Bobrovsky backstops Panthers to 3-0 win in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final
Florida leads the best-of-7 championship series 1-0
The Florida Panthers are leading the Stanley Cup Final.
Florida earned a gutsy 3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the championship series on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
The first couple shifts of the game belonged to Edmonton.
The first goal of the game went to Florida.
Carter Verhaeghe scored on an odd-man rush, taking a perfect cross-ice pass from Sasha Barkov and popping it behind Stuart Skinner to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead just 3:59 into the game.
Florida ended up being outshot 13-4 in the opening period, but came out with the 1-0 lead.
A high sticking call on Verhaeghe late in the first gave the Oilers their second power play of the game, and not only did the Panthers kill it off, they scored right afterwards.
Sam Bennett did a great job digging the puck out of the corner to the right of Skiller and delivering a perfect pass to Evan Rodrigues in the slot.
He beat Skinner over the glove to give Florida a 2-0 lead at the 2:16 mark of the middle frame.
Entering the third period, the story of the game was the sparkling play of Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
He made 26 saves through the first two periods, an eye-popping 13 of which were on high-danger shots, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Florida went into their Shutdown City mode in the third period, limiting the Oilers to just three shots on five attempts through the first half of the third period.
It was more of the same for the remainder of Game 1.
For the first time in Panthers history, they hold a series lead in the Stanely Cup Final.
On to Game 2.
Here are some thoughts and observations from Game 1 against Edmonton.
Verhaeghe’s goal was his tenth of the playoffs. He’s up to 18 points in 18 games.
Barkov is also up to 19 points in 18 games after picking up a pair of assists on Saturday.
Reinhart’s assist was his first point in three games.
Florida went a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. They went 0-for-2 on the power play.
Bennett extended his points streak to four games, with three goals and two assists during the run. He’s up to 11 points in 13 playoff games.
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