Oilers 'very comfortable' with physical play against Panthers in Final

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers view every hit they deliver to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final as an investment. As such, they have plenty of players willing to make a contribution.

The Oilers consider themselves to be bigger, stronger and healthier than they were a year ago, when they lost to the Panthers in the Final, and will be looking to continue their physical play in Game 2 at Rogers Place on Friday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).

Edmonton leads the best-of-7 series 1-0 after a 4-3 overtime win on Wednesday.

“I think obviously our team is healthier this year than we were last year, and we’re a team built for that physical edge,” Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said on Thursday. “Our team is not afraid of that. Obviously, when you play a really good opponent that brings out the physicality every night, we’re going to have to match that.”

Edmonton’s roster, despite being constructed around two of the most talented players in the NHL in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, has size and grit and is not afraid to showcase it.

Nurse, Jake Walman and Mattias Ekholm provide a physical element on the blue line, while Evander Kane, Kasperi Kapanen, Trent Frederic, Vasily Podkolzin, Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark can pack a wallop up front.

With so much muscle, the Oilers are a tough team to bully.

“We’re a physical team. We’re bigger and stronger than we were last year,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I think it’s a far cry that we were bullied out (last season). We accepted that challenge of physicality. We had some really physical series last year, obviously with Florida, but also the first round last year against L.A. was a physical matchup with a lot of hits.”

Edmonton and Florida were both credited with 51 hits in Game 1 on Wednesday, which was decided by a power-play goal from Draisaitl at 19:29 of overtime.

Kane led the way with a game-high nine hits, the majority of which were delivered against Florida's defensemen.

One particular target was Aaron Ekblad, whom the Oilers are looking to wear down in what is expected to be a long series.

“It’s two teams that played each other this time last year, so it’s easier to pick up where you left off,” Kane said. “We wanted to get off to a good start at home, and I thought we did that in the first period. It’s two teams that are obviously going to go toe-to-toe, and we’re going to have to roll with the punches throughout the course of the series.”

Last season, Kane was on fumes heading into the Final against the Panthers. He was nursing a sports hernia injury, which got to a point where the 33-year-old could not sit on the bench between shifts because of the pain. Eventually, he was forced to miss the final five games of the Final, which Edmonton lost in seven.

Kane had surgery on Sept. 20 to repair two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias and two torn lower abdominal muscles, all of which stemmed from his playing through the sports hernia injury. He then had arthroscopic knee surgery on Jan. 9.

But after missing the entire regular season, Kane is healthy and well-rested. And since returning in Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round against the Kings, Kane has put up 11 points (five goals, six assists) and 77 hits in 16 postseason games.

“This year we have (physicality) with Kane being healthy ... Trent Frederic, Podkolzin, Kapanen,” Knoblauch said. “We have a lot of guys and I think it’s important that not only are we finishing our checks, but we are also winning a lot of battles. The bigger you are, typically you’re stronger and you win more pucks, which is important. You want to play with the puck as much as possible and spend less time defending, and we have those big guys and they are helping us.”

Although Kane was a physical presence for the Oilers in Game 1, he kept it on the rails, not crossing what at times can be a fine line, and stayed out of the penalty box.

That type of performance is helping to make up for the loss of forward Zach Hyman, who led the NHL this postseason with 111 hits before sustaining a wrist injury in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars.

Hyman had season-ending surgery on his dislocated right wrist on May 28.

“I thought we did a great job of it [Wednesday] night,” Kane said. “We really didn’t get into the after the whistle stuff, we kept it between the whistles. We’re a team that’s proven we’re going to play hard throughout the entire playoffs, and just because we’re playing Florida, that’s not going to change.”

With that being said, though, Florida is a team that can push back, so the physical play is going to need to continue as the series progresses.

“For us, it's just about playing between whistles, playing hard and being physical,” Nurse said. “There’s a level of gamesmanship that goes on throughout the playoffs. There are going to be those moments where the edge kind of takes over the game. Our group, it’s the type and style of play that we’re very comfortable with, and obviously they are, too.”