Three Stars from the 2024 Eastern Conference Final

As the Florida Panthers celebrate their Eastern Conference championship and the more important Stanley Cup Final berth, let’s take a step back and appreciate the great series saw.

 

In the six games of the ECF, three straight went to overtime, five were one-goal games and the road team won three times.

 

The series was tight, fast, physical and most importantly — highly entertaining. 

 

Here’s my three stars — from each team — in the 2024 Eastern Conference Final. 

New York Rangers 

 

3. Vincent Trocheck 

 

The former Florida Panthers was a scary force to go up against this postseason. 

 

Trocheck finished the series with six points in six games, playing over 20-plus minutes a night. 

 

He was noticeable all over the ice, not just in the offensive zone. The centerman was 56.9% in the faceoff circle (70/123) and was great off the puck.

 

Trocheck finished the postseason with 20 points (8G, 12A) in 16 games. 

 

2. Alexis Lafreniere 

 

The first-overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft had a disappointing run in the 2022-23 postseason, going pointless in seven games. He completely changed the narrative this year. 

 

Lafreniere was a thorn in the Panthers’ side, scoring four goals of the series — with a two-goal night in Game 3. 

 

The 22-year-old was flying every time he came through the neutral zone and he scored a few unbelievable, highlight-reel goals because of it.

 

 Lafreniere is barely old enough to drink, but he sure can show up in the playoffs. 

 

1. Igor Shesterkin

Shocker, I know. Igor Shesterkin wasn’t just the best Ranger on the ice, he was probably the best player in the series.

 

The majority of the games were close in the ECF, but don’t get it twisted, Florida heavily outplayed New York. The Panthers outshot the Rangers in all but one game, and dictated the flow of play in the later stages of nearly every game.

 

The only reason the series went six games is because of Shesterkin’s play. The Russian goaltender did everything he could to will his team throughout the series, but the offensive support just wasn’t enough. 

 

Shesterkin had a .930 save percentage in the six games against the Panthers — stopping 186 of the 200 shots he faced.

 

Panthers head coach had a lot of praise for the Rangers goalie, saying he hasn’t “seen a series by a goaltender like that since Jose Theodore in 2002.” 

 

Goaltending isn’t the reason New York lost, it’s the reason why they weren’t going home earlier. 

 

Florida Panthers 

 

3. Anton Lundell 

 

There’s a few players from the Panthers that are well deserving to have this  spot.Aleksander Barkov had a few big games in the series, Gustav Forsling should be in contention for the Conn Smythe the way he’s been playing and obviously Carter Verhaeghe was very good. 

 

But, the third star must go to the youngest player on the Panthers’ playing roster — Anton Lundell. 

 

The 22-year-old had three points in the series,which doesn’t jump out compared to some of his teammates, however his offensive contributions were beyond clutch — possibly series saving. 

 

He scored the ‘de facto’ game winner in Game 5 at MSG — putting the Panthers up 2-1 in the third, which set up the opportunity for Sam Bennett’s empty net game winning goal./ 

In Game 6, he set up Vladimir Tarasenko’s eventual series clinching goal by blocking a shot at the point, chipping the puck into the Rangers before feeding a cross crease pass through three defenders to hit Tarasenko. 

 

Within the South Florida media circle, we’ve been calling the young Finn ‘Baby Barkov’, and it’s true.  

 

“I have absolutely no idea how good he can be,” Paul Maurice said of Lundell after Game 5 in New York. “But we’re going to find out, it’s just going to take a little while.”

 

He plays a 200-foot game that guys with a decade of NHL experience could only dream of and he’s only in his third season. 

 

2. Sam Bennett 

NO. 9 has been a wrecking ball all postseason long for the Cats and the Eastern Conference Final was his best showing yet. 

 

The Panthers missed Sam Bennett when he was out with an apparent hand injury after absorbing friendly fire from Brandon Montour in Game 2 of the first round against Tampa. Once he made his return in the second round against Boston, playoff Sam Bennett was on full display. 

 

“I started to feel a little bit more like myself as the series went on,” Bennett said of his play after returning from the injury. “It was nice to be able to stickhandle a little better than I was earlier. It feels good to be back to feeling right.”

 

Bennett, 27, had four goals and six points in the Eastern Conference Final — which is the most points he’s put up in a single playoff series in his career. Bennett scored in every single one of Florida’s wins, including a huge goal to tie Game 4 — with the Panthers trailing 2-1 in the series. He is currently riding a three game goal streak into the Stanley Cup Final.

 

 

1. Sergei Bobrovsky 

 

It was only right to put Bobrovsky first on this list. 

 

We spoke about how good Igor Shesterkin was in the Rangers net, but Sergei Bobrovsky also put forth an elite performance between the pipes for the Panthers.

 

Florida prides itself on being a defense first team, which is why they were able to keep Bobrovsky’s workload to under 30 shots for all but one game of the series. 

 

While he didn’t see as many pucks as Shesterkin, his play in the ECF shouldn’t be diminished because of that. 

 

The 35-year-old gave up two or fewer goals in all but one of the six games against the Rangers. In 17 games this postseason, he’s done that 13 times.

 

It’s remarkable. He’s been an absolute stud all year and especially in the biggest games,” Sam Bennett said of Bobrovsky. “That seems to be when he’s playing his best hockey, which is incredible.”

 

Florida’s netminder gave up just 12 goals on 151 shots in the series — posting a very impressive .921 save percentage and also picking up a shutout. 

 

Great goaltending can keep you in a series you probably shouldn’t be in, which was the case for the Rangers. While the Panthers were the force carrying most of the play in the Conference Finals, Bobrovsky was there to make the timely saves in these close games. 

 

He also gave up just one power play goal on 15 attempts to a Rangers team that entered the series with a 31.4% success rate on the power play.