The Florida Panthers have their eyes firmly set on the Stanley Cup after winning Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Florida beat Edmonton 3-0 on Saturday night in front of their home crowd. Head coach Paul Maurice heaped praise on several players after the game, including center Carter Verhaeghe.
Verhaeghe got the fireworks started in the first period. He scored the first goal of the game, his 10th goal of this postseason, at 3:59 in the first period. Verhaeghe delivered a pinpoint shot off an Aleksander Barkov pass, which earned a raucous response from the home fans.
“He's an unusual performer, that man,” coach Paul Maurice said of Verhaeghe, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. “He can raise that level of play. I don't know that I have much to say about it. I don't know that I fully understand it. That guy's a gamer.”
Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was the main hero of the evening. Bobrovsky stonewalled an explosive Oilers offensive attack led by Connor McDavid, repelling all 32 shots on goal. This was crucial in a game where Edmonton outshot Florida 32-18, including a 12-4 blitz in the first period.
“It's fun to play against those guys, those elite guys,” Bobrovsky said. “They are a great offensive team. They bring a good challenge.”
Bobrovsky is now the oldest goalie (35 years and 252 days) to record a shutout in Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Final. It was the first Game 1 shutout since Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo pulled it off in 2011.
Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner recognized Bobrovsky's impressive performance.
“He's amazing down low and he's also amazing up high. It's hard to beat him. He's an incredible goalie. He does a great job sealing the ice,” Skinner said. “You've just got to somehow find a way to score a goal on him. We've been playing some top-end goaltenders and it's never easy to beat these guys.”
Previewing Game 2 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final: Panthers vs. Oilers
Can the Panthers manage a repeat of their performance in Game 1 of the series?
Florida is the betting favorite to win the series, but that doesn't mean Edmonton will not put up a strong fight.
Bobrovsky's stellar performance in Game 1 is not repeatable, especially if Florida continues to get steadily outshot by Edmonton. Eventually, some of those shots will start going in and the Oilers will get on a roll.
This feels inevitable because the Oilers have been historically good on special teams in the postseason. According to Adam Gretz of The Athletic, Edmonton's 37.3% power play success rate is the second-best all-time for teams with at least 15 games in a single postseason. Their 93.9% penalty killing success rate is the best all-time with a 15-game minimum.
The pressure will be on Aleksander Barkov to keep a lid on Connor McDavid for as long as possible.
The Florida Panthers are the betting favorite in Game 2. They will play in Front of the home crowd once again in a pivotal game that could put them up 2-0 early in the series.
The puck will drop for Game 2 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final on Monday at 8PM ET.
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