2022 MRFHL Finals Preview

Florida Panthers

QF: defeated Canadiens in 4 games

SF: defeated Maple Leafs in 7 games

CF: defeated Hurricanes in 4 games

The Florida Panthers are back in the finals. After winning the Stanley Cup back in 2019, it’s been a lean few years for the Sunrise based team as they’ve missed the playoffs the following two seasons in a pair of surprisingly disappointing seasons. The Panthers moved to correct that, being incredibly aggressive in the off-season by surrounding their ageing core with the likes of Ekblad and Pacioretty. A deadline move in Mark Stone furthered that as the Panthers would go on a run to end the year, winning the Eastern Conference and losing out on the Presidents’ Trophy in a tiebreak. 

The Panthers would start the playoffs on a roll, sweeping the Montreal Canadiens as the Panthers began to exhibit their tight defensive style. All four games ended up being tight, but the Florida team stifled the Canadiens shooters allowing only 6 goals in the 4 games. Next was the true test, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs had also added a lot during the past year and pushed Florida to the edge. In an incredibly tight 7 game series where all but one game was decided by only one goal, the Panthers grinded out another close out game with a 2-1 win. After finishing off their division opponents, they moved on to face the Hurricanes. After an overtime winner from Brandon Tanev in game 1, the Panthers breezed out to a 3-0 series lead before squeezing out another series clinching 2-1 win. 

The Panthers have really flown through the playoff on the back of playing a tight defensive game, trusting in Philipp Grubauer to make all the required saves. In their 15 playoff games so far, the Panthers have only conceded 28 goals - under a 2 goal per game average. And when they’ve needed goals the depth has stepped up, as they’ve gotten key playoff goals from the likes of Nic Dowd, Brandon Tanev and Marcus Foligno. After what can be only described as a disappointing regular season, Patrice Bergeron has led the way so far with 17 points in 15 games including 2 game winners. The big mid-season acquisition in Mark Stone is right behind in that regard, rewarding the team’s GM for making that move.

St. Louis Blues

QF: defeated Avalanche in 5 games

SF: defeated Jets in 4 games

CF: defeated Oilers in 6 games

The Blues are in the finals and it’s been quite the upswing as they are just 4 wins away from an accelerated two year build. After moving from a historically awful season to first in their division, the Blues pushed the eventual cup winners to 7 games in the Conference finals last year. A relatively steady off-season saw them make some key trades, acquiring Damon Severson, Thomas Greiss and most importantly David Krejci. Krejci would end up becoming a co-winner for the Art Ross, after an unexpectedly dominant season from the veteran. Like the Panthers, they also made a big off-season acquisition after acquiring Chris Kreider from the Detroit Red Wings. Even with the big moves and big season from Krejci, the Blues fell back after their ascendant season. Finishing 2nd in the division, the Blues fell 11 points from the previous season and would have a bit of a tougher battle moving through the playoffs.

The Blues would match up against the Avs in the first round and after a brace from Sebastian Aho in game 1, quickly fell behind in the series. In game 2 they were a minute away from dropping both home games, before Chris Kreider tied the game with the goalie pulled and then Logan Couture ended it in OT with a shorthanded goal. Coming from a potential death blow, the Blues edged out a trio of 1 goal games and ended the Avs in 5 games. They would move on to play the division winning Jets, who had just swept the Sharks in the previous round. Once again a key shorthanded goal and overtime winner would be key, as the Blues would take game 1 on the road from an Erik Brannstrom winner. With that confidence, the Blues would take the next three games, including a 3 point performance from Chris Kreider in game 4. Now the Blues were on an 8 game win streak as they met another team who had swept the previous round - a very familiar opponent in the Edmonton Oilers, the same team that they faced and lost to in last year's conference finals. Logan Couture would once again be a hero with a game 1 OT winner. They would drop the next 2 games to the Oilers, including a heartbreaker in overtime before they would again steamroll an opponent after some adversity. The Blues would take a pair of 1 goal games, before winning a convincing game 6 by a score of 6-3. 

There can be a lot said about the dominance of Krejci and Landeskog in the regular season, and that has definitely continued in the playoffs as they are both 1 and 2 on the Blues in scoring. The big key in this run has been the appearance of Kreider and Pavel Zacha in these playoffs. Kreider, who had 13 points in 33 regular season games after joining the team, has matched that total in the playoffs, in only 15 games. While Zacha, who had 13 goals all season, is right behind Landeskog with 8 goals in the first three rounds. The Blues ran a tandem this year with Kumeper and Greiss, both who were excellent all year. In the playoffs though the job has been given to Kuemper, who sports an incredible 12-1-1 record (Greiss played only Game 1 of the WCQF, in the loss to the Avs).