Everybody’s scoring for Florida. Nobody’s scoring for Carolina. In simplest terms, that might be the best way to describe the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes.

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we preview the Eastern Conference Final series between the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers.

Nill's Stars eliminated the Jets in six games during the second round and are back in the Western Conference final for the third straight season. Nill also has a chance at winning the Jim Gregory Award for the third straight time as well after earning the honor in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Now the Stars can take a 2-0 series lead for the first time since the second round of the 2020 playoffs, when they went on to beat Colorado in six games and made the Stanley Cup Final in the bubble in Canada during that pandemic-impacted season.

Game 1 got away from the Oilers in the third period, but our NHL betting picks believe Edmonton will bounce back and knot things up with the Dallas Stars on Friday, May 23, 2025.

Three NHL GMs are nominated for the Jim Gregory Award for GM of the year, Stars' Jim Nill, Jets' Kevin Cheveldayoff, and Panthers' Bill Zito,