Quote:
Originally Posted by YOWetal
1942 was really a different universe. Getting to game 7 after being down 3-0 you'd think normally in a momentum sport like Hockey that the Oilers are now favorite though the betting odds still have Florida as a slight favorite.
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Home team. Better overall record. There's no reason to think they don't adjust and get a little more luck in the goalie matchup. Things tend to balance out over many games and this game is pretty much a tossup. Edge to the home team slightly and the overall better defensive team. I would also say that there's a lot of numbers that don't hold up long haul. The special teams advantage (especially Edmonton's penalty kill.)
There's not much to pick here really. Florida by a nose because they are the better defensive team statistically over more games.
Of course all of that means nothing when it is one game. Law of averages says this is probably Florida's game to lose. But, they played 82 regular season games and 24 games in the playoffs for Edmonton and 23 games for Florida and it comes down to one game and three periods. And as has been stated. Pretty much a coin flip for the legacies of many involved.
1941-1942 was definitely a different world. Only seven teams and only one team didn't make the playoffs. For some reason the playoffs made it so 1 and 2 played in the semi-finals so Toronto ended up playing a really mediocre team in the final. Still impressive to win four in a row against anybody. Toronto beat Detroit who was 19-25-4 on the season with a -7 goal differential. Toronto was 27-18-3 with a plus 22 goal differential in comparison.