SUNRISE, Fla. -- In an electrifying playoff campaign, the Florida Panthers have amassed epochal feats while fighting to reach their second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
Racing out to a 2-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers put on a show for back-to-back sellout crowds at Amerant Bank Arena before traveling to Canada.
In striking distance of their first-ever Stanley Cup, here’s some numbers that stuck out during Florida’s impressive defense of home-ice against the high-flying Oilers to kick off the series.
32: Saves for Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 1. Bobrovsky delivered an exceptional performance to open up the series, securing a shutout with 32 saves against the Oilers. His outstanding play was instrumental in the Panthers' 3-0 win as they were under fire and out-shot by Edmonton 32-18.
2,541 miles: The distance the Oilers traveled to face the Panthers for Games 1 and 2 in Sunrise. An NHL record for the greatest distance between two competing teams in the Stanley Cup Final, this epic distance broke the previous record of 2,499 between Boston and Vancouver in 2011.
3: Goals for Evan Rodrigues. Tying the NHL record for most goals scored by a player in the first two Stanley Cup Final games of their career, Rodrigues, in the first year of a four-year contract with Florida, scored once in Game 1 and then had a dominant two-goal performance in Game 2.
56.8%: Faceoff winning percentage for the Panthers. There’s no question the Panthers dominated the dot in Games 1 and 2. Kevin Stenlund was particularly strong against the Oilers, winning a stunning 72.7% of his draws.
12: The number of Panthers with at least one point. Depth was on fully display for the Panthers in Games 1 and 2. Of those four players with points, four of them had multiple points. Getting good contributions from the blue line, four different defensemen also recorded at least one point.
15: The number of Panthers with a positive plus/minus rating. Of the 18 skaters that took the ice for Florida in Games 1 and 2, 15 of them ended up in the green while zero were negative. Niko Mikkola and Gustav Forsling led the way with +3 plus/minus ratings.
7: Penalty kills for the Panthers. Entering the series operating at nearly 40% on the power play, the Oilers couldn’t muster much of anything against Florida’s stalwart penalty kill. Aaron Ekblad led the way in terms of shorthanded minutes for the Panthers, skating 9:03 on the penalty kill.
The Panthes will look to stay hot at home and claim the Stanley Cup when they host the Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena for Game 5 on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.
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