The Edmonton Oilers did their best to do something about Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, but the Florida Panthers goaltender delivered a masterful performance in a 3-0 victory at a packed Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday night.
Bobrovsky stopped all 32 shots from his opponents, troubling the Oilers, who were averaging 3.5 goals per game heading into the Cup final.
Edmonton tried their best, including 32 scoring chances and three power-play opportunities, but the game never ended with the puck getting behind Bobrovsky, while the Panthers capitalized on their opportunities to score and expose the Oilers’ defensive weaknesses.
Edmonton’s defensive issues didn’t take long to surface, as Carter Verhaeghe put the Panthers ahead on a perfect transition play from their own half 3:59 into the game. A miscommunication led Oilers defenceman Cody Ceci to leave the middle of the ice to protect Aleksander Barkov, which allowed Verhaeghe to walk unmarked into the zone and Mattias Ekholm to be late on the backcheck.
One of the Panthers’ strengths is their forecheck, which allowed Florida to create opportunities against the Oilers’ blue line.
That was evident on the Panthers’ second goal, when Sam Bennett dumped the puck into the corner, got to it before Ceci and passed it to a sprinting Evan Rodriguez to make the score 2-0 early in the second period.
Eetu Luostarinen added an empty-net point to seal the win for the Panthers.
The defensive duo of Ceci and Darnell Nurse struggled in Game 1. The Oilers have lost 12-5 this postseason when they’ve been on the ice together, including two goals by the Panthers.
The Panthers played a little more dangerously, giving the Oilers three chances on the power play after they had a 37.3 percent success rate through Game 1, but Bobrovsky continued to be a wall and Florida’s penalty kill kept Edmonton in the game.
Oilers have no answer for Bobrovsky
Oilers coach Chris Knobloch will have some tweaks to make ahead of Game 2 on Monday, but the biggest challenge will be finding a weakness in Bobrovsky, who made 32 saves.
The Oilers found holes that helped them create 18 high-risk scoring chances. Adam Henrique and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each scored on breakaways in the first period, but couldn’t beat Bobrovsky.
Offensively, it wasn’t a bad game for the Oilers. Throughout the second period, they dominated the ball at 5-on-5 and converted their scoring chances. In the third period, they pressed hard to do whatever it took to score, but struggled, taking just seven shots in the final 20 minutes.
Bobrovsky was so good in Game 1 that a win in the opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals historically bodes well for the winning team.
According to the NHL, teams that have won Game 1 of a best-of-seven Cup Final have a career record of 64-20 (a 762% win rate) and a 51-10 record (an 836% win rate) when winning Game 1 at home.
The Panthers now trail 1-0 in the series heading into Game 2 on Monday at Ameranto Bank Arena.
2024 Stanley Cup Final Schedule (Panthers lead series 1-0)
Game 1: Panthers 3, Oilers 0
Game Two: Oilers vs. Panthers | Monday, June 10, 8pm ET (ABC, ESPN+)
Game Three: Panthers vs. Oilers | Thursday, June 13, 8 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN+)
Game Four: Panthers vs. Oilers | Saturday, June 15, 8pm ET (ABC, ESPN+)
*Game 5Oilers vs. Panthers | Tuesday, June 18, 8pm ET (ABC, ESPN+)
*Game 6: Panthers vs. Oilers | Friday, June 21, 8pm ET (ABC, ESPN+)
*Game 7: Oilers vs. Panthers | Monday, June 24, 8pm ET (ABC, ESPN+)
(*If necessary)
