Connor McDavid has had plenty of help from supporting players like goalie Stuart Skinner en route to his first Stanley Cup final.
CBC Sports' daily newsletter previews a fascinating NHL championship series between Edmonton and Florida. The Stanley Cup final begins Saturday at 8 p.m. ET when the Edmonton Oilers visit the Florida Panthers, marking Connor McDavid's first appearance on the NHL's biggest stage.
The Panthers can relate. They're trying to win the first championship in the history of the franchise, which dates back to 1993. Florida'srun to the Cup final in 1996 ended in a sweep to Colorado, and last year the Panthers lost the final in five to Vegas.The Edmonton Oilers have a chance to do what no Canadian NHL team has done in more than three decades: win the Stanley Cup.
However, these are not one-dimensional clubs. Florida ranked 11th in scoring this season and has elevated to fourth in goals per game in the playoffs, while Edmonton finished an improved 10th in goals-against average in the regular season and is up to seventh in the playoffs.The Panthers spent so many years as an NHL backwater that it's hard for some people to accept that they've been one of the league's premier teams for a while now.
Along with Tkachuk, who leads the team with 19 points in 17 playoff games, and Bobrovsky, who earned a Vezina nomination and has continued his excellent goaltending through the playoffs, the Panthers are led by Aleksander Barkov, a superb two-way player who just won his second Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward. Sam Reinhart scored 57 goals in the regular season and has another eight in the playoffs, while Carter Verhaeghe tops the team with nine goals in the post-season.
But a big reason why McDavid is playing in his first Cup final is because his supporting cast has really stepped up. Leon Draisaitl, a former MVP and scoring champ himself, ranks second in playoff scoring with 28 points while rising-star defenceman Evan Bouchard is third with 27. McDavid's linemate Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is next with 21 points. His other linemate, Zach Hyman, leads the playoffs with 14 goals after potting a career-high 54 in the regular season.
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