Stanley Cup Playoffs officially kick off on August 11th. Check out the full bracket below.

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The resume of the NHL season might see more teams getting in the Stanley Cup race than ever before. The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) announced on Monday that they have voted in favor of having 24-team playoffs as part of the efforts to finish out 2019/20.

According to the plan, the season would resume immediately with the playoffs, which would see 24 teams taking part. The top four seeded teams from each conference would get the boot in the first round, while teams currently seeded from 5th to 12th position would meet in the five-game series. The winners of the first round would then play the top-seeded teams in a standard Stanley Cup playoff format of 16 teams.

“The Executive Board of the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) has authorized further negotiations with the NHL on a 24-team return to play format to determine the winner of the 2020 Stanley Cup,” an NHLPA statement reads. “Several details remain to be negotiated, and an agreement on the format would still be subject to the parties reaching agreement on all issues relevant to resuming play.”

This format, however, is still yet to be put in front of the league for voting. NHL is reportedly in favor of the proposal, as it would include the teams that have realistic chances of getting to the postseason but wouldn’t make it 2019/20 season would resume with traditional 16-team playoffs.

NHL is currently discussing several options for season resume, but the most likely outcome seems to be a centralized approach. According to sources, the league would choose two cities in which it would gather teams and play out all the games. Reportedly, nine cities are being considered, with Las Vegas being the overwhelming favorite.

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The Florida Panthers will play in this year’s Stanley Cup Finals after completing the sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes with a 4-3 win in a tightly contested Game 4 on Thursday night.

This will be the second Stanley Cup Finals appearance for the Panthers and the franchise’s first in 27 years. Florida team last made the finals in the 1995–96 season, when they lost 4-0 in the series against the Colorado Avalanche. 

The star of the Panthers’ win was All-Star forward Matthew Tkachuk, who scored two goals, including the winning goal, with less than five seconds left in the third period.

“We earned that thing and definitely didn’t do it the easy way. We earned it,” Tkachuk told reporters after the game.

Panthers’ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky also played an important role in Game 4, stopping 36 shots with a .923 save percentage.

“It’s amazing,” Bobrovsky said. “We showed the resilience … and we’re lucky to have Chucky on our side. He knows how to score big goals.”

Not a lot of people expected Florida Panthers to have this deep of a playoff run, especially since they finished the regular season with a 42-32-8 record and entered the postseason as a wild-card team. However, the Panthers showed amazing resilience, taking down Boston Bruins, the NHL’s best team in the regular season, in the first round and then beating Toronto Maple Leafs in five games before sweeping the Canes.

The Panthers will now wait for the winner of the Western Conference Finals matchup between the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights to find out who is standing in their way of winning the Stanley Cup.

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The Edmonton Oilers’ star Connor McDavid sees a silver lining in his team’s early exit from the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. According to McDavid, this kind of disappointment is something every team goes through before it finds success.

The Oilers ended their postseason after losing the Western Conference semifinal series to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Golden Knights finished the job in six games with a 5-2 win on Sunday.

“I really feel like you’ve got to go through some of this to win,” McDavid told reporters.

McDavid has had a spectacular 2022-23 regular season with 64 goals and adding 89 assists. With 153 points, he became only the sixth player in NHL history to get over the 150-point mark. He also added 20 points in the playoffs, but it wasn’t enough for the Oilers to embark on a deep run they expected.

The Oilers previously reached the Western Conference Finals in 2021-22 but were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions Colorado Avalanche.

“It feels like every team that wins and goes on a stretch of winning kind of experiences this,” McDavid added. “Obviously, it’s not what you want to do, not what you want to feel. That being said, I really feel that you’ve got to go through some of this to win. I think we’ve seen that all the way through. Let’s hope it’s the last time.”

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The Carolina Hurricanes are the first team in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs to secure a spot in the conference finals. The Hurricanes wrapped up their second-round series against the New Jersey Devils with a 3-2 overtime win on Thursday. 

The Hurricanes will now wait for the conclusion of the series between the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs to learn about their opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Devils, who were blown out in Game 4 in a 1-6 loss, showed signs of life on Thursday by holding the lead twice. However, the Canes were determined to end the series after five games and managed to get back both times to force overtime.

In overtime, it was Carolina who showed more mental toughness. Seven minutes into the period, Jesper Fast deflected a shot by Jesperi Kotkaniemi into the goal and secured the Canes’ return to the conference finals for the first time since 2018–19.

Speaking with the reporters after the game, head coach Rod Brind’Amour said that the team would take some time to enjoy the achievement before setting their focus on the next opponent.

“We’re stacking memories here, and they’re giving them to me, too. So it’s pretty special,” said Rod Brind’Amour.

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The NHL’s 2022-23 regular season hasn’t officially wrapped up, but there are no more playoff spots up for grabs after Wednesday night. The New York Islanders got the last postseason ticket with a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. They have also eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins from playoff contention, ending their impressive streak of 16 consecutive postseason trips. 

The Penguins will finish 5th in the Metropolitan Division behind the Islanders regardless of the outcome of their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. 2022-23 will be the first season since 2005-06 that Pittsburgh isn’t in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It was a wild week for both the Islanders and the Penguins, with each team being in the driver’s seat for the last wild-card spot at one point. The New York team lost to Washington Capitals on Monday, which meant that Pittsburgh could get into the playoffs if they won out. However, the Penguins shockingly lost to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, giving the Islanders another chance to get the job done.

