Oilers shut out by Panthers in Stanley Cup Final opener
The Edmonton Oilers got stonewalled by the Florida Panthers in a 3-0 shutout loss in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying as the Oilers dominated large sections of the play and were generally the better team all night long. The problem was Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who turned in an all-world performance to carry his team to victory.
“I think that our team played another full 60,” Stuart Skinner told reporters following the game. “We were amazing for the whole game, we really pushed.
“[Bobrovsky] was absolutely massive for them and a big reason why they were able to win.”
BIG TIME SAVE FROM BOB AND A SCRUM FOLLOWS 🍿 pic.twitter.com/Ky0RH9mCMk
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 9, 2024
It was Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues, and Eetu Luostarinen who got the game’s only goals as the Panthers drew first blood against the Oilers.
Problematic pair
It was more of the same for Edmonton’s second defensive pair of Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci tonight.
The two divisive defencemen were reunited to start this series after being split up halfway through the Western Conference Final. That split was intentional, as the results on the ice when those two played together were putrid.
It was more of the same this time around as the pair failed to defend the Panther’s forecheck and allowed them to get a couple of easy looks that wound up in the back of the Oilers’ net.
BIG TIME SAVE FROM BOB AND A SCRUM FOLLOWS 🍿 pic.twitter.com/Ky0RH9mCMk
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 9, 2024
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch will surely make adjustments to his lineup and breaking up this pairing should be an obvious one. Their mistakes were the difference in the game and you can’t have that happening again in this series.
There should be serious consideration of scratching Ceci in particular. It would be a hard move to make, but Knoblauch has shown he isn’t afraid of doing that sort of thing in high-stakes moments.
A story of goaltending
Edmonton peppered the Florida net with shots throughout the game, but just could not find a way to beat Bobrovsky.
The Russian goaltender has been spectacular all postseason long and turned in what might be one of the best performances of his career in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. There was just about every type of chance you could ask for with a few breakaways, in-close shots, and chaos in front of the net, but nothing was good enough to beat Bobrovsky.
“You gotta continue to create the chances that we created tonight,” Nurse told the media after the game. “At some point, you find a way to break through. [Bobrovsky] had a really good night.”
Bob continues to have himself a night. 💪
📺: Sportsnet
📲: Stream on Sportsnet+ pic.twitter.com/XbeOlhyh6F— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 9, 2024
Stuart Skinner didn’t have himself a horrible game. He let in two goals but both of them came off of poor plays in front of him. An Oilers team with so much firepower should be able to overcome a team scoring two goals against them.
Solving Bobrovsky will be at the top of Edmonton’s to-do list for Game 2 on Monday night.
PP comes up short
If the Oilers are going to have success in this series, their power play will have to continue to convert at a high rate—and that wasn’t the case tonight.
They had three chances with the man advantage and, while they got plenty of chances on net, they couldn’t quite find the looks they wanted. The Panthers’ lauded PK was a big reason why, as Edmonton had a hard time snapping the puck around like usual.
“I thought we had looks,” Zach Hyman said of the Oilers’ power play tonight. “You continue to get high-quality looks and you continue to stick with your process and if we play like we did today, I’m very confident in our group.”
The Oilers can’t fully rely on the PP, but the fact that they were unable to convert tonight didn’t help their case. On the flip side, Edmonton’s PK continued their dominance as they killed off the penalties they took in this one.
The Oilers will have a chance to tie up the series when Game 2 goes in Florida on Monday night.
Follow Channels and Categories