(Sunrise) Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves and the Florida Panthers won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final 3-0 on Saturday, handing the Edmonton Oilers their first shutout since April 3.
Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues beat Stuart Skinner, while Eetu Luostarinen completed in an empty net.
Verhaeghe scored at 3:59 in the first period.
Aleksander Barkov moved up the right wing. He passed to Sam Reihart who quickly gave it to him, then Barkov slipped the puck into the slot to Verhaeghe. The latter did not miss his opportunity, scoring his 10e goal of the series.
Rodrigues doubled the cushion at 2:16 in the middle period.
Moving into enemy territory, Sam Bennett pushed the disc deep into the opponent’s zone – almost a pass to himself.
PHOTO JIM RASSOL, USA TODAY SPORTS
Evan Rodrigues (17) celebrates his goal making it 2-0 in 2e period.
Once the object was recovered, Bennett immediately sent the disc into the slot to Rodrigues, who obtained his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Luostarinen put the finishing touches with five seconds left in the game.
After one period, the Oilers led 13-4 in shots.
At the second intermission, this table read 26-12 in favor of Edmonton. The final count was 32-17.
The second match will be presented Monday evening, once again at Sunrise.
Series leader with 31 points, Connor McDavid was muzzled in six shots.
The Oilers let three power plays slip away, unable to solve the riddle of the 35-year-old Russian goaltender.
PHOTO JIM RASSOL, USA TODAY SPORTS
Connor McDavid tries to outwit Sergei Bobrovsky
Bobrovsky cruised to his third career playoff shutout.
Before Saturday’s game Mike McDaniel, head coach of the Miami Dolphins, gave some solid drum beats to heat up the atmosphere even more at Amerant Bank Arena.
Florida was defeated in the finals last year, as well as in 1996—a five-game loss and a sweep, respectively.
The Oilers have lifted the cup five times, most recently in 1990.
In 2006, they were defeated in the final round by the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.