The Penguins’ 16-year playoff streak was the longest active across NHL, NFL, MLB, and NBA. Its 16 consecutive playoff appearances were also the most ever by a franchise in all of the history of American major sports. During that time, Pittsburgh reached the Stanley Cup Finals four times and won the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016, and 2017.

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Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, NHL successfully wrapped its 2019/20 season. And it was Tampa Bay Lightning who emerged as the team that managed the unusual situation the best, as the captured the elusive Stanley Cup on Monday night.

Lightning secured the trophy with a 2-0 win over Dallas Stars in Game 6, with Brayden Point and Blake Coleman getting on the scoreboard in the first and second periods respectively.  This was Tampa Bay’s second championship in franchise history and first since 2004.

Besides Stanley Cup, Lightning’s defenseman Victor Hedman ended up lifting the Conn Smythe Trophy as well, being crowned the playoff MVP.

“It takes a lot to be in a bubble for 80 days or whatever long it was,” said Hedman after the game. “But it’s all worth it now. We’re coming home with the Cup.”

While Hedman carried the load for Tampa Bay on the defensive end, Brayden Point was the man in charge of the offense. Point finished the postseason with playoffs-high 14 goals, while also adding 19 assists.

“The beauty of our team is everyone was chipping in,” said Point. “We got tremendous depth. We got contributions from anyone and everyone at different times, and that’s what makes this win so special.”

Tampa Bay Lightning demonstrated a dominant performance throughout the postseason, losing just one game in each of their first two rounds. They had to push to six games in Conference Finals against New York Islanders but were dominant in that series as well.

Lighting’s win gets more impressive when you realize that the team played almost the entire playoffs without their captain and one of the key players in Steven Stamkos.

“These last six weeks have been really emotional for my family and I, not only on the ice but off the ice,” said Stamkos. “I just want to say to my family: I love you guys so much. To all the friends and everyone who supported us along the way: We love you. We can’t wait to celebrate with you.”

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Vegas Golden Knights are the first team to advance to the second round of Stanley Cup playoffs. Golden Knights clinched their spot after a 4-3 comeback win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday in Game 5 of the series.

Entering the game on the brink of elimination, Blackhawks put up a good fight and got an early two-goal lead in the first period thanks to Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat. However, Vegas managed to get back into the game by scoring in the final minute of the first and opening minute of the second period.

Chicago didn’t give up and got to a lead once again with Patrick Kane’s goal, who scored 04:02 into the second third. Golden Knights rallied once again and erased the deficit before the end of the period via Alec Martinez.

Vegas showed better composure in the third, getting ahead early on with score from Alex Tuch and keeping the advantage for the rest of the game.

”We were glad to get it over with tonight because they weren’t going away quietly,” said Vegas’ head coach Peter DeBoer. ”They made us earn it. It was a hard, fought hockey game. We got in that hole early, and I just like how we’ve responded to adversity when it’s appeared during this playoff.”

Vegas Golden Knights will play the lowest-seeded team in the second round.

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After postseason qualifiers and round-robin tournament to determine seedings wrapped up over the weekend, NHL has officially set the bracket for the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Eastern Conference saw Philadelphia Flyers taking the No. 1 seed with three wins in the seeding round robin, and will now play Montreal Canadiens in the first round. Canadiens, who finished the regular season as the No. 12, made their way to the playoffs by upset 3-1 series win against the No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins.

”It was a tall task to get that No. 1 seed, and we did it,” said Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. ”We came in here and have been strictly business. I think for us to go out there and get three big wins in a row and get that No. 1 seed is huge for us.”

Other matchups in the East include Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins against Carolina Hurricanes.

In the Western Conference, Vegas Golden Knights claimed the top seed with three wins from three games and get to face Chicago Blackhawks in the next round. Blackhawks’ clinched the ticket to the postseason by eliminating the fifth-seeded Edmonton Oilers.

The No.2 seed Colorado Avalanche play against the Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars are pitted against Calgary Flames, while St. Louis Blue Jackets face Vancouver Canucks.

Stanley Cup Playoffs officially kick off on August 11th. Check out the full bracket below.

The post NHL Sets the Bracket For Stanley Cup Playoffs 2020 appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The resume of the NHL season might see more teams getting in the Stanley Cup race than ever before. The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) announced on Monday that they have voted in favor of having 24-team playoffs as part of the efforts to finish out 2019/20.

According to the plan, the season would resume immediately with the playoffs, which would see 24 teams taking part. The top four seeded teams from each conference would get the boot in the first round, while teams currently seeded from 5th to 12th position would meet in the five-game series. The winners of the first round would then play the top-seeded teams in a standard Stanley Cup playoff format of 16 teams.

“The Executive Board of the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) has authorized further negotiations with the NHL on a 24-team return to play format to determine the winner of the 2020 Stanley Cup,” an NHLPA statement reads. “Several details remain to be negotiated, and an agreement on the format would still be subject to the parties reaching agreement on all issues relevant to resuming play.”

This format, however, is still yet to be put in front of the league for voting. NHL is reportedly in favor of the proposal, as it would include the teams that have realistic chances of getting to the postseason but wouldn’t make it 2019/20 season would resume with traditional 16-team playoffs.

NHL is currently discussing several options for season resume, but the most likely outcome seems to be a centralized approach. According to sources, the league would choose two cities in which it would gather teams and play out all the games. Reportedly, nine cities are being considered, with Las Vegas being the overwhelming favorite.

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