Yahoo Sports Stanley Cup Finals Game 1: Florida Panthers 3, Edmonton Oilers 0
The Florida Panthers have the early lead in the Stanley Cup Finals.
They have Sergei Bobrovsky in large part to thank for that.
The Panthers’ star goaltender and Vezina Trophy finalist put up arguably his best performance of the playoffs, stopped all 33 shots he faced in a 3-0 win in Game 1 on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena for his second shutout of these Stanley Cup playoffs.
It’s the first shutout in Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Finals since Roberto Luongo turned aside all 36 shots he faced in the 2011 Cup Finals-opener for the Vancouver Canucks against the Boston Bruins.
Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues and Eetu Luostarinen scored for Florida to give Bobrovsky all the cushion he needed.
Panthers take 2-0 lead into second intermission
The Panthers are 20 minutes away from taking Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Edmonton has still been the aggressor overall, but Florida’s defense and Sergei Bobrovsky have been lights out.
Things starting to get feisty
A scrum broke out after an Edmonton goal was called off after the referees ruled the whistle was blown before the Oilers’ Connor Brown tried to get a loose puck past Sergei Bobrovsky.
Four players — Edmonton’s Brown and Mattias Janmark, Florida’s Kevin Stenlund and Oliver Ekman-Larsson — were given roughing penalties.
And then Sam Bennett went to the box shortly afterward to give Edmonton its third power play of the game.
Evan Rodrigues doubles Panthers’ lead
Shortly after the Panthers killed off an Oilers power play, Evan Rodrigues gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead when he fired off a snap shot from the slot 2:16 into the second period.
Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Montour did their part to create havoc behind the net and get the puck to Rodrigues.
First intermission thoughts
The Edmonton OIlers had a 14-4 edge in shots on goal in the first period, but the Florida Panthers go into intermission with a 1-0 lead.
The biggest reason why: Sergei Bobrovsky, who weathered seven high-danger shots (including a pair of breakaways) to keep the high-flying Oilers off the board.
The Oilers will still have 1:52 of a power play remaining to start the second. Both teams are 0 for 1 on the man advantage so far tonight.
Big saves from Bobrovsky early
Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has made a minimum of three big saves through the first 15 minutes.
He turned aside a Connor McDavid wrist shot from up after he got behind Florida’s defense 5:49 into regulation, then stopped a Leon Draisaitl backhander after a McDavid blocked shot 9:38 into the first period and then denied Adam Henrique on a breakaway 14:22 into the first.
Edmonton has a 9-3 edge in shots on goal with 5:07 left in the first and is heading to the power play.
Panthers strike first
Carter Verhaeghe gave Florida a 1-0 lead 3:59 into regulation with a wrist shot up close on a feed from Aleksander Barkov in front of the crease that beat Stuart Skinner.
It was Verhaeghe’s 10th goal of the playoffs, making him just the third Panthers player to have double-digit goals in a single postseason (also Matthew Tkachuk, 11 in 2023; Dave Lowry, 10 in 1996).
What lineups should look like
Based on warmups, here’s what the lineups should look like for both teams.
FLORIDA PANTHERS
Forward lines
Carter Verhaeghe-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Matthew Tkachuk-Sam Bennett-Evan Rodrigues
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Vladimir Tarasenko
Steven Lorentz-Kevin Stenlund-Kyle Okposo
Defense pairs
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
EDMONTON OILERS
Forward lines
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Zach Hyman
Evander Kane-Leon Draisaitl-Dylan Holloway
Warren Foegele-Ryan McLeod-Corey Perry
Mattias Janmark-Adam Henrique-Connor Brown
Defense pairs
Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse-Cody Ceci
Brett Kulak-Philip Broberg
Goaltenders
Stuart Skinner
Series schedule
▪ Game 1: Tonight
▪ Game 2: Monday, June 10, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena, 8 p.m., ABC, ESPN+
▪ Game 3: Thursday, June 13, Edmonton’s Rogers Place, 8 p.m., ABC, ESPN+
▪ Game 4: Saturday, June 15, Edmonton’s Rogers Place, 8 p.m., ABC, ESPN+
▪ Game 5 (if necessary): Tuesday, June 18, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena, 8 p.m., ABC, ESPN+
▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, June 21, Edmonton’s Rogers Place, 8 p.m., ABC, ESPN+
▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Monday, June 24, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena, 8 p.m., ABC, ESPN+
Pregame reading
Need to catch up ahead of Game 1? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past week.
▪ The Panthers “expected to be back here”
▪ One of the reasons they’re back: Matthew Tkachuk’s improved all-around game
▪ Paul Maurice on the Stanley Cup: ‘I need to win one’
▪ Extended playoff runs have been a boon for the Panthers both on and off the ice
▪ The Panthers’ big task: Can they contain Connor McDavid and Co.?
▪ “A long time coming”: Top four picks from 2014 NHL Draft playing in Stanley Cup Finals
