‘I don’t think we expected this to be easy’: Panthers unfazed by Game 1 loss to Oilers

After nearly becoming just the second team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final last spring, the Florida Panthers know that nothing is going to come easily in their rematch against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Oilers flipped the script on last year’s Cup Final when they dropped Games 1 and 2 on the road by a combined score of 7-1. With home-ice advantage this time around, Edmonton erased a 3-1 deficit and opened the series with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 1 on Wednesday.

Despite dropping a game that certainly could have been a win, the Panthers know that they can learn things from their loss in Game 1 that’ll help them later in the series. This is an experienced team, one that’s made it through the Eastern Conference in three consecutive postseasons, so they aren’t going to be rattled by one loss.

“It’s going to be a long series,” said Sam Bennett, who scored two goals in the loss. “I don’t think we expected this to be easy. You can learn some things from [Game 1], and then we’re just going to move on… It was a one-goal game, a tight game. It could’ve went either way. They had a good push in the third.”

Edmonton opened the scoring just over one minute into the first period when Leon Draisaitl fired a one-timer past Sergei Bobrovsky. The Panthers scored two quick goals later in the first and then extended their lead to 3-1 early in the second. The Oilers were able to cut Florida’s lead to one shortly after they scored, and then Edmonton tied the score at 3-3 with a dominant third period.

Near the end of the first overtime period, Florida forward Tomas Nosek was penalized for flipping the puck over the glass and the Oilers capitalized on the power play. Draisaitl found himself alone in the slot and buried a pass from Connor McDavid for his third overtime winner of the playoffs.

“They’re obviously a very good team,” veteran winger Brad Marchand said. “It doesn’t take much for them to score. I’m not surprised they had the push they did. They’re a great team.”

Though these two teams are mostly familiar with each other by now, both the Oilers and Panthers are different versions of themselves in this year’s rematch. Edmonton added size and strength up front with Trent Frederic, Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen, and a healthy Evander Kane, and the team’s blueline is deeper with the additions of Jake Walman and John Klingberg.

“I think it’s always a little bit of adjustment between series with how the other teams play,” said forward Eetu Luostarinen. “Even though you go through the pre-scout, the games are different. It takes a little time, and [in Game 1] it was one goal.”

The goal now for the Panthers is to earn a split in Edmonton, which would give them home-ice advantage as the series shifts back to Florida.

“We had great [penalty] kills in the first and the second. There were lots of good things,” said goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. “We put it behind us and get ready for the next game. The next game is a big game.”

Teams that go up 2-0 in a best-of-seven playoff series have gone on to win that series 87.5 percent of the time in NHL history.

But, as we’ve seen already in this year’s playoffs, a 2-0 series lead can evaporate quickly. The Oilers came back from two games down in their first-round series against the L.A. Kings and won at home in Game 6. The Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 after dropping the first two games of their second-round series on the road.

Both of these teams are capable of coming back and winning a series after going down, but neither wants to face the other in that situation. Edmonton was there last year, and it didn’t end well. Expect the Oilers and Panthers to both treat Game 2 like a must-win.