Leon Draisaitl and his Edmonton Oilers looked great in the franchise's first Stanley Cup Final game in 18 years on Saturday night — but it wasn't enough to beat a possessed Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers in Game 1.
The Russian netminder stymied the high-flying Oilers offense in front of the home crowd, making 32 saves on 32 shots for a rare championship shutout in the 3-0 victory. And as the Oil prepare to take another crack at the Conn Smythe frontrunner, Draisaitl knows his team can be even better in Game 2.
“We're a really good hockey team that, believe it or not, can play better than [Saturday] night,” the German told reporters on Sunday. “We have more. We know that. We can play better. They're going to be better, and I expect us to be better as well.”
Draisaitl added: “We played a good game. Created a lot of good looks for ourselves, especially in the first two periods. Obviously, their goalie had a great night. Those things happen sometimes. But I think if we can do more of the same, more often than not, I think we're giving ourselves a really good chance to win hockey games.”
The story of the night was undoubtedly Bobrovsky, who made three breakaway saves and a few other key stops to keep one of the league's best offenses off the board. The Oilers controlled 57.14% of scoring chances and 62.77% of expected goals at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.
That's unlikely to happen again — back-to-back Stanley Cup Final shutouts are as rare as a blue moon. But it doesn't change the fact that Saturday night wasn't a fluke; Bobrovsky is a superstar goaltender and playing like it at the most important time.
But Draisaitl is confident the Oilers can break through in Game 2.
“With our group, we’re always going to get our looks, we’re always going to get our chances,” said the No. 2 scorer in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, per NHL.com. “But I think the mindset of knowing that he’s going to make some good saves, he’s a good goalie and he’s going to make some big-time saves, that’s important. Not gripping our sticks too tight, but continuing to play loose and continuing to play our game.”
Oilers looking to head north with home-ice advantage back
The Oilers certainly aren't in trouble — that doesn't happen until you lose at home. And the squad has a great opportunity to get a split in Florida and head back to Canada with home-ice advantage if they can find a way to secure a victory on Monday night.
Edmonton has only lost two games in a row once in the postseason, back in Games 2 and 3 of Round 3 against the Western Conference's best regular-season team in the Dallas Stars. But the Oilers would go on to win three straight to capture the series, and a first Stanley Cup Final trip since 2006.
With the Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks and Stars all dispatched, the hardest task of all is getting by a Panthers team that is drawing on its championship experience after last year's cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final.
But Draisaitl and his Oilers have no plans to go back to Edmonton down 2-0, and they'll aim to get back on track when the puck drops at Amerant Bank Arena — just past 8 p.m. ET — on Monday night.
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