Game One: Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers
Time: 8:00 PM EST
Location: Amerant Bank Arena
How to Watch: ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS
The site to follow: Litter Box Cats (Panthers) Oilers Nation (Oilers)
Favorite per Hard Rock Live – Florida Panthers -150
Is it just me or does it seem like it’s been a month and a half since the NHL has played a game? After a long break following the Conference Finals, things are back under way as the Florida Panthers host the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. For the Panthers, it’s their second straight trip to the final round while the Oilers reach it for the first time in the Connor McDavid Era having not been four wins away from a Cup since they lost to Carolina in 2006.
Florida is still chasing their first Stanley Cup while Edmonton is looking for their sixth. Earlier in the week we here at Raw Charge, since our team has been on the golf course since May, asked you, the reader, to determine who we should be rooting for over the next couple of weeks. The results are in, and by an overwhelming result, we are now an Edmonton Oilers fan site. The Twitter poll was about the same as fans voted for Edmonton with 72.3% of the responses.
Connor McDavid is the greatest, I’ve always said that.
Some of y’all provided reasons for choosing the Canadian team over the Florida team. Here are my favorites (or favourites since we’re Canadian now)
“It’s the stinking Miami Panthers, could never root for them.” [love the localization of the team..JG]
“They who beat Tampa along the way, get to life the Cup, I say” [Rhyming is always appreciated..JG]
“Just can’t root for the team in…Miami. Also, would love to see McDavid get a Cup” [So would I..JG]
“Can’t have the in-state rivals winning a Cup” [Stanley only gets his tan in Tampa..JG]
“Sing along: “OH Canada! You need to win the Cup. True Patriot North. You’re better with the Cup. . . . . Use your imagination to complete the rest of the anthem. Let’s go OH Canada!” [New anthem lyrics!..JG]
So, there you go.
As for how this thing is going to play out. It’s pretty much an elite offense in Edmonton against a very, very good defense and otherwise well-rounded team in Florida. Overall depth favors the Panthers as does goaltending (sorry Stuart Skinner fans). Edmonton’s chances are going to rest on the shoulders of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, it’s that simple. Can two of the best players in the game today find a way to be productive when an entire team philosophy is going to be geared toward shutting them down?
While McDavid will likely garner most of the attention, the key to success for Edmonton could be Zach Hyman. The 54-goal scorer has 34 high-danger chances at 5v5 in the postseason, 9 more than the next player, Tyler Seguin. Throw in the special teams and that number jumps up to 61 with Sam Reinhart a distant second at 35 HDCF. Hyman has made a living this year at getting in front of the net any bullying the puck over the net.
The question will be if he can do it against a Florida team that specializes in keeping Bobrovsky’s crease clean. In the playoffs, the Panthers are allowing just 0.96 high-danger goals against per 60 minutes at 5v5. with Bob posting an .849 SV% on high-danger shots. That’s pretty darn good (the Oilers’ goaltenders are at .828 SV% on high-danger shots. While short-handed, Bob has posted an insane .958 SV% on high-danger shots. Now, the Oilers’ fan in me thinks that is an unsustainable stat and he has yet to face a power play with the skill of Edmonton.
To their credit, the Oilers are clicking along at a 37.3% success rate with the extra skater with 19 goals scored. They’ve created 82.1 scoring chances for with the advantage, which leads the league in the postseason by a wide margin, so the Panthers penalty killers will have their hands full. Something to keep an eye on is that Edmonton hasn’t drawn very many penalties in the playoffs. Their 2.83 power plays per game is 8th in the postseason and they had just 11 power plays in 6 games against the Dallas Stars.
The Panthers have been rather disciplined in the eyes of the officials as they averaging, for them, a respectable 3 times short-handed per game. For a team that plays on the edge as much as they do, that’s a rather low number and it’s helped them kill off 81% of the power plays against. If Edmonton can use their skill up front to frustrate the Panthers and draw them into more penalties, it could lead to a huge edge for the Oilers.
Florida will play physical, and the break may help them early in the system. Throwing hits, and the Panthers have a league-leading 739 this postseason, takes a toll on a team over the course of the four series. So having a week off to heal up a bit should allow them to go out and throw the body around like they are wanton to do. Expect an aggressive forecheck and a brutal path through the neutral zone for Edmonton puck carriers.
The pressure will be on the Edmonton blueliners to cleanly move the puck out of their own zone to spring their dynamic teammates. Florida succeeded against New York by forcing turnovers and failed exits by the defense. With Selke forward Aleksander Barkov puck-hunting and Matthew Tkachuk hitting everything in site, it will be a big ask out of a defensive squad that has struggled at times.
This should be a fun series. Go Oilers!
We’ll be running previews for all the games here, so feel free to join in the conversation!
