Florida went a perfect 3-for-3 against Edmonton's high-flying power play

The Florida Panthers took Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final despite not necessarily being at their best.

Florida was outshot and out chanced by the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena but still came out on top, claiming the series opener 3-0.

It marks the first time in franchise history that the Panthers have held a series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

The goodness is in the takeaways, so let’s dive right in.

Not their best game

Florida did not look like themselves in Game 1 of the Cup Final.

They were out shot, out chanced, out power played, out McDavid’d, all of that.

While the Panthers will obviously not be pleased with their overall game, they can take some solace knowing they were able to pick up the win despite not playing their best game.

“We’ve got lots of room to improve, which is the positive for us tonight,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice.

Penalty kill comes up big

The Edmonton power play was converting at a legendary level through three rounds of the playoffs.

A 37.3% success rate over any kind of extended period of time is kind of ridiculous.

No matter to Florida’s penalty kill.

They went 3-for-3 on the PK against the Oilers, allowing just six power play shots on their three opportunities.

Asked about it after the game, Maurice was quick to point out how big of a part Florida’s goaltender

“Those killers have been consistent in the game, and then there's nights where you will say that the driver of it is the players, but tonight the driver was Sergei (Bobrovsky),” said Maurice. “But that's all part of it, right? Rarely are you gonna play a team with a power play like that. The other one closest to it probably coming in would have been Tampa. Those elite shooters that you're not getting through that penalty kill without your goaltender at some point having to be the difference.”

Third period Shutdown City

The first two periods went a certain way in Game 1.

That wasn’t the case in the third.

Carrying a two-goal lead into the final frame, the Panthers were very much in their comfort zone.

The defense-first team being able to focus the majority of their efforts on shutting down the opponent with a late lead is ideal, especially during the postseason.

“I liked our third period,” Maurice said. “That's the piece, and I liked the entire chunk of it. I'm not saying I liked it because we dominated, that's not the context we’re in, we had a two goal lead. I liked our third, and I liked our third period in Game Six against the Rangers kind of the same, the same situation that we played. I think that's important to be able to do that.”

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