Panthers defense must slow down Oilers' Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl in Stanley Cup Final
FORT LAUDERDALE — The age-old sports question - Does offense or defense win championships? - will be answered in the Stanley Cup Final.
When Florida clashes with Edmonton in the best-of-seven championship round starting Saturday night in Sunrise, it will be a battle of the NHL’s best offense (Oilers) vs. the best defense (Panthers).
Headlined by centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers are a dominant force offensively. The top four point-scorers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs all reside in Edmonton: McDavid 31, Draisaitl 28, star defenseman Evan Bouchard 27 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 20.
The Panthers, meanwhile, finished with the fewest goals-against per game in the regular season (when discounting shootout goals) and the fewest out of any of the teams that advanced past the first round. They look to stick to their structure and limit the chances of Edmonton’s superstars.
“With those guys especially, each series has specific players that we kind of key in on, but they have two of the best players in the world,” defenseman Brandon Montour said. “Those are two players that you cannot necessarily shut down but you can limit and you gotta make it tough on them.
”I think you can see how every team plays against these guys. They try to find a game plan to stop them and they obviously find their way. It’s just how talented they are, but you have to make it tough on them and limit their chances the best you can.”
But even looking past their dominant numbers in the offensive zone, the Oilers, who won the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars Sunday night in six games, also have been one of the best defensive teams in the postseason. The same can be said about Florida’s offense and the star power that comes with Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and others.
“Their defensive analytics are almost as good as ours and we are a better offensive team than people know as well, so it’s both sides of the puck,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “You have to defend against the whole group. They have an active back end and clearly have superstars up front. Then we’ve got some really good players, too.
”So, both sides of the puck are equally weighted. We play an aggressive defensive game and we feel the same about their game. Their defensive game is far stronger, far more structured than I think I hear when I’m watching the games or I read about them.”
Oilers were 3-9-1 in November before firing Coach Jay Woodcroft
The Oilers did not look this structured at the start of the season. They were one of the worst teams in the NHL at 3-9-1 when they fired head coach Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12.
After hiring Kris Knoblauch, their 46-16-8 record was the best in the league in that span. They also scored the second-most goals per game (3.72) and allowed the fifth-fewest goals per game (2.68) since making the coaching change. Their power play was the third-best in that span while their penalty kill was seventh-best.
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McDavid might make the highlight plays — and a lot of them — but the reason they are here goes much further than him. They are one of the most complete teams in the NHL.
They have continued to prove that in the playoffs, especially on the penalty kill. Edmonton’s penalty kill is the best of every postseason team at 93.9 percent. Florida is second with an 88.2 percent efficiency shorthanded.
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The Oilers are on a 28-straight penalty kill streak. They went 14-for-14 in the Western Conference final. Pair that with a power play that is clicking at a near-40 percent rate and the Panthers will have their hands full on special teams.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a challenge,” Center Carter Verhaeghe said. “They have some pretty special players over there and we are definitely going to embrace it. I think anytime you go against some of the best players in the world, it’s always fun and challenging and anytime you get challenged is awesome, so it’s going to be a good series.”
Stanley Cup PlayoffsGame 1: Oilers at PanthersSaturday, 8 p.m.ABC
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Panthers defense must stop Edmonton Oilers in Stanley Cup Final
