Edmonton Oilers Strike First: Impact on Cup Finals

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00:00Let me ask you this question because we know the heart of a champion.

00:03I mean, Florida's been around the block third straight time in the cup finals here.

00:07They're not going to fall after a game one overtime loss.

00:09But talk to me about the Edmonton Oilers so important last year going down 0-3.

00:13Say, no, no, no, not this year.

00:15We're going to play from in front and have the advantage here.

00:18The win from Edmonton in game number one just for psychology of moving forward after last year being down 0-3 to start.

00:25Yeah, I couldn't agree more, Donnie, that it was just more important for the Oilers.

00:28I mean, both teams, they've shown that they can come back down 0-2.

00:32It happened in the first round, Edmonton down 0-2, the L.A. Kings, and they've been on a run ever since.

00:37And then you look at the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs where the Florida Panthers were down not only 2-0 in the series,

00:43but down two goals late in the second period of game three.

00:46But the Panthers, to your point, they've been there.

00:49This is the third straight season.

00:50They know what it takes.

00:51The Oilers last year dropping the first three games of the series.

00:54It's certainly important for them to get that first win on home ice, get some confidence.

00:59Hey, we can play with these guys.

01:00Now we're up in this series.

01:01Where it was the other way around, I'd be looking at this game as a must-win situation for Edmonton.

01:06I actually don't view it as a must-win situation for the Florida Panthers.

01:09I'm a big believer in you're still in this series until you lose on home ice.

01:13But I think that the Panthers will bounce back tonight.

01:16And again, I think that this series is going to go 7.

01:19It's something I believe I talked to you guys about.

01:21But yeah, it's certainly important for Edmonton and for Drysaddle.

01:24Again, with the two goals, because last year in the seven games, he had zero goals.

01:28He had three assists.

01:29He had 11 shot attempts at 5-5, which wasn't even in the top 10 on his team.

01:33So he was very quiet in last year's Stanley Cup Final.

01:36Not the case so far.

01:38Yeah, Chris, we have talked about the similarities, of course, in the Stanley Cup Final rematch.

01:42But the big difference is Edmonton home ice advantage.

01:46They take advantage in game number one, winning in OT and not falling in that 0-3 hole.

01:52You mentioned the individual performance out of Leon Drysaddle, who scored two goals in

01:56game one, including the game winner, hitting the back of the net with only 31 seconds remaining

02:01in OT.

02:03But I thought you said something right there.

02:05When you were with us last week, getting ready for the Cup Final rematch, you expected

02:09this to go seven games.

02:11You expected this to be tightly contested.

02:13So as we look at the updated series outright odds, Edmonton entered game one as a minus

02:19125 favorite.

02:20They take advantage and win game one.

02:23Now it's minus 225.

02:25How did Edmonton's win, if at all, in the opening game of the Cup Final change your view on the

02:31rest of this series?

02:32Yeah, it didn't really.

02:34I'm still going to stick to seven games.

02:37I still like that number.

02:38I think this series will go the distance.

02:40And these two teams are just so talented.

02:43And you can see it in game one.

02:44And even in the second period, the shots at 5-5, 17-4 in favor of the Panthers.

02:50And then the Oilers have such a strong third where they're 14-2 in favor of Edmonton and

02:56got them right back into the game.

02:57Again, tight checking.

02:58Both teams very familiar with each other.

03:00They have a lot to offer.

03:01They're deep.

03:02You know, they're three lines deep.

03:03They have fourth lines that they can trust.

03:05Both teams have, you know, blue liners that are shooting the puck.

03:09Kevin Bouchard is a guy last year that led the Stanley Cup Finals with 67 shot attempts.

03:15And he was tied with McDavid for the most shots in the series at 20.

03:19And what we saw from him in game one, it was kind of a carryover from last year.

03:2314 shot attempts, seven shots, led all players.

03:26But on the other side, Aaron Eckblad, Seth Jones, these guys are putting pucks towards the

03:29goal as well.

03:30So, yeah, I mean, it was great that Edmonton got the first win at home, needed overtime to

03:34get there.

03:35Their big boys showed up.

03:36But the Panthers are, they're not sweating this thing out, guys, right?

03:40They have what it takes to get right back into this series.

03:45And yeah, plus 185 for a seven-game series.

03:48I'm still sticking to that.

03:50Yeah, hopefully we get that because that will be certainly exciting back-to-back years of

03:53game sevens.

03:53And maybe it changes, certainly with the location.

03:55Game seven back in Edmonton as opposed to last year's game seven in Florida.

03:59Chris, if we take a look at the Consummate Award Trophy here, you are going to get games

04:03where you see, you know what?

04:05Two goals by one guy.

04:06He's probably the favorite now to win it all, including an overtime winner.

04:09Not the case.

04:09Connor McDavid, still a minus 140 price.

04:12Leon Dreisaitl now, a plus 430 price.

04:14Do you agree that McDavid still should be the favorite here, despite not scoring, but did

04:18get the key assists?

04:21Yeah, he did get those key assists.

04:22As I mentioned, the primary assist to set up Eckblad, a beautiful sauce.

04:25And then the pretty easy pass for him over Dreisaitl on the power play wide open.

04:30I agree with those odds, but I think we chatted about Leon Dreisaitl in the third round at

04:3415 to one.

04:35We chatted about him at eight to one heading into the Stanley Cup final.

04:37Two goals, right?

04:39It's something that he would probably need to have six.

04:42This series would need to go maybe six, seven games.

04:44He gets six or seven goals and, you know, he scores.

04:46But another guy that I like on that list is a dark horse is Sam Bennett.

04:50And he scored two goals in that game.

04:52Sam Bennett leads all players in the postseason with 12 goals.

04:56He's tied for first and high danger shots.

04:58He leads the playoffs in high danger goals.

05:01He's on a heck of a run right now.

05:02He was awesome for the Panthers in game one.

05:05So don't sleep on Bennett.

05:06He's tied for the Panthers in game one.

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