Oilers return to Stanley Cup Final with comeback, OT win in Game 1

EDMONTON -- The Stanley Cup sat upon a pedestal, shining in the spotlight at Rogers Place on Wednesday. The fans chanted, “WE WANT THE CUP!”

The Edmonton Oilers were not in awe.

“When I saw the Cup on the ice last year, I was kind of looking at it with googly eyes,” Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner said. “And this year seeing it, I was here last year. I saw it already.”

This time is different for Edmonton.

The Oilers know what to expect after what happened a year ago -- falling behind the Florida Panthers 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final, coming back to tie the best-of-7 series 3-3 and losing in Game 7.

And now they have the lead in the Cup Final after a 4-3 overtime win against the Panthers in Game 1.

They stayed calm when trailing 3-1 in the second period and came back to defeat a team that was 31-0 when leading after the first or second period in the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the past three seasons.

“It’s huge,” Skinner said. “Obviously, when you look back at it, if we get one win right away, it’s a completely different story [last year]. I think the way that we showed up right from the get-go and the way that we continued to keep on going even though we were down by two, that shows a lot of character by us.”

Edmonton had waited 12 months for this moment -- through 82 games in the regular season and 16 in the playoffs.

The pregame video montage began with the scene in the Oilers dressing room after the Game 7 loss in Florida a year ago. You could feel the pain. You could hear the players talking about returning to the Cup Final.

This was the first time since 2011 that the Cup Final opened in front of fans in a city in Canada. When the Oilers took the ice, the decibel reading hit 113.6. That’s equivalent to a rock concert, a chain saw or a siren.

It seemed even louder when forward Leon Draisaitl gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead 1:06 into the first period. In contrast, it seemed silent after forward Sam Bennett gave Florida a 3-1 lead at the two-minute mark of the second.

Forward Viktor Arvidsson cut the deficit to 3-2 just 1:17 later, but the Oilers had to survive a period in which they were outshot 17-8. Skinner was excellent.

“We just hung in there,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “I think that is experience, just knowing that we’ve got to open it up. We need to hold them at three and find a way to get one, and fortunately we did.”

McDavid set up defenseman Mattias Ekholm for the tying goal at 6:33 of the third, and the Oilers outshot the Panthers 14-2 in the period.

After Florida carried the play early in overtime, Edmonton took over. The Oilers pinned the Panthers in their end for stretches.

The pressure resulted in Panthers forward Tomas Nosek firing the puck over the glass and taking a penalty for delay of game – a critical mistake, the difference. McDavid set up Draisaitl for the winner on the ensuing power play at 19:29. Edmonton outshot Florida 10-6 in OT.

It looks like this could be another epic series.

“I think it’s obviously two great teams,” Ekholm said. “The thing right now too is, like, we know exactly how they play. They know exactly how we play. Those little, little details, they’re going to matter so much in the end. It’s one lost coverage for a second here and there, or a penalty like you saw tonight, or whatever it is.

“It’s teams that are also very comfortable in these moments and in these games, high-stake games, so there’s not a lot of free ice. There’s not a lot of free scoring chances out there. You have to work for everything, and I think tonight showed that again.”

Panthers coach Paul Maurice said if Game 1 is an indication, this series has the potential to be “a spectacular seven-gamer.”

“It was honest, it was hard, it was fast and it was tight,” he said. “It was an overtime game.”

Afterward, McDavid and Draisaitl sat on a podium for media interviews. They seemed serious, not celebratory. Fiery eyes. No googly eyes.

They knew they had won only Game 1. The Stanley Cup, so close at the beginning of the game, is still so far away. Game 2 is here Friday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).

“It’s a special feeling,” Draisaitl said. “It’s great for right now. But we’ve got to look ahead and get ready for Game 2.”