SUNRISE, Fla. – The wait is over.
After a long and busy week of buildup, the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers will finally kick off the Stanley Cup Final with Game 1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
“You can’t use the word excitement enough,” Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues said. “You almost wish it was a one o’clock game so you could just wake up and start getting after it.”
After winning the Atlantic Division, the Panthers took down the Tampa Bay Lightning (4-1, Round 1), Boston Bruins (4-2, Round 2) and New York Rangers (4-2, Eastern Conference Final) to become the first team since 2009 to return to the Final after losing the year before.
In the Final for the first time since 2006, the Oilers, who’ve hoisted the Stanley Cup five times in their history, eliminated the Los Angeles Kings (4-1, Round 1), Vancouver Canucks (4-3, Round 2) and Dallas Stars (4-2, Western Conference Final) during their run.
Now, just four wins separate both teams from the ultimate prize.
“The challenge is the same for both,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “The context of this isn’t like any other series. Yesterday’s day is completely different. … It’s just contextual. There are more layers to all this. That’s the challenge, to get your group as mentally focused as you can with all the extra energy that’s around. The first game is really important for that, but it’s really the start of the building blocks and the learning process.”
Not shying away from the spotlight, the Panthers are familiar with this stage.
In fact, each of the team’s top-eight point producers during this year’s playoffs were on the ice for the handshake line when they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in last year’s Final.
The embodiment of confidence, Matthew Tkachuk, who led the Panthers in scoring during last year’s run, once again leads the team with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists). After him, Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe, two-thirds of the top line, each have 17 points.
Leading the Panthers in goals (57) and power-play goals (27) during the regular season, Sam Reinhart has racked up 12 points, including eight goals. A breakout star during the playoffs, defenseman Gustav Forsling has recorded 11 points (four goals, seven assists).
Much like the ocean in South Florida, this team is deep.
"Last year was tough to lose, but I feel that's where the real journey started,” Panthers forward Anton Lundell said. “We have a lot of the same guys. We're really excited to write a new story now."
Across the ice, the Oilers are led by a two-headed monster.
A five-time winner of the Art Ross Trophy and three-time winner of the Hart Trophy, Connor McDavid, in the Final for the first time in his career, leads Edmonton in both assists (26) and points (28), while Leon Draisaitl, his long-time sidekick, has 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists).
Also playing a big role in Edmonton’s second-ranked playoff offense (3.50 goals per game), Zach Hyman, who lit the lamp 54 times during the regular season, leads the team with 14 goals in the playoffs. On the blue line, defenseman Evan Bouchard has notched 27 points.
With big weapons like that, it’s no surprise they’ve excelled with the man advantage.
In what could be one of the most-interesting battles of the series, the Panthers hope their penalty kill (88.2%) can slow down the Oilers’ lethal power play (37.3%). Heating up heading into the series, Florida went 14-for-15 on the PK in the Eastern Conference Final.
While execution will be key, staying out of the box is paramount.
“It’s going to be a team effort,” Forsling said. “Not just for our defense, but for our forwards, too, to get a bump on them early. Just try to play our game, the game we’ve played all season long, the tight gap. We’re going to keep doing that.”
Between the pipes, the Panthers appear to have an edge.
Likely heading for the Hall of Fame, Sergei Bobrovsky has been lights out once again for the Panthers. Owning a 12-5 record in the playoffs, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner boasts a .908 save percentage and has surrendered two or fewer goals in 10 of his last 11 contests.
Briefly losing the net to backup Calvin Pickard in Round 2, Stuart Skinner, an All-Star in 2023, has settled back in for the Oilers as of late. Owning an 11-5 record in the playoffs, the 25-year-old went 4-2 on top of a .922 save percentage in the Western Conference Final.
Never deterred by a hot goaltender, the Panthers managed to get past three of the NHL’s best in the first three rounds of the playoffs, toppling Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, Boston’s Jeremy Swayman and New York’s Igor Shesterkin to get to the Final.
By way of their regular-season record, the Panthers also have home-ice advantage again.
In this year’s playoffs, they’ve gone 6-3 in Sunrise.
With their quest for the Cup set to begin, there’s no place they’d rather be.
“Just excited to get this started, especially at home,” Forsling said. It’s going to be a loud building and a lot of fun.”
PANTHERS PLAYOFF LEADERS
Goals: Verhaeghe (9)
Assists: Tkachuk (14)
Points: Tkachuk (19)
Hits: Ekblad (54)
Blocks: Ekblad (32)
OILERS PLAYOFF LEADERS
Goals: Hyman (14)
Assists: McDavid (26)
Points: McDavid (31)
Hits: Kane (62)
Blocks: Nurse (45)
THEY SAID IT
“We saw a bunch of different rotations whether Leon Draisaitl plays with Connor McDavid or not, and that changes some of the dynamic you’ve got to prepare for. But these two men, you can’t play a 1-on-1 game with them. They’re just too fast, too strong, too skilled, so it’s just a five-man defensive game, and everything else that’s going to come out of my mouth would be cliché.” - Paul Maurice
“I think last year we believed, but we were also happy to be there. This year it’s kind of all business. We have one goal in mind and that’s it. We’re not going to be satisfied until we accomplish that.” - Sam Bennett
“We expected to be back here. Obviously, nothing’s guaranteed, but we were expecting this, the way we’ve been working, the way we’ve been dialed in and details. ... We’re very proud to be here, we’re very happy, but the job’s not finished.” - Matthew Tkachuk
“It’s what we’ve been doing all playoffs. You play the game and then you move on to the next one. With a day like today, you go through your media stuff, you turn the page and you get ready for Game 1. There’s obviously a little extra attention, but we’re fine with it. I think the focus is pretty clear right now on what we have to focus on.” – Evan Rodrigues
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers have out-shot their opponents in 15 of their 17 games this postseason.
- Aleksander Barkov ranks first in the NHL with 22 takeaways in this postseason.
- Matthew Tkachuk has logged multiple points in seven of 17 games this postseason.
- Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed two or fewer goals in seven of nine home starts this postseason.
- The Panthers own a 6-0 record when Sam Bennett scores a goal this postseason.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Matthew Tkachuk – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Vladimir Tarasenko
Steven Lorentz – Kevin Stenlund – Kyle Okposo
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- May 6: F Patrick Giles recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Saturday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: ABC, ESPN+
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM Channel 219 / App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
Tickets: Here
For pre-game concert information, visit FloridaPanthers.com/PlayoffCentral.
