(WGR 550) - At first, there were eight teams battling for Eastern Conference supremacy. Now, there's only two.
Through two rounds of action in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers are the only teams remaining for the right to represent the conference in the Stanley Cup Final later this month. The series is set to begin on Thursday night in Carolina with Game 1 at PNC Arena.
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How did the Hurricanes and Panthers get to this point? Let's take a look back at Round 2 action of the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Hurricanes blow by Devils, 4-1
After needing six games to get past the New York Islanders in the first round of the playoffs, Carolina was able to make pretty easy work of a New Jersey Devils squad that lost its mojo from their Round 1 victory over the New York Rangers.
Aside from an offensive outburst in Game 3 with an 8-4 win on home ice, the Devils were outscored 20-5 in the other four games of the series. While Jack Hughes was able to produce three goals and three assists for six points in his five games in the series, the rest of the team around him disappeared.
One of the major factors in the Devils advancing past the Rangers in seven games in the opening round was the goaltending of Akira Schmid, as he went 4-1 with a 1.38 goals-against average, a .951 save percentage and two shutouts.
In the series against the Hurricanes, goaltending for New Jersey came up completely empty.
In four games played for the Devils, Schmid went 0-3 with a 4.23 goals-against average and an .874 save percentage. Meanwhile, Vitek Vanecek was no better for New Jersey with a 4.81 goals-against average and an .824 save percentage in four games, though he did get the Devils their only win of the series.
As for the Hurricanes, they continued to get scoring from up-and-down the lineup, particularly from forward Jordan Martinook, who completely tore apart the Devils with 10 points (3+7) in five games. This after Martinook didn't register a single point in their series with the Islanders.
The 30-year-old veteran is now tied for the team lead in points through the playoffs with Sebastian Aho, who was actually relatively quiet on the scoresheet with just three points (1+2) in his five games played.
Another star in the series for Carolina was veteran forward Jesper Fast, who scored two overtime goals for the Hurricanes, including the series-winning goal in Game 5 on home ice.
Through his 11 games played this postseason, Fast has put up five goals and added three assists for eight points. He also netted the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 2 to give Carolina a 2-0 series advantage heading to Newark, New Jersey.
While Antti Raanta carried the Hurricanes in goal through Round 1 of the playoffs, it was Frederik Andersen that played the bulk of the series against New Jersey due to an illness Raanta battled through.
In the five games played for Andersen against the Devils, the Danish goaltender went 4-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. This after Raanta was 3-2 with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in Carolina's series with the Islanders.
As long as the Hurricanes continue to play their resilient two-way style heading into the Eastern Conference Final, their only worry should lie with who gets the majority of the load in goal. Will they turn back to Raanta, or continue to allow Andersen to backstop the group?
Either way, Carolina certainly has the pieces to upend the Panthers and return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since they won it all in 2006.
Panthers stun Maple Leafs, 4-1
Following their stunning upset of the history making Boston Bruins in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Panthers continued to carry that momentum into their playoff matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, making Florida one of the more dangerous teams still remaining in the postseason.
Matthew Tkachuk continues to be the "X Factor" for the Panthers this postseason, leading the way for Florida with 16 points (5+11) in his 12 games played this postseason. In fact, he is two points back of the No. 1 spot in playoff scoring among players still actively playing in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
While Tkachuk did not find the back of the net in their series with the Maple Leafs, he was tied with Aaron Ekblad (1+4) for the most points registered in the series with five (0+5). Tkachuk is the engine that makes the Panthers' motor function, and he has this high-speed vehicle flying.
Carter Verhaeghe continues his stellar play this postseason with another four points for Florida and a team-high three goals in the series against Toronto.
Meanwhile, Florida's heroics this series came from Sam Reinhart and Nick Cousins with overtime winning goals at critical points of the series. Reinhart's overtime goal in Game 3 put the Maple Leafs in a stranglehold, helping the Panthers to a 3-0 series lead.
Then in Game 5 back in Toronto, it was Cousins who punched the Panthers' ticket to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1996 with his game-winner with 4:28 remaining in the first overtime.
Even though Sergei Bobrovsky wasn't all that great in goal in Florida's Round 1 series with the Bruins, he did bring stability in the five games he played, going 3-1 with a 3.94 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage.
In his five games started against the Maple Leafs, Bobrovsky was a game-changer with a 4-1 record, a 1.89 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage.
As for the Maple Leafs, their demise in the series was the lack of scoring from their top players.
Toronto's leading overall scorer in their five games against the Panthers was Morgan Rielly with four points (1+3). Other than that, William Nylander (2+1) and Mitch Marner (1+2) put up just three points, Ryan O'Reilly (1+1) and Auston Matthews (0+2) put up just two points, while captain John Tavares was held to just one assist in their series with Florida.
Overall, the Maple Leafs were outscored 16-10 in the series, scoring just two goals in each of the five games played. They also never got to their game until it was too little, too late in the series.
The Toronto net originally belonged to Ilya Samsonov, but an injury in Game 3 put him out of service for the remainder of the series. However, the former first-round pick of the Washington Capitals in 2015 was not so great in the first three games played, going 0-2 with a 3.10 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage.
Replacing Samsonov in goal was rookie goalie Joseph Woll, who performed admirably in his three games played. He went 1-2 in that span, but did give the Maple Leafs some assurance in goal with his 2.36 goals-against average and .921 save percentage.
Maple Leafs fans exclaimed how much they wanted Florida in their Round 2 series, but the team got more than they could handle from the Panthers and their 2022-23 season is over with just one playoff series win to show for it.
As for the Panthers, if they are able to continue their overall excellence at both ends of the ice in their upcoming series with the Hurricanes, they may be able to create havoc for Rod Brind'Amour's group in Raleigh.
We may be in store for one of the more exciting back-and-forth playoff series we've seen in quite some time.
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