Who has the edge in Stanley Cup Final: Florida Panthers or Edmonton Oilers?
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice and Edmonton Oilers counterpart Kris Knoblauch have a lot of good things to say about their opponent heading into the Stanley Cup Final.
"I don't see a hole in their game," Maurice told reporters on Wednesday. "Their defensive game is good. And we don't need to talk about their offense anymore. It's brilliant."
Knoblauch was equally complimentary.
"They've got a lot of good players," he said. "Whether it's the defense, the forwards, there's a lot of good players throughout the lineup, especially led by (Aleksander) Barkov, one of the best two-way centermen in the league."
The Panthers are making a second consecutive appearance in the Final while the Oilers last went in 2006. The best-of-seven series starts Saturday.
How do the teams stack up?
Offense
The Oilers are a dangerous offensive team. Their top five scorers, led by Connor McDavid's 31 points, have combined for 124 points. The Panthers' top five, led by Matthew Tkachuk's 19, have totaled 77. Four Oilers have more points than Tkachuk. Zach Hyman has five more goals than Florida leader Carter Verhaeghe. The Panthers have greater scoring depth (they trail the Oilers by a quarter goal a game), but Edmonton's high-end talent makes the difference.
Edge: Oilers
Defense
Evan Bouchard's 27 points are better than the top three Panthers defensemen's point totals combined. But Florida's Gustav Forsling has developed into a top-notch all-around defender. The Panthers are deep because they added three defensemen in the offseason with Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad facing surgery and those two have returned.
The Panthers' team defense, led by the Selke Trophy-winning Barkov, also is impressive. Their forechecking scheme slows opponents' attacks. In the first three rounds, they held NHL leading scorer Nikita Kucherov without a goal, limited David Pastrnak to one and held the New York Rangers' Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad to a combined two.
Edge: Panthers
Goaltending
Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky (12-5, 2.20 goals-against average, .908 save percentage) has better stats than Edmonton's Stuart Skinner (11-5, 2.50, .897), but that's because Skinner had some poor games in the Vancouver series. Knoblauch sat him for two games and he came back stronger. Bobrovsky leads Skinner in Moneypuck's goals saved above expected. He's 2-0 vs. Edmonton this season and Skinner didn't face the Panthers in the regular season.
Edge: Panthers
Special teams
The Oilers are clicking at 37.3% on the power play, even better than their regular-season success. It's not surprising considering they trot out McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Bouchard, Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the top unit. What's more surprising is their league-best penalty killing, up from 15th in the regular season. They're perfect, outside of two games in the second round. The Panthers held the Rangers to one power-play goal in the conference final.
Edge: Oilers
Coaching
Knoblauch is a midseason replacement in his first NHL season. Maurice has coached nearly 2,000 regular-season and playoff games and has been to the Final twice, both losses. Knoblauch isn't afraid to make tough decisions, sitting Skinner and veteran Corey Perry. Maurice mixed up his lines last series to help Florida rally from a 2-1 series deficit against the Rangers.
Edge: Panthers
Physicality
The Panthers have a significant lead on the Oilers in hits (739 to 563) despite playing one less game. Sam Bennett plays on the edge — ask Brad Marchand — and Tkachuk is in your face. Edmonton's Evander Kane leads remaining players with 62 hits.
Edge: Panthers
Overall
Defense and goaltending win in the playoffs. The Oilers are playing better defense under Knoblauch, but the Panthers have the edge there and in the series. And they're healthier than during last year's Final.
Edge: Panthers