(Sunrise) Sergei Bobrovsky was not in the room when members of the Edmonton Oilers came to speak on Sunday at noon, but you would have thought he was there because he was so talked about.
While Panthers players skated on the ice downstairs at the club’s practice facility in Fort Lauderdale, four Oilers players were brought into a small, poorly ventilated room just upstairs to face a barrage of questions. On life in general, but also about the goalkeeper of the Florida club, who somewhat stole the first match of this final, Saturday evening at Sunrise.
Can we believe that the Oilers remain optimistic, despite this 0-1 delay in the series? It depends. On the one hand, the four players who came to the microphone on this very hot Sunday – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, Connor Brown and Mattias Ekholm – repeated the same thing, namely that if they continue as that, well, it’s going to come in eventually.
On the other hand, these four young men, with their stern demeanor and their more or less enthusiastic responses, did not exactly exude confidence.
PHOTO NATHAN DENETTE, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
“The way we played (Saturday night), it’s encouraging,” Nugent-Hopkins began by saying. Obviously we want a victory quickly, but it’s a series four of seven… we did some good things in this first match, I think we can find a way. »
How ? That’s the more complicated part. On this subject, Nugent-Hopkins explained to us how Bobrovsky excels on low shots, how well he moves from left to right, and also that he is good at pretty much all types of shots, which means that There’s not much left, if we understand correctly.
“But we’re going to have our chances,” added Draisaitl. We know he’s going to make big saves, we know he’s going to make them, and it’s important to be aware of that. But we have to continue to play our style of game.”
Despite all that, the Panthers’ lead in this final is only 1-0, and the Oilers have also insisted a lot on their propensity to get back into the game. Because in their own opinion, they are used to finding themselves in compromising situations in order to get out better.
This is called “bouncing” in the complex language of ice hockey.
“It’s our trademark,” Nugent-Hopkins added. This ability to get back on track after a bad start. We were able to do that several times this season, and even in the playoffs. We know that they will play better next time, but we will also play better in the next match. We’ve been doing that all season, it’s a good sign. We prepare for a whole year for these moments. »
In the second round of this series, the Oilers fell behind 0-1 after the first game. In the third round, they were behind 1-2 after three games. Brown wanted to point out that he and his gang are not at their first rodeo. “There is no panic in this locker room,” he insisted.
So this is it. The next match of this final will take place Monday evening, and if we understand correctly, the Oilers can do better, but so can the Panthers, which, in the end, will give two clubs which will be able to do better.
“We played well in the first game, we created good scoring opportunities,” added Draisaitl. Their goalie had a really good night, and these things happen sometimes. If we can repeat this kind of performance, I think we will give ourselves a good chance of winning. »
The Oilers star forward will also admit this, at the end: “They have a good team. »
The members of the Oilers were then able to leave this training center which is not theirs to return to the Florida heat, passing Bobrovsky jerseys prominently displayed in the windows of the souvenir shop located at the entrance. A bit as if the Panthers goalkeeper, or at least his image, was following them everywhere.