The Eastern Conference has been dwindled to four teams vying for a spot in the Stanley Cup finals.
Tonight, the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning open up their series, while tomorrow night, the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders kick off their best-of-seven series.
While the Lightning/Bruins series is set to be wild, the Islanders/Flyers series should be just as competitive and compelling.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 23rd, 9:00 P.M. (EST)
Online bookmaker BetOnline has the Flyers at -124 to win the series.
Philadelphia most recently reached the Stanley Cup finals in 2010, only to fall short to the Chicago Blackhawks. The last time Philadelphia won the Stanley Cup was in 1975. The Islanders are also a team searching for their first Stanley Cup in decades.
New York dominated the early 1980s but have not seen Stanley Cup success since. After winning four consecutive Stanley Cups, the Islanders reached the final in 1985 but came up short. This marked an end of an era for New York as it was their last appearance in the Stanley Cup finals since.
Flyers’ netminder Carter Hart has been a brick wall for Philadelphia so far. Unbeatable, the young goalie was been playing out of his mind inside the bubble. If New York wants to win this series, they will need to solve Hart early.
Both teams are known for their physicality and aggressiveness, so this could be a bruising series. Not afraid to throw weight around, Philly and New York can expect to be banged up in this series.
The Islanders and Flyers are inching closer to a potential Stanley Cup finals berth. But only one team will escape the second round. Will the top seed Flyers knock out New York, or will the Islanders fight and move on to face either the Lightning or Bruins?
