The Florida Panthers have struck first in the Stanley Cup Final. With Sergei Bobrovsky's spectacular goaltending on full display, the Panthers gritted out a 3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers to take a 1-0 series lead.
Bobrovsky notched his second shutout of the playoffs, and it was a masterpiece. The Florida netminder made 33 saves against one of the most dangerous forward groups in the NHL, and many of those saves came on high-danger scoring chances.
In the first period, Bobrovsky turned away Adam Henrique and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on a breakaway. In the second, Bobrovsky put on a penalty-killing clinic by making one show-stopping save after the next.
Because of Bobrovsky's excellence, the Panthers didn't need to generate much offense, but they did capitalize on the few chances they got. In the first period, Aleksander Barkov caught the Oilers a step behind in transition, and he found Carter Verhaeghe for a goal off the rush. That tally was Verhaeghe's 10th of the postseason, which leads the team.
In the second period, Sam Bennett conducted a forechecking masterclass by outmuscling Oilers defenseman Cody Ceci below the goal line. As soon as he got possession of the puck, Bennett slipped a slick pass to Evan Rodrigues, who fired a quick shot past Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner to double the lead.
That was more run support than Bobrovsky needed, and the Panthers went into lockdown mode in the third period. The Oilers weren't able to create many quality chances in the final 20 minutes, and Florida held on for the win as Eetu Luostarinen buried an empty-net goal with four seconds left to really ice it away
The Oilers will aim to tie the series in Game 2 on Monday night, and they'll have to hope that Bobrovsky looks somewhat mortal in that one.
Sergei Bobrovsky was the story of this one. His 33-save shutout allowed the Panthers to overcome an otherwise underwhelming performance. Florida only managed to get 18 shots on goal, but they were very opportunistic. Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues had the five-on-five tallies for the Panthers, and Eetu Luostarinen capped the night off with an empty-net goal.
Make it 30 straight penalties killed for the Oilers. That unit just kept Edmonton in the game, but now the offense has to get something going in the final 10 minutes.
Corey Perry takes a penalty with roughly 13 minutes left, and that is not what the Oilers needed. He commits an ill-advised cross-check, and Florida will get its second power play of the game.
