Oilers are playing the hits early in the Stanley Cup Final, matching the Panthers' physicality

NBC Sports

16 hours ago

EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor McDavid had two hits on the opening shift of the Stanley Cup Final, and that was just the start of the Edmonton Oilers taking the body in Game 1 of their rematch against the Florida Panthers.
The series opener was a clear message that for all their skill and talent, the Oilers are eager to counter Florida's physicality with some of their own. The teams combined for 102 hits, many of them bruising body checks sending opponents into the glass and to the ice.
'We're a team that has proven we're going to play hard throughout the entire playoffs,' winger Evander Kane, who had a game-high nine hits, said. 'Just because we're playing Florida, that's not going to change.'
Doing so without injured forward Zach Hyman, the leading hitter in the playoffs, meant a team toughness, by committee approach. Guys like Kasperi Kapanen and Vasily Podkolzin who are not known for that aspect of hockey, showed they were more than willing to finish checks when available.
'We're a team built for a lot of the physical edge and whatnot,' defenseman Darnell Nurse said. 'Our team's not afraid of that. (We are) playing a really, really good opponent that brings up the physicality each night, and we have to match that.'
Best of Bennett
Florida's Sam Bennett scored twice in Game 1, in the process breaking the franchise record for goals in a playoff year with 12. The first was trademark Bennett on the edge of the crease, showing why he's so good this time of year and is about to get paid — either by the Panthers or someone else — this summer as a free agent.
'He's got a nose for the net,' winger Matthew Tkachuk said. 'He's at the net a lot. Good things happen when you go to the net. He's confident. He's hard to play against on both sides of the puck, and he wants the puck and demands the puck. He's been playing really well.'
Bennett is second to Hyman in hits, and his goal total is the most of any player this postseason. Teammate Seth Jones, who played against Bennett for several years in Chicago, Columbus and Nashville, thought Game 1 was a display of 'a little bit of everything' from the 28-year-old forward.
'He's been one of our best players through his playoffs and is capitalizing on a lot of big plays for us and timely goals,' Jones said. 'But as a defenseman, you see where he gets around that blue paint. He pushes off. He makes himself big, screens (for goals), as well. It's just that constant body contact around the net that really elevates his game and makes it difficult to handle.'
ASL broadcast
For a second consecutive year, the final is being broadcast in American Sign Language, with some improvements and additions. David McGregor, a deaf professional referee based in Vancouver, is now an intermission correspondent, and the alternate telecast now includes player pre- and postgame interviews.
'I'm very proud of our growth and our evolution and also a tip of the cap to the NHL for being bold and brave and buying into this and allowing this to grow,' said Brice Christianson, founder and CEO of P-X-P, which is doing the broadcasts. 'We're again making history. The NHL and PXP, every time we expand this, we keep on doing an unprecedented, groundbreaking, historic moment.'
P-X-P, a company that works to make sports more inclusive through interpretation, has been involved with the league since Christianson first did Commissioner Gary Bettman's annual pre-Cup final news conference in Denver in 2022.
This year, broadcasters Noah Blankenship and Jason Altmann got a hand from TNT play-by-play guru Kenny Albert, whose daughter Amanda is an associate producer for the NHL in ASL. Albert spent 40 minutes on a Zoom call with them, lending some of his expertise and answering their questions.
'A lot of it was just talking about the preparation, some advice as far as calling the game,' Albert said. 'It was great to meet with them over zoom and chat with them and just share some knowledge that they can hopefully use in their broadcasts.'
Icings aplenty
The teams combined to ice the puck 21 times in Game 1, including nine in overtime alone. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch chalks that up a little to the pressure and players not having as much time as they thought to make a decision, along with human nature
'It was Game 1 and it's a little bit of nerves, feeling out what the other team's doing and where that pressure's coming from and not wanting to make a mistake,' Knoblauch said. 'It was something that we would like to stay away from but understand that's part of the game.
Florida counterpart Paul Maurice splits up icing into three categories: smart ones to stay out of trouble, maddening ones when players don't get to the center red line to avoid it and ones where stretch passes just get missed.
He also has fond memories of the puck sailing down the ice several times late in the Panthers' Stanley Cup clincher last year.
'I think we had 42 in the third period in Game 7 last year,' Maurice said with a chuckle. 'We iced that puck 1,000 times.'