Why Florida and Colorado are favoured to play for the Stanley Cup

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The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs opened last night with very different results for the two Canadian teams in action. In Toronto, the Maple Leafs silenced their critics (for now) with a stunning 5-0 blowout of two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay, boosting their hopes of making it past the first round for the first time in the salary cap era. In Edmonton, the Oilers' shaky supporting cast was once again exposed in a 4-3 loss to underdog Los Angeles. Connor McDavid scored with a brilliant solo effort, but goalie Mike Smith's late-game giveaway triggered the decisive goal.

Tonight, the only other Canadian team in the playoffs hits the ice when Calgary hosts Dallas (watch the game live at 10 p.m. ET on CBC TV, CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app). We examined the Pacific Division champion Flames' Stanley Cup chances (quite good) in yesterday's newsletter, so today let's focus on the other two most interesting clubs in action tonight.

Florida and Colorado finished 1-2 in the overall standings this season and are the betting favourites to meet in the Cup final. They're also two of the most entertaining teams in the league. Here's a quick primer on each:

Florida Panthers

If you thought the Leafs' playoff-victory drought was bad, get a load of this: Florida hasn't won a series since its improbable, rat-infested run to the Cup final in 1996. In the 24 post-seasons since then, the franchise has won a grand total of nine games.

These Panthers, though, are a new breed. The Floridaissance can be traced back to 2011, when the Panthers drafted forward Jonathan Huberdeau third