The Edmonton Oilers opened the 2024 Stanley Cup Final with a tough 3-0 loss in Game 1 against the Florida Panthers, and while the team lost, head coach Kris Knoblauch was generally pleased with their performance. However, that didn't stop him from ushering a stern warning to his team as they turn their attention towards Game 2 of this series.
After falling behind early, the Oilers spent most of the night firing pucks at Sergei Bobrovsky in the Panthers net. And while they outshot Florida 32-18, they didn't manage to get anything past Bobrovsky in this one. Knoblauch acknowledged that Edmonton generally played well in this one, even though they lost 3-0, but also noted that they are going to have to take their game to another level in Game 2 if they want to even this series.
“We know that we're going to have to get even better. We know that probably wasn't Florida's best game. We expect them to be much better. I think they [were] probably caught off guard with you guys talking about how good they were and we didn't have a chance in this series.” – Kris Knoblauch, ESPN
Kris Knoblauch hoping Oilers can bounce back in Game 2
The Oilers were consistently generating solid looks throughout Game 1, but Bobrovsky stonewalled them for 60 minutes to lead his team to victory. On the other end of the ice, Stuart Skinner was beat by Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues (Eetu Luostarinen scored an empty-netter in the third period), and that was all the Panthers needed to pick up the first victory of the series.
The good news for Edmonton is that their best players in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl looked dangerous against Florida's defense, which is their easiest path to winning games in this series. Yes, they didn't score, but if they create high-danger scoring chances like they did on Saturday night, they will eventually manage to find a way to put a few pucks past Bobrovsky.
Limiting the Panthers high-danger chances on defense may be a more pressing matter, though. After going up early, Florida played on their heels for long stretches of this game, but they managed to make the most of their attacking sequences. They buried their shots when they had to, and while part of this is again due to the play of Bobrovsky, you can't solely place the blame for this loss on one aspect of the game.
Knoblauch struck the right chord after this game in saying that Edmonton played well, but also stating the obvious that they have to be better. They will have a chance to put together a better performance in Game 2, and if they manage to do that, they will have a great opportunity to knot this series at one game apiece before it shifts up to Canada.
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