Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stops a shot on goal by Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid during the third period of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, on June 8, in Sunrise, Fla.Michael Laughlin/The Associated Press
There are two ways to look at Saturday night’s opening game of the Stanley Cup final.
Glass half-full: The Oilers dominated the Panthers for long stretches.
Glass half-empty: Florida did not play its best and still escaped with a 3-0 victory. With another triumph at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday, it will leave Edmonton in a precarious position.
There are things to like about how the Oilers played. They outshot the Panthers, 32-18. That is notable because on average Florida gets more shots on goal – 33 a game – than any team in the NHL. Stuart Skinner played well in net. He was victimized by two defensive lapses in front of him and Florida’s other goal came on an empty-netter.
On the other hand, Skinner was still outplayed by his counterpart, Sergei Bobrovsky. Analytics number-crunchers found that Edmonton had 18 grade-A chances to Florida’s six. Bobrovsky simply proved to be impenetrable. He stopped all 32 shots sent his way, including breakaways by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Adam Enrique and some breakneck rushes by Connor McDavid.
It’s hard to look at Game 1 and draw a sweeping conclusion. In my estimation the Panthers should have been favoured to win the series and nothing that occurred on Saturday precludes that. It is still too early.
Florida has the advantage of starting at home and should draw strength from the experience of reaching the Stanley Cup final last year. The Oilers are in the final for the first time in 18 years. Both teams are equally motivated: the Panthers to win their first Stanley Cup; the Oilers to capture their first since 1990.
Edmonton’s players woke up on Sunday feeling optimistic about their chances.
“I was really impressed by the way we played,” Mattias Ekholm, the veteran defenceman, said on Sunday at an availability with the media at the Panthers’ practice facility in Fort Lauderdale. “I don’t think we looked out of sorts at all. I thought we took it to them. I liked the way we started the game and it blended into the next 40 minutes.
“You come in and always have your doubts but I think our best is good enough. It is a matter of getting there every night. That’s the hard part.”
In the third period Florida locked down the game and became much more stingy. It started forcing shots to be made from the perimeter and limited the better opportunities.
“In some ways the way we played is encouraging,” Nugent-Hopkins said. At 13 years, he is the longest-tenured member of the Oilers. “You try to stack up as many wins as early as you can in a series but it’s a best of seven and it’s a race to four.
“Our ability to bounce back has been a great trait throughout the season, even period to period at times. Of course you are going to go through tough stretches. The important thing is how we respond to that.”
Edmonton fell behind the Vancouver Canucks and the Dallas Stars before it emerged victorious in the second and third rounds.
“That should give us confidence but we don’t take it for granted, that it is just going to happen,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “But out ability to do it all season is a good sign.”
McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who entered the final with a combined 59 points, were stymied time and again by Bobrovsky.
Paul Maurice, the Panthers coach, is not counting on that to happen throughout the series.
“You become desensitized at times by how good those two players are,” he said. “I understand why. They are so dynamic that you get used to it to the point where you ask why it doesn’t happen every shift. Well, it almost does.
“They are truly special in all aspects of the game. You can do everything right and still not be able to stop them.”
Florida has an opportunity to go up 2-0 and leave itself two wins shy of a Stanley Cup championship. A loss wouldn’t snuff out Edmonton’s chances but it would make its path much more difficult. Games 3 and 4 are at Rogers Place on Thursday and Saturday.
“I thought we played a good game and created a lot of looks for ourselves, especially in the first two periods,” Draisaitl said. “Their goalie had a great night. Those things happen. But I think if we do more of the same more often than not we give ourselves a really good chance to win.
“It’s an old cliché, but you go on the road to come home with a split. Of course, Monday is a big game for us but even if it doesn’t go our way it’s not the end of the world.”
It isn’t but it makes for a slippery slope.