Monday evening was the highly anticipated first rematch of the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers. We all know what happened then, so to save time (and money spent on therapy) we can just jump straight to this game.
The Oilers looked beyond shaky to start this game. Well, maybe not the whole team, just Evan Bouchard, whose spill at the blueline led to a shorthanded goal against and his subsequent penalty 16 seconds later negated the power play. But nevertheless, the Oilers battled back, overcame some adversity, and remained competitive in this game with three unanswered goals in a dominant second period.
That was not quite enough, however, as a wild third period saw a Panthers comeback, a quick answering goal, and a nail in the coffin for the Panthers’ victory in a seven minute span.
In other words, we here in Oil Country still hate the Panthers.
Here’s a few noteworthy takeaways from last night’s thriller.
Hyman’s production resurgence
It feels unfortunate to be writing this particular section shortly after Zach Hyman took an Bouchard shot to the face and it now there is the potential of him missing some time. However, when he shows up for the third period with a full face shield and almost immediately scores a hat trick goal, it seems as though he will be just fine.
This season has been a journey for him. After an incredibly slow start that took him 10 games to score a goal, he finally started looking more like himself before getting hurt once. Then, in this most recent stretch he has had seven goals in six games to look like the hard working Hyman that scored 54 goals last season.
Hyman’s importance to the Oilers and their offence cannot be understated. He has been the most compatible winger that Connor McDavid has ever had. And his play without the puck can be just as useful, with some incredible efforts on the forecheck and backcheck to gain or retain possession of the puck.
The Oilers need Hyman on his game, and they need him in the lineup. Hopefully, he does not miss much time.
Time to rework the third line?
In the midst of this hot streak, there have been few players on the Oilers roster who are not digging in right now. Mostly everyone is on their game. But, a couple players have seen some criticism, one of them being Jeff Skinner. His place has been on the team’s third line for most of the season thus far. He hasn’t been quite good enough to play higher up regularly, and the best he has looked as been paired with Adam Henrique and a combination of other wingers (like Connor Brown or Mattias Janmark). Which may not be saying much, given his general performance level.
However, at this point, that third line is looking rough. In this game in particular, Skinner, Henrique, and Janmark spent 8:13 together at even strength. According to Natural Stat Trick, they generated zero chances, shots, and not even a single shot attempt that would improve their Corsi ratio from 0-11. Late in the game, down by one, and the moment when the team needed chances and goals, the Skinner-Henrique-Janmark line was barely able to carry the puck out of their own zone.
This combination is not working right now, and two of the three players have been among the most disappointing players on the roster thus far. Skinner’s struggles are well-documented. But Henrique, although he has been a reliable option on the penalty kill and has not played poorly, has not made much of a noticeable impact at even strength. This game could be the tipping point for a major rework of the bottom six.
The Panthers were still able to rattle the Oilers
Florida is extremely good at playing the game within the game. They know how to draw calls, how to get away with penalties, and toe the line. And they know how to attack quickly and generate momentum for themselves. Things like that can have a tendency to rattle the Oilers, to put them on their heels and throw them off their game. That is when mistakes happen, and that is when the Panthers get the better of the Oilers.
To their credit, Edmonton battled in this game. They came back from an early deficit and did control play for a good portion of the first two periods. But early mistakes, a collection of questionable decisions from the officiating crew, and active, engaged play on the part of the Panthers threw the Oilers off in the third period.
The biggest example is on the play that that led to the Panthers’ fourth and fifth goals. A battle in front of the benches led to Jeff Skinner taking a high hit. Looking for a call as he was on the ice, most of the rest of the Oilers proceeded to disengage from the play and engage in the scrum in front of the benches. However, there was no whistle. Florida took the puck and scored on the odd-man rush. Clearly thrown off from this sequence, more questionable defensive play from the top pairing led to a quick go-ahead goal for the Panthers.
Bouchard, still having a rough game at this point, had noticeable frustration in his body language late in the third. McDavid, clearly frustrated with how much obstruction he was facing, started pushing, reaching, and struggling to play his game near the end.
Opinions on the officiating aside, the Oilers cannot be goaded into this type of play so easily. They do need to find ways to adapt to the frustrating style the Panthers can get away with. Edmonton is an incredibly resilient team, no doubt about it. But clearly they still have a weak point in their armour that Florida knows how to exploit.
