The Stanley Cup Final is being held in South Florida for the second straight year.
The Florida Panthers have a home-ice advantage this year, hosting the Edmonton Oilers.
After game one of the Stanley Cup Final, one down with three to go for the Panthers seeking their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Sergei Bobrovsky put on a master class preventing Conner McDavid and his Edmonton Oilers teammates from scoring. Offensively, Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues added to the Panther’s win over the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Saturday night in Game 1 of the NHL’s best-of-seven championship series.
Panthers have a lead in the Cup final for the first time in franchise history.
“We enjoy being here, it is a great atmosphere to play hockey,” Bobrovsky said. “We enjoy being together, face that tough challenge, it is a great start for us.”
35-year-old goalie Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner for his stellar regular-season play, registered his second shutout of this run and third in the playoffs over his 14-year career.
Bobrovsky had 12 saves in the first period alone. “Big Bob” finished with 32 saves.
“We have tons of room to improve which is the positive for us tonight,” Panthers second year head coach Paul Maurice said. “We played well enough to win, grinded it out. Our defense did an unreal job with everything in their game.”
Bobrovsky gets his third career post-season shutout. Two of those shutouts have come in this year’s playoffs. He becomes the 5th goalie in the last 40 seasons to have a shutout in game one of the Stanley Cup.
“It is only game one; it is a long series,” Bobrovsky said. “It is a great start.”
Bobrovsky has now stopped 101 of the last 106 shots he has faced over the past four games since he lost overtime to the New York Rangers in game three of the Eastern Conference Finals.
“Tonight maybe we deserved one goal, maybe two goals and we don’t find a way to get them,” McDavid said. “This group will stick with it. Bounce back. That’s what we take a lot of pride in doing.”
Oilers are now 2-9 when McDavid and Leon Draisaiti have zero points in the playoffs.
Edmonton controlled much of the game five on five, extended its streak of penalties killed to 30, and its power play did just about everything right except score. Despite all that, the Oilers find themselves trailing in this core group led by McDavid and Draisaitl’s first appearance in the final.
“The key is to not get frustrated and continue to play. Play your game that is why it is a seven game series,” Oilers left wing Zach Hyman said. “Go out there and execute. I liked our game. We had our looks tonight we didn’t score on them.”
The Panthers played their best hockey but kept McDavid and the Oilers scoreless, with Bobrovsky stealing the show.
Panthers know how to suffocate the opposing team’s best players.
Oilers entered game one 23-14 in Stanley Cup Final games, Panthers 1-8.
In game two, oilers will feel pressure to avoid a 0-2 deficit. Though they lost the game, they should not feel disappointed in how they played. For two periods, they were the superior team. The speed at which the Oilers played the game caused problems for the Panthers. Expect the Oilers to keep their game plan the same as that of game one. They had a lot of opportunities, and they will not be denied if they continue to get quality chances as the series goes on.
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