It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast-to-coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We're about an hour away from the start of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but last night the NHL got us all set up. We had a thriller out in Edmondson. We saw these Oilers bounce back, beat the Panthers 4-3 in overtime.
A little bit different than what we saw last year. Edmondson picking up a game, a victory here, and not waiting until they were in a massive deficit. To talk about what we saw last night and what we can expect the rest of the way for this series is someone who covers all things NHL for Sirius XM, NHL Radio, NHL Network.
He's the editor-in-chief of The Fourth Period. Joining us right now is David Pagnotta. David, thank you for taking the time and joining us. Absolutely.
Thanks for having me. Given what we saw last night, Panthers taking a 3-1 lead, Edmondson bouncing back, what are your thoughts on the strategy that the Panthers employed? Did they take their foot off of the gas last night? They did. They absolutely did.
Matthew Kuchuk and some of the other boys acknowledged that as well when they spoke with us earlier today. They shifted. Once the third period rolled around, they shifted to a much more defensive structure, which meant they weren't as aggressive offensively as they had been throughout the first 40 minutes of that game. They focused more on the defensive aspect, which worked for about the first six minutes of that period. And then Edmondson regained life because they were the aggressors. And because of the foot speed that they have and the depth that they possessed, it allowed them to tie things up, send it to OT, and then ultimately they got the winner on a bit of a rough situation from Florida side of things, getting that penalty, suck over glass, delay a game.
But you can't give either of these teams, you can't give them the opportunity to gain a little bit of steam and to regain a little bit of life in a game because they will bite you. And from Florida's perspective, they thought they would have handled things a little bit differently, contained the offense of the Oilers, but again, the depth kicked in, the foot speed kicked in. It allowed them to take an early 1-0 lead in this one because, as you mentioned earlier, this is a different situation, a different tone than last year in the Stanley Cup final where the Florida Panthers ended up being up 3-0 going into this one, which led to a seven-game series.
Bit of a different shift here from Edmondson's perspective in their plan of attack. Well, David, even with some of the roster changes and adjustments from last year to this year, this Cup finals is expected to be a close one as well, given for what we saw last night. When we get to Game 2 tomorrow, what approach or what differences should we look out for?
What can we expect to be different? I think we're going to see a lot more aggression right out of the gate from Florida's side of things, and that's something that Chuck and a few other guys acknowledged, or Hagee and a few others acknowledged earlier today, was their foot speed needs to be a little bit better. They need to be a little bit more aggressive on the forecheck and just create more havoc in front of Edmondson's goalie and Stewart Skinner. They can do that. They can potentially get a lead and just keep their foot on the gas.
They don't have to take it off completely, but even if they want to levy it a little bit, fair enough. But they have to still continue to have that type of offensive, aggressive approach, and it sounds like that's what they're going to bring into Game 2 tomorrow night here in Edmondson. The Oilers obviously are aware of that.
They're going to have to rebound, and their defense has been solid so far throughout these playoffs, so they're going to rely a lot on that. But more so than anything, Florida's plan of attack is to be aggressive, aggressive, aggressive right from puck drop, and if they can do that and get a lead and add to it, just continue to pounce as opposed to what they had in Game 1. This is a learning process for both of these clubs, going back to last year's Stanley Cup final. So this is learning on the fly now for both teams. From Florida's side of things, all right, we can't give Edmondson any type of opportunity to gain some life.
From Florida's side of things, you harness that and you continue to pressure. And David Paknotis joining us, hosting the analysts on SiriusXM, NHL Radio, as well as for the NHL Network. You had mentioned Skinner.
This man had 29 stops last night. I think in most cases we hear more about Bobrovsky. For people like myself who pop in, especially now during the finals, what should we know about Skinner? He had to pretty much hold down the fort, didn't start hot, but then late, he pretty much put the kibosh on him.
He really did. And Edmondson outshot Florida significantly from the third period till the end of the game. And with Stewart Skinner, actually, here, I'll prop this in this way. You go back to the Stanley Cup final last year, Stewart Skinner's numbers were better than Sergei Bobrovsky's numbers in last year's Stanley Cup final. And Bob shut out the Oilers in Game 1 last year. And he still, Stewart Skinner still had a better goals against average and a better save percentage in that seven-game series. He's an underrated goaltender. He gets a lot of flack because of certain situations. He's still relatively young.
He's a local product here in Alberta. This is a guy that is relatively calm. He can keep his composure and he can keep his team in it. And what we've noticed in the National Hockey League over the last few years, it's great to have a superstar goalie like Bobrovsky. But if you have a guy who can hold the fort down the net like a Stewart Skinner, who's not necessarily at that superstar level, but is entering star stratosphere, that's enough to push you over the top when you've got other assets that you can exploit in the right way. And, of course, with Edmondson, you've got Connor McDavid and Leon Dryside leading the charge. But Skinner's ability to remain calm, you know, they didn't crash the net. The Panthers didn't as much as I anticipated or thought they would have. I think that will change in game two.
