Hockey fans are watching on the edge of their seats as the Stanley Cup Playoff teams advance further to the final. The Florida Panthers lead 2-0 over the Carolina Hurricanes in a battle to win the conference championship. The Western Conference Vegas Golden Knights lead over the Dallas Stars after two hard-fought overtime wins. Before diving into what is to come with these four competitive teams, let’s take a look at some of the action in previous series.

Early Series Eastern Conference

  Round one involved some serious shockers, including the Florida-Boston matchup, which resulted in a 4-3 Florida win over the Boston Bruins (ESPN.com), who led the Atlantic Division in wins and points during the regular season. The Bruins elimination in the first round was highly unexpected, given their remarkable season. Another exciting matchup to note was the Devils and Rangers. The New York Rangers took an early two game lead to start the series on Devils home ice, and many Devils fans were left disappointed and nervous for the remaining games. However, the Devils made a serious comeback at Madison Square Garden, clutching two tight wins to tie up the series. New Jersey goaltender Akira Schmid is credited for a shut-out in game five to give the Devils a 3-2 lead. Finally, the Devils advanced to the next round after a tight seven game series against the Rangers. Ellie Grant, Rangers fan at Ramapo, believes that “…The Rangers started off strong, but it was always going to be difficult for them to make it far in the playoffs. The players themselves are very good and have proven that they can work against unruly circumstances, but the changing staff on the inside has led to an unstable team.” Mr. Jaeger, a Ramapo biology teacher and Rangers fan, reflected on his team’s situation: “I’m upset that they lost their coach and got eliminated by the Devils, but I’m excited for next year.”  The Devils would later face off against the Carolina Hurricanes, who dominated and gained a relatively quick 4-1 win in the second round to advance to the conference championship. 

Early Action in the Western Conference

The Vegas Golden Knights have been an exciting team to watch so far throughout the Playoffs. Although Vegas suffered an initial 5-1 loss in game one, they proved their resilience and quickly shut Winnipeg down with four consecutive victories. Vegas extended their Playoff run in a competitive second round against number two ranked Edmonton Oilers, in which Vegas went 4-2 to advance to the conference championship. Another notable team is the Dallas Stars, who picked up a 4-3 series victory over the Seattle Kraken and now face adversity in the conference championship as they trail 0-2 against the Vegas Golden Knights. 

Looking Ahead

The Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights each lead their conferences 2-0 as they hope to pave their way to the cup. NHL fans are pumped and ready to see which team will take home the bowl in 2023.