It was destined to happen. The entire sports world basically wrote Edmonton off and left them for dead. However, last night’s game 3 was played on their home ice and it was win or look towards next season. Last night was also the second game in goal for Oilers’ goalie Jussi Markkanen. It might be a stretch to say the Oilers rose to the occasion and played their best hockey in some time, but they did get the job done.

The Carolina Hurricanes are not messing around. They smell blood in the water and they want their first Stanley Cup Championship right now. For game two, the Oilers decided to pass up Ty Covington and use Jussi Markkanen. It was a surprise to most as Covington was expected to get the nod. Many feel he is the better goalie out of the two. Markkanen wasted no time letting the puck cross the line.

Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals is on tonight at 8:00 pm EST between the Edmonton Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes—in Carolina. Edmonton’s veteran goalie, Dwayne Roloson, is done for the season thanks to a freak play in the third period of game one. Pretty much everyone has written the Oilers off for this series. Roloson was the reason why the Oilers were competitive and why they got this far. Or was he?

Last night’s game one between the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes was exciting. It reminded me of just how great playoff hockey in the NHL can be. There was everything in last night’s game, including the exciting penalty shot. Edmonton sure did look good. There was no rust at all. In fact, it was Carolina that looked rusty. For the first period and most of the second period, they were having trouble even connecting on simple passes.

In just hours from now, the NHL Finals are going to start with the Edmonton Oilers facing off at the Carolina Hurricanes. Tonight, the Hurricanes are a -150 favorite at home and a favorite in the series as well. The main question tonight seems to be “how rusty are the Oilers?” The Edmonton Oilers had a long layoff after dispatching the Ducks in just five games.

It’s finally that time of year. The NHL Finals are upon us. This year the Edmonton Oilers will take on the Carolina Hurricanes. Edmonton is coming off an extremely long rest after their domination of the Ducks. The Ducks managed to win only one game in that series. Carolina had to go the distance with the Sabres. They survived the hard fought series and won 4-2 in game 7.

Last night’s game seven was fast and furious. When the Hurricanes scored the first goal off of two lucky deflections, everyone looked to see if the Sabres would start losing hope. Instead, they played harder. In the second period, the Sabres scored the equalizing goal and then a go ahead goal with 3 seconds left in the second period. 90% of teams leading after the second period win the game in the NHL playoffs, so things looked good for the Sabres.

The Buffalo Sabres are going to have to pull off a magical performance to win the deciding game seven tonight. They have played Carolina very hard and well this series, but tonight might be too much for them. Midway through this series Carolina started playing to form and Buffalo has had a tough time of it ever since. In game five they lost a heartbreaker in OT. In game six, they almost blew the game by being too conservative once they scored. Luckily, a magical puck bouncing up and over the goalie found it’s way across the line for a victory.

Tonight’s game six was absolutely sensational. The game sailed under the total of six goals. The Sabres opened the scoring with a goal in the first period. It was lights out from there until the end of the third period when the Hurricanes scored the equalizer to send the game knotted at 1-1 into OT. The Sabres looked to be playing the game not to lose rather than playing to win after their go-ahead goal in the first period.

Tonight, the Sabres are playing a critical game six at home against Carolina. In Game 5, the Hurricanes skated to a 4-3 overtime victory. The overtime goal came on a power play—their second power play goal of the game. Game 5 was fast and furious. The Sabres really turned up the physicality level—but they lost. Tonight they are going to have to do more of the same and avoid cheap penalties. The Sabres are a -130 favorite in tonight’s game, which goes off at 7:30 PM EST. The under/over is 6, which looks to be about right for the series.