But even the few times that he did, and Berhage kind of knocked him over a little bit in one sequence in the middle of the game. Sam Bennett, a couple love taps over to Stu Skinner, but he continued to keep his composure and kept his team in it. And that's all the Oilers need. Enough to hold the fort down and let their offensive game take over. Stewart Skinner is a very good goalie. He doesn't get the credit for it. But we're going to start to see, as this series progresses, that battle in net between him and Bobrovsky.
Well, David, I don't want to hit the fast-forward button too much, but I will. You mentioned Connor McDavid and Leon Dryseidel and now the youth of Skinner. There's a lot of focus on whether or not the Panthers are going to repeat. Given the talent that the Oilers have and that they were here last year, and they almost bounced back, and here they are again, how set are they for the future with this court? The Oilers? The Oilers and the Panthers. Their cores are locked in.
And minus a few cosmetic changes that may need to happen. Go back to both of these teams. Fifteen players were on their rosters last season that aren't on them this year. Thirteen players that played in Game 7 for both of these clubs are not part of the Stanley Cup Final this year.
They're not part of their officers. They made cosmetic changes, both of these clubs did. But the cores of their clubs are locked in. Minus Sam Bennett right now with Florida. He's a pending unrestricted free agent. I think he stays. Every indication is that they've got an extension in place there. So we'll see kind of how that unfolds after the Stanley Cup Final wraps.
But from Evan's perspective, they're locked in. Connor has one more year left on his contract after this season. He's eligible to sign an extension July 1st, like every other player entering the final year of their deal. All signs point to an eight-year extension, which is the max to be locked in. Leon Drysettles signed for a lengthy period. Evan Bouchard also needs a new contract, but he's a restricted free agent.
He's controllable. The core of this Oilers group and the core of the Florida Panthers are pretty much tied in for the foreseeable future. And both of these teams are going to remain the cream of the crop at their conferences for the next several years.
David Pagnotta joining us here on the JR Sport re-show Coast to Coast. Knowing that the Oilers bounced back to take Game 1, they have home ice advantage. How do you think this looks for them the rest of this series? Would you give them the edge to win it all?
You take the call. I don't want to discount the former champs because they've been through this process before. They were down 2-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round. And it was, I mean, they almost lost Game 3 before they rebounded and then took over the rest of that series.
They understand what it takes to take their game and elevate their game to the next level. So I'm definitely not counting them out by any stretch. The Oilers were slight favorites in this series once the Stanley Cup final began yesterday.
They should remain in that realm, but you can't discount Florida for what they've got and the talent that they've got. I think this one is going to be a lengthy series. This is a shot-for-shot type of series, back-and-forth action, which is obviously great to see. But from Edmonton's perspective, you're up 1-0. So you want to be able to build off that confidence and take your game to that next level. I think they're going to be a little bit more, they've got that 1-0 lead. I think they're going to be a little bit more collected in Game 2 because I think they understand how aggressive Florida is going to come out of the gate. And we'll see how this goes. But again, this isn't a game-by-game shot-for-shot type of scenario.
This is period-by-period. And that's how tight these games are. And both coaches earlier today, Chris Knoblock of the Oilers and Paul Maurice of the Panthers, they both recognized, admitted, and acknowledged how tight these games are actually going to be. And it's going to be from start to finish in every single one of them. Hey David, sign me up. I mean, what I got last night, I'm here for seven more games.
Sign me up. I was almost disappointed last year. And I'm happy what we got so far. Yeah, look, we had seven games last year and Florida pulled it off. We got one game so far. Eight games total of these two teams in the Stanley Cup final.
Each team's won four times. So that shows you how tight this is and that shows you how exciting these games are really going to be. This has all the making of another seven-game series here in this Stanley Cup final because of the talent that they possess.
They're deep. And yes, Edmonton doesn't have Zach Hyman because of his dislocated wrist that he suffered last round and tore a couple ligaments. So he might not even be ready for the start of next season. But they have other assets that can really step up.
Vander Kain was fantastic in game one with not only his offensive capabilities but physicality. Both sides possess so many different assets that can bite you. And yeah, I mean, 100%. Sign me up for all of this. Yeah, I think I'm going to start getting some travel arrangements set for next June between Edmonton and Sunrise.
I'm going to get ahead of things on that one, David. Hey, thank you so much for the time. Please tell everybody where they can find, listen and catch all of your musings and shows.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, fourthperiod.com. We're providing regular reports throughout the duration, video reports as well, throughout the duration of the Stanley Cup final. Myself and Dennis Bernstein put on the pregame show Face Off Live on Sirius XM Channel 91 on NHL Network Radio ahead of every game. So you'll catch us between 7 to 8 Eastern leading into the game tomorrow night ahead of game two, then off to Florida for the rest of it. And then for all the fun off Stanley Cup action that's going on, the Philly season is starting, draft is coming up, free agents is coming up. There's going to be a lot of activity around the league.
You can check me out on NHL Network Television for some of the insights surrounding the rest of the NHL. Hey, David, I really appreciate the time and your expertise and what I always find to be the most exciting time of the year. Thank you so much. We'll catch you down the line. Sounds good. Thank you. Absolutely that. David Pagnotta covers all things NHL, NHL expert and analyst for TV, for radio, everywhere. Thank you, David.
