The Florida Panthers are up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Florida Panthers have found themselves up two games to zero over the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Facing off at home against the Oilers on Monday, Florida fell behind 1-0 to Edmonton just midway through the first period, but responded with four unanswered goals, turning the tide and leaving home victorious with a commanding 2-0 series lead.
For Panthers' head coach Paul Maurice, it is his third time in the Stanley Cup final, but the first in which he has picked up a second victory - not to mention doing so in just two attempts.
Having previously lost 4-1 to Detroit with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2002 and then 4-1 again to the Vegas Golden Knights last year, Maurice's second-straight trip to the final appears to be different than his past two experiences.
And luckily for veteran bench boss, his team has also risen to the challenge - whether that be from the agony of last year's defeat, or a whole new level of play, Maurice and Co. are on pace to hoist Lord Stanley's mug within the week.
Managing to hold off Edmonton's offence and prevent a disastrous 1-1 series split heading into Games 3 and 4 from Alberta, the Panthers have the Oilers right where they want them: in desperation mode.
“I thought it was a continuation of our third period in Game 1,” Maurice said of his team's play on Monday night. “I thought our gap was good. The effort was outstanding.”
Florida will need at least a 1-1 split to completely avoid falling apart in Edmonton, while the Oilers will be looking to tie things up at two games apiece with two strong home games in the coming days.
Maurice, who resigned from his role as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets in December of 2021, citing his inability to take that particular group of players any further than he had, joined Florida for the 2022-23 season and immediately brought the team to the Stanley Cup Final. One year later, he has a shot at redemption from his past two failed trips to the final.
The closest he got to the Stanley Cup in Winnipeg was in 2018, when the Jets were ousted by the first-year Golden Knights in four-straight games after pulling ahead 1-0 in the Western Conference Final.
As far as projections go, he is on a much better plot line for success this time around.
Maurice did, however, finish Monday's game without his captain, Sasha Barkov, who left with an upper-body injury following an elbow to the head from Oilers' star forward Leon Draisaitl.
"The league looks at everything," Maurice said following the game.
But made it clear his opinion on the play holds no reverence.
"This isn't the Oprah Winfrey Show. My feelings don't matter," he said.
Maurice's Panthers and Draisaitl's Oilers pick things back up on Thursday evening in Edmonton in a 7:00 PM central time start.