Colorado looks spooky. Their goaltending is very iffy tho, they're more an offensive juggernaut than a defense minded team, not saying they can't play D but they rely on outscoring rather than shutting down
They're a better version of the Florida Panthers based on what you just wrote...I mean, this is exactly how we would've talked about Florida this entire season up until the playoff series we had against them. More experienced though and a deeper blueline. They had two of these run-and-gun games but also had two games in the middle where they kept the Oilers to two goals total as well, which deserves mention.
They'll be favorites no doubt. They finally managed to live up to their hype to reach the Final. They've probably been the Vegas favorites the last three seasons now including this one.
They're looking beatable to me now though. Francouz is not good. Their defense is mobile but look at the backend and goalie tandems they went through. None of those teams were good enough back there. None. They went through Connor Ingram and the Preds, Binnington-less Blues, and the Oilers. Not trying to discredit them, but the margin between them and Tampa/NYR gets much tighter. I'd argue closer with us but even New York with Shesterkin is their toughest goalie.
They haven't faced offensive struggles yet cause they're shooting on cardboard cutouts for a 14-2 record. The thing that worries me is their overall speed. They aren't toronto. They're fast AND can finish. I just see weaknesses now that Kadri is out, Cogliano probably broke fingers/a hand, and Francouz is starting.
It'll be a good finals regardless.
This is definitely true, but probably will play to their advantage as well in terms of rest though. The toughest team they faced in the playoffs were the Blues. If we're to reach the Cup, we'll have had to play three teams just as good, or better, than the Blues, and each team being significantly better than both the Preds and Oilers were.
Can't knock them for it. Not only is this outside their control but we'd also be hypocrites if we didn't acknowledge having some favorable draws the last couple years...Dallas and Montréal were the furthest thing from world beaters to face in the last two Cup Finals.