The Stanley Cup is staying in Sunrise. The Florida Panthers had a rematch with the Edmonton Oilers for the second year in a row and many people thought Edmonton was going to cash their check on revenge. After all, the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have yet to win Stanley Cups. The question is: how did Florida do it again?
To begin, the Florida Panthers have one of the best goalies in the league, Sergei Bobrovsky. The one time undrafted free agent is now a two time Stanley Cup winner. When you mix Bob’s years of playoff experience also mixed with his ability to be clutch in different playoff situations, it became clear that the series was either going to be won or lost by Bob’s glove hand. Mix that in with the fact that Edmonton’s goaltenders seem to struggle this time of the year, it is not hard to see Florida winning in six games.
The Panthers were even stronger after their acquisition of veteran forward Brad Marchand. Marchand, who was acquired from the Boston Bruins for a second round pick that could turn into a first round pick in 2027 if certain conditions were met, was one of the main catalysts for the Panthers being able to repeat. He was ranked 4th in the playoffs in scoring with 10 goals scored for his new club. Mix this with the fact that the Panthers have Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, the Panthers are not a fun team to play against.
The Panthers did two other things extremely well throughout the course of this playoffs: they had a fast, deep defense that bought into the system that was built by head coach Paul Maurice. For as fast as the Oilers were, and for the scoring chances that they did have, the Panthers didn’t break. They were able to push the offense, which led to the Oilers having numerous scoring opportunities because they believed in Bobrovsky making the big saves. The defensive core was willing and able to throw their bodies in front of the net to block shots, and they were just too fast for Edmonton to really get anything done.
The Florida Panthers also had an excellent amount of forward depth that bled into their bottom six. Even for the players that didn’t score and didn’t show up on the sheet, they checked, they used their bodies, they swarmed the net to create chaos and confusion and they all willingly bought into the, as I’ve always called it, the meat and potatoes style of play. It’s not just about scoring goals or being fast and playing pretty. It’s about being gritty, bleeding the clock and maintaining a physical style.
What exactly went wrong for Edmonton?
To begin, I always believed that Edmonton was too top heavy. I believe their top six players are such elite game changers that they can get away with being mediocre and many other facets of the game. Look at their goaltending. Stuart Skinner is not very good. He didn’t even have a 900 save percentage in the Stanley Cup final. The Oilers defense didn’t play well in front of Skinner. The defense is not very good. Especially when you look at a guy like Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard, who was better offensively and extremely poor defensively.
I also don’t think the Oilers had good forward depth. When a guy like 40 year-old Corey Perry is one of your top scorers, you are going to struggle to get timely scoring. Guys like Victor Arvidson, Jeff Skinner, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark and Trent Fredric make up a forward core that I just didn’t think was that good especially whenever they got out of the Western Conference. I
Overall, I think the matchup was relatively lopsided. Sure, the Oilers probably had more generational talent because of #97 and #29, but the Florida Panthers had much more depth than the Oilers.
There’s a possibility for a dynasty here. And if that does happen, we will have to look back on the trades for Marchand, Bennett, Tkachuk and the hiring of Paul Maurice as the catalysts for the next great NHL powerhouse.
(photo courtesy of the Miami Herald)