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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
SUNRISE, Fla. — For the first time in franchise history, the Florida Panthers have a lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. He has Sergei Bobrovsky to thank.
Panthers goaltender shut out Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 on Friday night, 3-0. He took on the Oilers’ explosive scoring talent — and dominant power play — and stopped all 32 shots he faced, while Panthers fans chanted “Bobby!” in honor.
“It’s fun to play against them, elite guys,” Bobrovsky said. “They’re a good offensive team. They bring a good challenge.”
There have been 15 previous shutouts in Game 1 of the Cup Final, the last of which came in 2011 by Vancouver Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo, who is now a member of the Panthers’ front office. Bobrovsky is the oldest goaltender (35 years, 252 days) to record a shutout in Game 1 of the Cup Final.
The Oilers outshot the Panthers 32-18, including a 12-4 advantage in the first period. For the majority of the 2024 postseason, Bobrovsky hasn’t faced the same volume of shots he did during Florida’s run to the finals last season. That wasn’t the case in Game 1 as the Oilers had 32 shots on 70 shots. He handled the increased volume shot perfectly.
“He’s just unreal. His preparation is incredible. He’s everything you want in a teammate and especially a goalie,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “He was there for us tonight.”
Florida built its lead in each period. The Panthers took a 1-0 lead on Carter Verhaeghe’s 10th goal of the postseason at 3:59 of the first period, converting an Aleksander Barkov pass to send the home fans into an early frenzy.
“He’s an unusual player, that guy,” coach Paul Maurice said of Verhaeghe. “He can raise that level of play. I don’t know if I have to say much about it. I don’t know if I fully understand. The guy is a gamer.”
Florida made it 2-0 on Evan Rodrigues’ goal on a great feed from center Sam Bennett at 2:16 of the second. Then Eetu Luostarinen iced it with an empty netter in the third period.
Bobrovsky has a series of save highlights in Game 1. He stopped breakaway chances from Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the latter in saving the pad very much. He was there for McDavid’s deflection of Leon Draisaitl’s pass in the third.
“He’s amazing down low and he’s amazing up high. It’s hard to beat him. He’s a tremendous goaltender. He does a great job closing the ice,” Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner said. “You just have to find a way to score against them. We’ve played some top-end players and it’s not easy to beat these guys.”
The Oilers had an 18-6 advantage in high-danger shot attempts in Game 1. Bobrovsky was poised to handle all of them and hand Edmonton their first shutout of the playoffs.
“Maybe the hockey gods brought us back to Game 6 (against Dallas) where we probably didn’t deserve to win,” McDavid said, referencing the game in which the Oilers lost 34-10 but eliminated the Stars for the game. Western Conference title. “Tonight, we could have scored at least one goal, maybe two, and we didn’t find a way to get it.”
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said there’s a lot to like about his team’s play, but Edmonton needs to find another level for Game 2.
“We know we have to do better,” he said. “We know it wasn’t Florida’s best game. We expect them to get better. I think they’re going to catch you talking about how good they are and we don’t have a chance in this series. .”
The most impactful part of Bobrovsky’s Game 1 performance was on the Panthers’ penalty kill. This special team match is expected to be the most critical match in the finals: Edmonton’s world power match, converting more than 37% of chances, against the death penalty of Florida, second in the playoffs with 88.2% and exiting the conference finals in which he thwarted 14 of 15 New York Rangers power plays.
Bobrovsky made six saves as the backbone of the Panthers’ offense in Game 1.
“There are nights where you would say the driver (of the penalty kill) is the players, but tonight the driver was Sergei,” Maurice said. “With those elite shooters, you’re not going to pass that penalty without a goaltender at some point.”
Game 2 is Monday night. The team that wins Game 1 in the finals has won the series 76% of the time. Each of the past three Cup winners won Game 1.
It was a big win for the Panthers on Saturday night, thanks to the star goaltender.
“Every win is a big win,” Bobrovsky said. “But it’s a long series. So we’re going to reset, refocus and get ready for the next fight.”
