By: Asa Montreaux
It is a strange moment, of suspense and shock, when two teams trade wins in the start of a finals.
Now is the perfect time to review, as if it hadn't started. But sort of like double or nothing. Best of five. Instead of best of seven.
How is Short Story Selections feeling about writing the playoffs? Meh. Not that feeling it. But right now, finals, even series score, stats, I am sort of feeling it.
We know these are two good teams. We know Florida is a great team, almost having beat the Oilers in five games in last years final, and being the powerhouse winner of the previous year. The Oilers were the better team in terms of points and results in the regulars season this year. But are the the better team, or are the Panthers just suffering from fatigue?
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The Oilers have a lot of their top players performing very well. Every season it seems to be McDavid and Draisaitl leading the team, and there year is truly no different. Selections is interesting in inventing the who's hot meter. Not just who is the best, who had the most points in the regular season, but who has the most points in the tough playoffs? And who has the most points recently in the playoffs?
McDavid has been stellar, leading the team in points, even past Draisaitl, and also getting the most Game winning goals for the team. Imagine this, team captain scoring in the third overtime, second road, third round, and Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals. That's the kind of player he has been lately.
The Oilers have also received big play from less consistent players Bouchard and Nugent-Hopkins, who when dominant, make the Oilers a championship level team.
Veteran Corey Perry has added a lot of GWGs, but the Panthers addition of Brad Marchand brings equal leadership and big-game expertise for them.
Marchand has also scored a number of GWGs for the Panthers, proving a worthwhile investment. There best players have consistently led them, but offensively mercurial Sam Bennet has led the team in points, and is still hot leading up to game 3. In the absence of Sam Reinhart, the Rocket Richard level goal-scorer, Bennet has stepped up big time.
The Oilers have scored the most points, and this leads Selections to believe they might come out of this tangle on top. But the Panthers are not far behind, especially as the playoffs move along. And they are a team that was previously tired, and a team with an ultimately unknown capability. So it seems to be a split decision. Selections thinks that because the Panthers were able to steal a win on the Oilers' Home Ice, and because of their statistical depth in the lineup throughout the playoffs, they have a very slight advantage to win the Stanley Cup.
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