The 2024 Stanley Cup Final is underway. The Eastern Conference Champion Florida Panthers are taking on the Western Conference Champion Edmonton Oilers for all the marbles.
This is a battle between two teams that have a ton of skill, hockey IQ, and toughness. It projects to be an incredible series.
Game one was dominated by the Edmonton Oilers in every way. However, the more dominant team doesn't always win. In this one, the Panthers won the game by a final score of 3-0.
It started with a smart play made by the Panthers. Sasha Barkov made a wonderful play using his speed, skill, and brain to feed Carter Verhaeghe for the first goal of the series.
The Florida Panthers got the first goal of the game and made the best of it
Despite being outshot 12-4 in the first period, the Panthers went to the intermission up 1-0. That continued as they took a 2-0 lead in the second period. Evan Rodriguez scored a beautiful goal thanks to a board battle won by Sam Bennett.
In that second period, the Oilers outshot the Panthers 13-8 so it was 25-12 after two. None of that matters though as the Panthers had that two-goal lead.
In the third period, despite more domination by Edmonton in a lot of ways, the Oilers were unable to get on the board. Eetu Loustarinen eventually put one into the empty net to seal the deal.
Sergei Bobrovsky was the star of the game as he made a total of 33 saves on 33 shots for the shutout. It was an incredible performance by the future Hall of Famer.
If you're the Panthers, you have to be happy with a win. You also have to know that you didn't play very well all around and the goalie bailed you out.
If you're the Oilers, you have to keep pushing. They will break through. They have too much talent to be shut out again any time soon. Once they get one, they should be off to the races. Despite being shut out, they were getting their chances.
They have to feel good about themselves with the way they played but they also have to know that Florida will be better too.
Game two will take place on Monday night in Sunrise, Florida. There will be adjustments made by both teams in different ways. If the rest of the series is this high-octane with this good of goaltending, it will go down as one of the best.