SUNRISE | The Oilers played a very good game to open the Stanley Cup final, but it’s not enough and they will have to do more.
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The problem is that the Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the series without being exceptional and the Oilers know it.
“If you look at the playoffs and our journey, there were ups and downs and games we won easily only to lose the next one and vice versa. I don’t think they played their best game and they will only get better. If you look at how they have played since the start of the playoffs, I think they will show us more,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch with great lucidity.
His team will have to show more opportunism during the second game, Monday evening, to avoid returning home with a two-game deficit.
Bounce
Always calm and composed, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is certainly not affected by this false start. He stressed that the Oilers reacted well to this type of situation.
“The way we played is encouraging, we did a lot of good things. This is one of our particularities this season, we have this ability to bounce back. Even in the playoffs, we were able to do it so we have to be confident, but also know that they will raise their game.
For his part, one of the team’s offensive engines, Leon Draisaitl, knows that the team is capable of creating scoring chances. She did it several times in the 3-0 defeat on Saturday.
“We created a lot of chances, especially in the first two periods, and we will continue to create them.”
The Bobby Wall
To win, the Oilers will have to find a way to beat Sergei Bobrovsky, who blocked 32 shots and collected the shutout in the first game. You could say he stole the match.
“He made some big saves,” agreed Kris Knoblauch. There were missed opportunities, whether we missed the net or weren’t able to get the shot we wanted. “It’s fair to say he played very well, but there were things we could have controlled to take better advantage of our chances.”
So how do we prevent Bobrovsky’s brilliance from affecting players’ confidence?
“We’re going to play our way, we’re going to control what we can control,” insisted Knoblauch. We can’t control what Florida does on the forecheck and in defensive coverage and the same goes for their goalie. So we’re going to have to put ourselves in situations where we can get good chances to score and try to take advantage of them.”
Defensive issues
The Oilers weren’t helped by the erratic play of the second pair of defensemen, Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci, who were on the ice against the Panthers’ first two goals.
Knoblauch might be tempted to make a change to give his team another boost. He did it against Dallas by removing Quebecer Vincent Desharnais after the third game. His team thus overcame a 2-1 setback in the series and won the next three matches. Desharnais could now return to the lineup.
“We are looking for the balance between what is good for these two players and what is good for the six defenders. We are open to experiments by making some changes, but nothing has been decided yet,” Knoblauch said.
