Panthers Suffer Defeat in the Stanley Cup Final
The Florida Panthers, defending Stanley Cup champions, suffered an unexpected overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the first game of the final. This result broke an impressive streak under coach Paul Maurice, where the team was practically invincible in the playoffs when holding the lead after the first two periods.The game, which ended with a score of 4-3 in favor of Edmonton, showed a notable lack of focus from the Panthers in the third period. After leading 3-2, they allowed the Oilers to score three consecutive goals, thus losing the lead.
“We can’t relax. We can’t back down,” declared Sam Bennett, who scored two goals, including his 12th goal this postseason, a franchise record. “We’ve been very good all year at not backing down with the lead, and for some reason we did it tonight.”
Sam Bennett
This loss was an exception to the rule for the Panthers, who had won 31 consecutive playoff games under Maurice’s direction when they held the lead at the end of an intermission. To make matters worse, the Panthers squandered a two-goal lead. The winning goal came on a power play, 72 seconds after Tomas Nosek was penalized for delay of game.
Coach Maurice expressed his concern about the Panthers’ performance before Nosek’s penalty. Florida was outshot 24-8 since the start of the third period.
“I thought we had some good pressure. They got it back, and then there were some plays where we didn’t compete,” Maurice said. “I thought we were a little tentative with the puck.”
Paul Maurice
The loss left Florida with an 8-3 road record this postseason and marks the first time the team has faced a series deficit since losing the first two games of their second-round matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a series the Panthers managed to win in game seven.
The second game of the Stanley Cup final will be played on Friday night in Edmonton.Regarding Nosek’s penalty, Maurice called it a difficult moment and reminded the player how valuable he was in helping the Panthers recover against the Maple Leafs. Nosek didn’t make his playoff debut until the third game of the series against Toronto.
“That line came and changed everything for us. We wouldn’t be here without Tomas Nosek,” Maurice said. “He has a lot of people sitting at his table reminding him how good he’s been.”
Paul Maurice
The question for the Panthers is how they seemed to wear down as the game went on in a rematch of last year’s final, which Florida won in seven games. Just when it seemed Florida had seized the momentum by building a 3-1 lead with Bennett’s second goal two minutes into the second period, Edmonton responded with Viktor Arvidsson’s goal 1:17 later.
And the Panthers looked exhausted in the third when Mattias Ekholm converted McDavid’s centering pass to tie the score at 6:33.
The 46 shots allowed were the most allowed by Florida in the playoffs since they gave up 65 in a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes that required four overtimes in Game 1 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. They came one game after the Panthers allowed 52 shots in Game 5 of a second-round series they won 3-2 in overtime over the Maple Leafs.
Draisaitl’s power-play goal was only the eighth allowed by Florida in 62 opportunities this postseason.
Maurice remained calm when assessing how evenly matched the teams are in a series that he believes has the potential to go all the way.
“It has the potential to be a spectacular seven-game series,” Maurice said. “It was honest, hard, fast, and close. It was an overtime game.”
Paul Maurice
