We had mused a week ago that the NHL Stanley Cup Finals was going to be epic. But if last night’s opening tilt was any indication epic would be a gross understatement.
The LOS ANGELES TIMES’ terse writeup accurately captured at least the result:
Leon Draisaitl scored on the power play in overtime, Stuart Skinner made 29 saves and the Edmonton Oilers erased a multigoal deficit to beat the defending champion Florida Panthers 4-3 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final rematch on Wednesday night.
After Tomas Nosek’s penalty for putting the puck over the glass, Draisaitl’s goal 19:29 into OT sent the home fans into a frenzy and made sure the Oilers would not start this series like they did a year ago, when they fell behind three games to none.
But it took the likes of the SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL’s Adam Lichtenstein to capture the degree of emotion that’s taking place in his neck of the world:
The Panthers entered Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final with a dominant record when leading after two periods. When holding a lead after 40 minutes, Florida was 29-0 over the last three postseason runs.
Now the stat is 29-1.
The Oilers erased a two-goal deficit, scoring the game-tying goal in the third period before Leon Draisaitl scored the winning goal with 31 seconds left in overtime to take Game 1 4-3 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Wednesday.
“It’s going to be a long series,” Florida forward Sam Bennett said. “I don’t think we expected this to be easy. You can learn some things from tonight and then we’re going to move on.”
And in Canada, where they’re now on year 32 of a record drought of having a team from their country win a cup named for one of their former Lords, it’s national news and Draisaitl is already on his way to being anointed.
Let’s not forget that this is more than simply a rematch of great teams that went to the limit last year, each winning three consecutive games before Florida emerged with a narrow one-goal victory in the decider–the first NHL game played in summer south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Thanks to the current political landscape and the way a certain resident of the Panthers’ DMA sees the Oilers’ country, it’s a de facto war between the states. The same sort of emotion and vitriol that played out in the 4 Nations Cup is playing out once again, with an even greater prize at stake.
And even if you’re a staunch NBA fan who steadfastly refuses to even check out hockey (and you know who you are), I’d encourage you to at least try and check out what unfolds in this series in the coming fortnight.
With all due respect to the immense talent being represented, the Indiana-Oklahoma City matchup that begins tonight in the Little Arena Near The Prairie is likely to be anything but competitive. And it’s quite likely the attention that typically goes to an NBA finals will be muted given the fact that we are seeing teams from the 25th and 47th largest Nielsen DMAs competing. One’s so small even though they get “overnight” ratings, they’re now no longer available immediately when the ratings company first releases them.
Besides, the schedule makers have arranged it so that there is absolutely no conflict–when the NBA is off, the NHL will be on. And honestly, when it comes to live sports, what else is on to truly distract you anyhoo? For as great as many of our favorite baseball teams are doing right now, there’s still nearly four months and over 100 games still to be played. You won’t miss anything conclusive if you stray for a night or two.
Yes, it’s pretty exciting on the ice. More so than even I had bargained for. Come join me, won’t you?
Courage…