EDMONTON, CANADA – The Edmonton Oilers take the initial lead.
Following a series last year in which no game extended beyond 60 minutes, Leon Draisaitl scored in overtime to secure a 4-3 victory for the Edmonton Oilers over the defending champion Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Wednesday.
“It’s going to be a long series,” forward Sam Bennett said. “I don’t think we expected this to be easy. You can learn some things from tonight, and then we’re just going to move on.”
Carter Verhaeghe evened the score for the Panthers, launching a shot that deflected off Bennett in the slot before proceeding past Stuart Skinner to knot the game at 1-1 at 10:49.
Florida Panthers have progressed to the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive season
Draisaitl delivered a decisive moment by scoring on the power play with 31 seconds remaining in overtime, following Tomas Nosek’s penalty for clearing the puck over the glass. This goal marked Draisaitl’s third in overtime during this postseason, tying the record for a single playoff season, and bringing his total to six goals in the regular season.
Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made several remarkable saves, including a notable stop on Trent Frederic earlier in overtime. Throughout the game, he was also met with audible chants of “Ser-gei! Ser-gei!” following the goals he permitted.
The Florida Panthers held a 41-35 advantage in scoring chances.
Aleksander Barkov won 16 of 25 faceoffs, achieving a 64% success rate.
All Panthers skaters registered at least one hit during the game.
When Nate Schmidt was on the ice during even-strength play, Florida maintained control of 75% of shot attempts.
Up next
Game 2 is Friday night in Edmonton before the series shifts to Florida for Games 3 and 4.
Photo/NHL/X
One thought