SUNRISE, Fla. — The Edmonton Oilers left Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final feeling pretty good.
They were shut out three goals to none, but it took a monumental performance from Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to neutralize their offensive firepower.
The Oilers weren’t shutout Monday night, but the result was the same — another loss, this one putting Edmonton in an 0-2 hole as the series shifts to Canada.
One of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL, Edmonton has managed just one goal in the first two games of the final.
The Panthers outshot the Oilers 22-7 through the first two periods Monday.
Edmonton’s seven shots on goal through 40 minutes were the fewest by a team through two periods of a Stanley Cup Final since Game 6 of the 2006 championship series when the Carolina Hurricanes managed that many on goal against the Oilers.
That’s one game after Edmonton outshot the Panthers 32-18 in a Game 1 performance that star Connor McDavid described as a confidence booster.
McDavid, who was kept off the scoresheet in Game 1, assisted Mattias Ekholm on Edmonton’s only goal of the night. It was a 4-on-4 shot on the Oilers’ first shot on goal of the game.
McDavid, who leads all postseason scorers with 32 points, now has 17 points in games following a loss this postseason.
But Edmonton’s other star, the 2020 league MVP Leon Draisaitl, still has no points in the series and hasn’t been much of a factor.
Draisaitl was penalized for roughing in the third period when he shoved Florida captain Aleksander Barkov.
Goalie Stuart Skinner, for his part, followed his 15-save performance in the opener with 24 on Monday night.
The experience of the Panthers, who were in the final just a year ago, has clearly frustrated the Oilers, and Florida has found a way to limit them at what they do best — Edmonton came into the series with the best power play in the postseason at 37.3 percent, but is now 0-for-7.
