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The Edmonton Oilers got the Stanley Cup Finals off to a rocking start, overcoming a two-goal deficit and triumphing over the Florida Panthers in overtime, 4-3, on a power play winner by Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers, looking for their first Stanley Cup since 1990, host Florida again this evening at Rogers Place at 8 PM ET.
With the come-from-behind Game 1 victory, the Oilers did something no team had accomplished in the past three postseasons – defeat the Panthers after trailing at the end of the first or second intermission. Since coach Paul Maurice has arrived, Florida was 31-0 in that scenario, per ESPN.com.
If this is how the series began after last year’s scintillating seven-game victory by the Panthers, Game 2 should be just as enticing. Let’s break down each team’s Game 1 performance while previewing tonight’s Game 2 matchup and our Panthers @ Oilers NHL pick.
For a team that has been 8-2 on the road in the postseason, the Panthers proved they will be a tough out each contest in this series as they attempt to become the first franchise in 16 years to repeat. Sam Bennett scored twice to lead Florida Wednesday night. He now has an NHL-leading 12 postseason goals. He has scored 6 goals in the last six games.
Brad Marchand also scored for Florida, while Carter Verhaeghe and Nate Schmidt tallied 2 assists. Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues also recorded assists, while two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky made 42 saves. Bennett leads Florida with 18 playoff points, followed by Aleksander Barkov and Tkachuk with 17, Verhaeghe with 16 and Brad Marchand with 15.
Bobrovsky has allowed 7 goals in his last two outings after only surrendering nine goals in his previous eight. However, the Panthers netminder still has a 2.17 goals allowed average and a .912 save percentage this postseason while playing every minute of Florida’s 18 contests.
Draisaitl’s winner with 31 seconds left in the first overtime was his second of the game and ninth this postseason for Edmonton. That tally leads the team after he posted an NHL-leading 52 goals in the regular season.
Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm also scored for the Oilers, who recorded 4+ goals for the 10th time this postseason. Connor McDavid assisted on Draisaitl’s game-winning goal and had 2 assists, upping his league-leading playoff total to 22. He leads the NHL with 28 postseason points. Kaspari Kapanen also had 2 assists for Edmonton, while Corey Perry, Vasily Podzolkin, Evan Bouchard and Jake Walman each had 1.
Stuart Skinner made 29 saves for his fifth straight win and seventh in eight games. He allowed 15 goals in his first three postseason appearances but has since allowed just 13 in his last eight games. He has a 2.50 GAA and a .904 save percentage this postseason.
Edmonton has all the confidence in the world after taking Game 1 after falling behind 3-0 in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals and having to claw back only to lose in seven. But these Panthers are battle-tested and playoff-savvy and aren’t going anywhere either. Game 2 tonight should be just as tight and should be a low-scoring affair after Wednesday night’s seven-goal tally.
Bennett is as good a pick as any to get his seventh goal in seven games, but Draisaitl is the pick here at home for Edmonton. Of his nine postseason goals, four have come at home. More importantly, after scoring just 1 goal in the first six postseason contests at Rogers Place, Draisaitl scored 3 goals in the past two. He is getting hot at the right time and has every chance to add to that team-leading tally tonight.
Brian has been writing about sports professionally for 25 years, specializing in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, men's college basketball and football, and soccer. He covered high school, collegiate and professional sports in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area for two decades. His written work has appeared in several print and online publications since 1999.