Move over, Edmonton Oilers Powerful offense. Free throw shooters become the focus.
The Oilers are in their first Stanley Cup final in 18 years, thanks in large part to a tight penalty kill that has not allowed a goal in its last 10 playoff games and has kept a clean sheet in 28 straight shorthanded games.
The Oilers and Florida Panthers will meet in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday for Game 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.
When Edmonton’s vaunted high-powered offense was out of action during the first four games of the Western Conference finals against the Dallas Stars, the hard work of foot soldiers like Mathias Janmark, Derek Ryan, Connor Brown and Cody Cece was matched by the efforts of goalie Stuart Skinner to protect the special teams defense.
In Game 1 in Dallas, the Stars won in double overtime, limiting the power play to 0-5, which was crucial.
Edmonton's high-powered offense was rejuvenated by winning 4-of-5 in the Eastern Conference final, captain Connor McDavid's first goal in Game 6 was a masterpiece of hand-eye-toe dragging art, and the Oilers' penalty takers deserved a salute.
“I think that was one of the deciding factors in the series,” defenseman Matthias Ekholm said.
Both Ekholm and head coach Chris Knoblauch praised assistant coach Mark Stewart’s handling of the Edmonton smash.
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“When I got here, we were struggling with the penalty kill,” said Knoblauch, who replaced the fired Jay Woodcroft in November when the Oilers were 3-9-1.
“I don't take any responsibility for the penalty shootout. It's not my responsibility. It's Mark Stewart's responsibility and he did an excellent job with it. The only responsibility I can take is to make him responsible for the penalty shootout.”
Knoblauch said he was initially “unsure” how to carry out the kill on Stewart.
“He had never run a free throw shootout. I didn't know him as a coach,” Knoblauch said. “I knew he was pretty green and hadn't been around that long, but there weren't a lot of options, so we gave him that responsibility, and he did a great job.
“If our free throw shooting hadn’t been as strong as it has been this entire series, I don’t think we would be here today.”
Edmonton reached the Cup final with a 37.3% power play percentage and a 93.9% kill percentage.
Florida's approval ratings were 23.3% and 88.2%, respectively.
Stewart, a former defenceman who played in 673 NHL games with teams including Boston, Atlanta and Winnipeg, is in his second season as an assistant coach with Edmonton.
Ekholm said his efforts have helped Edmonton break the “will to kill” of opponents so far in the playoffs.
“He’s tough, but he’s also very humble,” Ekholm said. “I really enjoyed working with him.”
“He never asked, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ It was, ‘Well, let’s look at this. What are you thinking? This is what I’m thinking.’ He was very good in the way he worked with us.”
Through 18 playoff games, Edmonton’s five-on-five goal difference is plus-1, so the Oilers’ special teams will likely be the deciding factor in whether they can hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in 34 years.
“It's always a new challenge to play against another team, so I'm looking forward to it,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “We're very proud of this and we'll continue to improve.”
Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) controls the puck in front of defenseman Brett Kulak (27) during the first period of Game 5 of the Western Conference final of the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs, Friday, May 31, 2024, in Dallas.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Game 2 will be held in Sunrise on Monday, followed by the best-of-seven Cup finals on June 13 and June 15 in Edmonton.
If necessary, Game 5 will be played on June 18 in Florida, Game 6 on June 21 in Edmonton and Game 7 on June 24 (if the series is played to full length).
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