2024 Stanley Cup Final: 5 Takeaways from Panthers-Oilers Game 1

2024 Stanley Cup Final: 5 Takeaways from Panthers-Oilers Game 10 of 5

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Who says Florida’s not a traditional hockey market?

The Sunshine State is home to a team in the Stanley Cup Final for the fifth consecutive season. The silver chalice was in the house in metropolitan Miami as the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers got the 2024 championship series underway at Amerant Bank Arena.

The Panthers are in the title round for the second straight time—following three appearances (and two hoists) by the Tampa Bay Lightning—while the Oilers are back for the first time since an unlikely run to the 2006 final as the lowest-seeded team in the Western Conference.

Florida took the first step toward a first title and took the first final series lead in franchise history with a 3-0 win in Saturday night’s opener, and the B/R hockey team was in the building to take it all in and put together a list of crucial takeaways.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

Bob Robs Oilers in Game 11 of 5

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Sometimes, you’ve just got to hand it to the goalie.

That was certainly the case on Saturday night when Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky was the best player on the ice for either team, earning the game’s first star by stopping 32 shots and continually frustrating an Edmonton team averaging 3.5 goals per game through three rounds.

Affectionately known to the home fans as “Bob,” the 35-year-old became the first goalie his age or older to win a game in the final round since Martin Brodeur in 2012.

And he frequently did it in spectacular fashion—stopping 25 shots through the first two periods and setting the tone early when he snuffed out a power move from Connor McDavid and later flustering both Adam Henrique and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on semi-breakaways.

He stopped McDavid again early in the third from inside the left face-off dot after a one-touch pass from Leon Draisaitl found the Edmonton captain alone about 15 feet out.

The Oilers held a 12-4 edge in shots after the first period and were up 25-12 in that stat after the second but never led on the scoreboard as Bobrovsky recorded his third career playoff shutout and second straight in a series-opening game after blanking the New York Rangers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Ceci and Nurse Continue to Struggle for Edmonton2 of 5

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It’s been a story, and not a pleasant one, for the Oilers all postseason.

The defensive pairing of Cody Ceci and Darnell Nurse had been a liability at best and an embarrassment at worst during Edmonton’s first 18 games through three series, and the narrative didn’t change much—or at least not enough—on Saturday night.

Ceci and Nurse were on the ice for Florida’s single goals in the first and second periods, and the second tally was particularly egregious, coming after Ceci was beaten to a loose puck along the end boards behind Stuart Skinner by Sam Bennett, who fed a pass backward past Nurse and into the slot to Evan Rodrigues.

Rodrigues buried it over Skinner’s glove and gave the Panthers and their goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, all the cushion they’d need and more on a night in which Florida was outshot 32-18.

Ceci is an unsightly minus-7 for the playoffs for the Oilers while Nurse’s missteps dropped him to a team-worst and downright ugly minus-15, a stat that somehow looks even worse when you consider he’s the highest-paid Edmonton player not named Connor McDavid and will carry a $9.25 million cap hit through the end of 2029-30.

Incidentally, the worst-ever plus-minus for an entire postseason is Calgary’s Paul Reinhart, father of Florida’s Sam, who was minus-16 for the Flames in the 1983 playoffs.

Advantage Barkov vs. McDavid3 of 5

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Make no mistake, Connor McDavid was a factor in Game 1.

He was around the puck all night long, had a few decent scoring chances and set up a few others as the Oilers buzzed around Sergei Bobrovsky all night long.

But the initial round of the much-hyped matchup with Selke Trophy winner and shutdown specialist Aleksander Barkov went to the Florida center because, if for no other reason, the 28-year-old Finn got an assist on the game’s first goal while McDavid was on the ice.

Barkov, along with winger Sam Reinhart, set up teammate Carter Verhaeghe to beat Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner with the Panthers’ first shot of the game at 3:59 of the opening period after Bobrovsky had already made four saves.

He made it a two-point night on the game’s final goal, assisting on Eetu Loustarinen’s empty-netter with four seconds remaining.

McDavid, who arrived as the postseason’s leading point-getter with 31, was held pointless for the first time since Game 1 of the second round against Vancouver.

Penalty Killers Cause Power-Play Outage4 of 5

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The Oilers have had one of the NHL’s most prolific power plays over the last few seasons and the Panthers are no slouch in that category either, having arrived Saturday at a 23.3 percent clip that was good for sixth among the league’s 16 playoff teams.

But if Game 1 was indicative, it’ll be the other side of special teams that’s decisive.

The penalty killers for Edmonton and Florida were a combined 5-for-5 in the opener, including the Panthers’ three successful kills against the Oilers—including a full two minutes in each of the first two periods and another minor infraction that bridged the first and second.

Bobrovsky turned aside all six Edmonton shots while Florida was a man down and he was equaled on the other end by Stuart Skinner, though the Oilers allowed the Panthers just one power-play shot opportunity across two five-on-four chances.

Edmonton hasn’t allowed a power-play goal since Game 3 of the second round against Vancouver, but it’s a net win for Florida given that the Panthers scored twice at five-on-five and again after the Oilers had pulled Skinner late for an extra skater.

Oilers Put Panthers On Their Heels5 of 5

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The Panthers lead the series 1-0, which means the Oilers will have to win four of the next six against a team they’ve beaten in neither the 2023-24 regular season nor playoffs.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the Edmonton faithful.

Lest anyone forget, the Oilers blew a three-goal lead and lost Game 1 to Vancouver in the Pacific Division final after getting swept by the Canucks during the season, but proceeded to win Game 2 on the road and rallied from a 3-2 deficit to win the series in seven games.

And though the consensus is that Florida is the best team it’s faced in these playoffs, it’s no less true that Edmonton had a huge edge in shots on goal, generated several high-danger scoring opportunities, and more than held its own when it came to territorial play.

So assuming something less than three more scalding performances from Sergei Bobrovsky, who’s to say this won’t be a long, competitive series that Edmonton can win?

Not Connor McDavid.

“Lots to like,” he said in his postgame comments to the media. “We didn’t give up too much, what we did give up was dangerous. Not a ton of puck luck around their net. They’re as advertised, they’re exactly what they look like on TV. They’re fast, they’re aggressive.”