Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves to register the third playoff shutout of his profession as the Florida Panthers defeated the visiting Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in the Stanley Cup final.
Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues and Eetu Luostarinen, into an empty web, scored for Florida. Aleksander Barkov had two assists.
“Incredible,” Florida ahead Sam Bennett mentioned referring to Bobrovsky’s perferomance. “We have so much belief, and he gives us so much energy back there. It’s amazing to watch him perform in net. He’s been a star all year long.”
Added Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk: “Everything you want in a teammate, especially a goalie.”
Stuart Skinner stopped 15 photographs for Edmonton.
“They are a great offensive team,” Bobrovsky mentioned after choosing up his second shutout of the 2024 post-season. “They bring the good challenge.”
Game 2 of a title sequence with the furthest distance between competing cities in NHL historical past goes Monday again at Amerant Arena earlier than the best-of-seven sequence shifts to the Alberta capital.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves for his third profession shutout in the playoffs. Panthers lead the Oilers 1-0 in the Stanley Cup final.
The Oilers are in the final for the primary time since 2006 and are on the lookout for their first sip from hockey’s holy grail since profitable the franchise’s fifth Cup in 1990.
“Game 1’s of series are always unique because you don’t know what to expect,” Oilers left wing Zach Hyman mentioned. “You hear everything about what the team does. You watch video. But you haven’t played them for months. As the series settles in, you are pretty well aware of what works, what doesn’t work.”
McDavid could not remedy Bobrovsky
For stars like Connor McDavid, a generational expertise who has confronted stress for the reason that second he entered the league 9 years in the past, the sport began enterprise as regular.
McDavid confirmed off his unmatched acceleration in the opening interval when he slipped previous Panthers defenceman Aaron Ekblad for a one-on-one likelihood with Bobrovsky, solely to be denied in a theme that repeated itself all through the evening.
Even McDavid, who leads all scorers in the post-season with 31 factors, could not reduce by means of the Florida protection regardless of no scarcity of possibilities.
“I felt there was lots to like, to be honest,” mentioned McDavid, the three-time league MVP taking part in in his first final. “I felt like we had lots and lots of looks, and didn’t give up too much. What we did give up was dangerous and they capitalized, as good teams do.”
McDavid added that Edmonton’s effort Saturday confirmed that the Oilers will not let their lack of expertise in comparison with the Panthers cease them.
“I know how many people gave us a chance in this series,” McDavid mentioned, “and I think we showed tonight that we can play with them. That’s a confidence booster for this group — but we know that our best can play with anybody.”
The Panthers have by no means topped the NHL mountain after making the championship matchup in 1996 and 2023.
Florida opened the scoring at 3:59 of the primary interval when Verhaeghe scored his tenth purpose of the post-season off a slick feed from Barkov on the house aspect’s first shot.
Oilers trying to deliver Cup again to Canada
The Oilers, who want to grow to be the primary Canadian crew to deliver the Cup throughout the border for the reason that 1993 Montreal Canadiens, managed a lot of the motion from there, however could not remedy Bobrovsky.
Edmonton killed off its twenty ninth straight penalty later in the interval earlier than Henrique was denied by Bobrovsky on a breakaway and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was stoned on a power-play transfer to the backhand as the Panthers went greater than 10 minutes with no shot.
Edmonton’s scorching man benefit could not join on a possibility that stretched from late in the primary to early in the second — Hyman fired excessive from in tight with Bobrovsky down and out — earlier than Florida doubled its lead.
Bennett beat Oilers defenceman Cody Ceci to the puck in the nook and caught each Darnell Nurse and Evander Kane napping in entrance for Rodrigues to attain his fourth purpose of the playoffs at 2:16.
Bobrovsky then went to work, stopping a Bouchard likelihood that was batted out of mid-air a Ceci blast that heading in hit teammate Corey Perry in the crease.
Bennett then crunched McDavid — his minor hockey teammate rising up in the Greater Toronto Area — with a strong examine.
Things turned a little bit nasty in what’s anticipated to be a bodily sequence when Connor Brown pushed each Bobrovsky and the frozen puck into Florida’s web on a sequence that was instantly waved off.
In the final for the second time in 12 months after falling to the Vegas Golden Knights final June, the Panthers had been below siege on an one other Edmonton energy play — a league-topping 37.3 per cent in the playoffs getting into Saturday — later in the interval.
Bobrovsky stored it up early in the third with a save on McDavid off a Leon Drasaitl setup.
Edmonton killed off a thirtieth consecutive energy play later in the interval and acquired just a few extra possibilities on the different finish, however nonetheless could not remedy the Florida netminder earlier than Luostarinen iced it late.
“Maybe it was the hockey gods getting us back for that Game 6 [versus Dallas],” McDavid mentioned, referring to Edmonton’s efficiency in the clinching Game 6 of the Western Conference final, “where we probably didn’t deserve to win. Tonight maybe we deserved at least one goal, maybe two, and we don’t find a way to get them.”
The winner of Game 1 in a best-of-seven final holds an all-time sequence report of 64-20 (. 762). The final three Cup winners gained the opener, however all three from 2018 to 2020 rallied from 1-0 deficits.
The Cup was on the ice earlier than the opening faceoff for the primary time for the reason that Sixties. It appeared in the stands forward of Game 1 of the 2020 final in Edmonton’s fan-less COVID-19 bubble.
The Edmonton Oilers are taking part in for the Stanley Cup, and have an opportunity to do one thing no Canadian hockey crew has executed in 31 years: win the entire rattling factor.