The Edmonton Oilers opened the 2024 Stanley Cup Final by being shut out 3-0 by Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers, leaving captain Connor McDavid without a point in his championship series debut.
Interestingly, he's not the only Oilers captain to be shut out during his debut in the Stanley Cup Final. "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky was stonewalled by New York Islanders great Billy Smith in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final.
During Gretzky's initial appearance, Edmonton was swept in the 1983 Final. The franchise only won its first Stanley Cup title a year later with a victory over the Islanders, ending its four-year run as league champions.
Trending
So after Game 1 of the 2024 Final, are the Oilers in trouble, or can they avoid the same fate as Gretzky and the 1983 team?
McDavid and the Oilers are three periods away from splitting the first two games of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final
In the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Oilers are now 6-4 on the road and 6-3 at home. After losing Game 1, they must win Game 2 and earn a split for their first home game next Thursday.
Thus far, Edmonton has only lost one playoff game in each series at home, so they would appreciate the chance to come back home even at 1-1 and take a commanding 3-1 series lead with two wins at Rogers Place.
It may sound wild, considering how strong the Panthers are. Still, McDavid is the best player in professional hockey, and he's proven to everyone that he can turn teammates like Zach Hyman into a 50-goal player and Leon Draisaitl into a 100-point player.
He was by far the best skater for Edmonton in Game 1 and will make the necessary adjustments to get pucks past Bobrovsky, who had just a .908 SV% heading into the Stanley Cup Final.
Naturally, with all the talent in the Oilers lineup, head coach Kris Knoblauch has shown time and time again that he's not afraid to load up the stars on one line and let them loose.
McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Matias Ekholm were on the ice together for almost three minutes, trying to get one goal. Everyone knows they just need one goal, as Bouchard proved in the Canucks series, that it takes just a second to score.
In 1983, Edmonton rolled into the Stanley Cup Final with seven future Hall of Famers in their lineup. Over 40 years later, they have a solid lineup with future Hall of Famers McDavid and Draisaitl driving the offense.
Under the proper instruction from mid-season hire Knoblauch, the Oilers have become the best team in the NHL, which is not a coincidence. As most athletes say, it's only one game after a loss, and they will bounce back.
Edmonton will be okay in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. They need to get their first goal, and the gates will open in their favor.
