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After ready perpetually for the Stanley Cup Last to start, the Edmonton Oilers walked right into a recurring nightmare that appeared like it might by no means finish.

First interval: Dominate play, get shut down by a goalie, quit a objective on the opposite crew’s first shot.

Second interval: Dominate play, get shut down by a goalie, quit a objective on the opposite crew’s first shot.

Third interval: Dominate play, get shut down by a goalie, quit a objective on the final shot of the sport.

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It was like a type of goals the place you’re attempting to run away from the unhealthy man however your legs don’t work, solely it was the Oilers’ fingers that turned numb as they drove towards the Florida internet.

Whereas Edmonton did nearly all the things they wished to in Recreation 1, they had been no match for Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Regardless of being beneath siege for many of the night time, the 35-year-old Russian stole the present, and the sport, beating the Oilers 3-0 regardless of being outshot 33-18.

“We had our appears all recreation however we couldn’t capitalize,” mentioned Zach Hyman, certainly one of Edmonton’s pissed off forwards. “However I preferred our recreation. If we play like that we’re going to be superb. If we proceed to play like we did right now I’m very assured in our group.”

It was a painful outcome for an Oilers crew that deserved higher. They proved they’ll dangle with Florida, however additionally they discovered that targets aren’t going to come back simply on this collection and routine errors would be the demise of them.

“They’re a superb crew, give them credit score, they did sufficient to win,” mentioned Oilers captain Connor McDavid, including that apart from the rating, the Oilers despatched a message on this one. “We confirmed tonight that we will play them; that’s a confidence booster for our group. We all know that our greatest can play with anyone.”

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To make issues worse for the Oilers, the chances are firmly in Florida’s nook now. Historical past reveals that drawing first blood in a Stanley Cup Last often ends in a wound the opposite crew can’t shut. Recreation 1 winners hoist the trophy 75.6 per cent of the time.

“You don’t just like the outcome,” mentioned defenceman Darnell Nurse. “However you regroup and prepare for Recreation 2.”

After we final noticed the Oilers on June 2 they had been firing bullets on the person benefit, sucking the life out of the Dallas energy play and advancing to the Cup ultimate on an evening they had been outshot 34-10 as a result of Stuart Skinner had simply out-duelled Jake Oettinger.

And the weeklong layoff didn’t hassle them in any way.

Edmonton seemed nice out of the field — that they had first-period breakaways from Adam Henrique and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, point-blank appears from McDavid and Hyman and had been outshooting Florida 13-4 on the first intermission — however they had been down 1-0 after Carter Verhaeghe scored on Florida’s first shot.

The following 20 minutes had been extra of the identical, with Edmonton getting two extra energy performs, 5 – 6 nice scoring probabilities and outshooting Florida 26-12 on the second intermission — however they had been down 2-0 when Evan Rodriguez scored on Florida’s first shot.

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Now they understand how the Stars felt.

“There may be the ingredient of luck, typically pucks go in,” mentioned Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “There have been a superb share of alternatives for us to attain, however there are issues we’re going to have to have a look at to attempt to enhance these probabilities.”

The much-maligned and analytically-challenged defence pairing of Nurse and Cody Ceci had been the culprits on each Panthers targets.

One of many themes was purported to be Edmonton’s energy play making Florida pay for its indiscretions, however it didn’t work out that approach. Edmonton had three energy performs within the first half-hour and couldn’t convert.

“We noticed it within the Dallas collection the place we didn’t rating early after which we went four-for-five,” mentioned Knoblauch. “There may be at all times the legislation of averages. Over time, issues work out, that’s why it’s a best-of-seven and never a one-game elimination.”

It didn’t take lengthy for the Oilers to attempt to get into Sergio Bobrovsky’s kitchen. Hyman “fell” into him within the first interval, resulting in the primary scrum of the collection, and Connor Brown took a tough dig at a frozen puck within the second, main to a different.

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Head coach Kris Knoblauch pulled Skinner with 2:20 left in regulation however all that got here of it was the 3-0 objective from Eetu Loustarinen at 19:55.

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