(AP) For nearly three full years under coach Paul Maurice, the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were unbeatable in the playoffs when holding a lead through either of the first two periods.
Until Wednesday night.
After a 4-3 overtime loss to Edmonton in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers blamed themselves for playing too conservatively in allowing the Oilers to score three straight goals as Florida squandered a 3-2 advantage entering the third.
“Just not let up. Don’t sit back,” said Sam Bennett, who scored twice — including his franchise-record 12th goal of this postseason. “We’ve been really good all year at not sitting back with the lead, and for whatever reason we sat back tonight.”
It was an uncharacteristic collapse for a Florida team that had won 31 consecutive playoff games under Maurice when holding the lead at an intermission break. Worse yet, the Panthers actually blew a two-goal lead in a game Leon Draisaitl sealed by converting Connor McDavid’s centering pass 19:29 into overtime.
The winning goal came on a power play, 72 seconds after Tomas Nosek was penalized for delay of game after lifting the puck over the glass.
Maurice was more concerned with how the Panthers performed well before Nosek went into the penalty box. Florida was outshot 24-8 from the beginning of the third period on.
“I think we had some real good pressure. They get it back and then there were some plays we didn’t compete,” Maurice said. “I thought we were a little safe with the puck.”
Florida dropped to 8-3 on the road this postseason and trails a series for the first time since losing the first two games of its second-round meeting with Toronto, which the Panthers rallied to win in Game 7.
Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is Friday night in Edmonton.
As for Nosek’s penalty, Maurice called it a tough break, and made a point to remind the player how valuable he was in helping the Panthers rally against Toronto. Nosek didn’t make his playoff debut until Game 3 of the Maple Leafs series.
“That line came in and changed everything for us. We’re not here without Tomas Nosek,” Maurice said. “He’s got lots of people sitting at his table and reminding him how good he’s been.”
The question for the Panthers is how they appeared to wear down as the game progressed in a rematch of last year’s final, which Florida won in seven games. Just when it appeared Florida had grabbed the momentum by building a 3-1 lead on Bennett’s second goal two minutes into the second period, Edmonton responded with Viktor Arvidsson’s goal 1:17 later.
And the Panthers looked gassed in the third when Mattias Ekholm converted McDavid’s centering pass to tie the score at the 6:33 mark.
The 46 shots allowed were the most permitted by Florida in the playoffs since giving up 65 in a 3-2 win over Carolina that took four overtimes in Game 1 of the 2023 Eastern Conference final. And they came a game after the Panthers allowed 52 shots in Game 5 of a second-round series-clinching 3-2 OT win over Toronto.
Draisaitl’s power-play goal was just the eighth allowed by Florida in 62 chances this postseason.
Maurice remained calm in assessing how evenly matched the teams are in a series he believes has a chance to go the distance.
“It has the potential to be just a spectacular seven-gamer,” Maurice said. “It was honest, it was hard, it was fast and it was tight. It was an overtime game.”
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