Ryan Rishaug breaks down crucial mistakes leading to Oilers' Game 1 loss against Panthers

Modified Jun 09, 2024 18:39 GMT

The Florida Panthers took a 1-0 series lead over the Edmonton Oilers with a 3-0 victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. TSN broadcaster Ryan Rishaug broke down the crucial mistakes that led to the Oilers' loss against the Panthers.

According to Rishaug, the Oilers' first major error came on the Panthers' opening goal:

"On their first goal against, all three forwards got caught pretty deep in the offensive zone. Zack Hyman, I think, stopped moving his feet a little bit on the backcheck, and that was a bit of a costly error right there."

Rishaug highlighted a few defensive lapses as well:

"There were some mistakes in the defensive zone. Evander Kane lost a guy in the middle of the ice. They didn't make a ton of mistakes, but the Panthers are a team that can really pounce on you when you do."

The Panthers got goals from Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues and Eetu Luostarinen. Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves while Edmonton's Stuart Skinner stopped 15.

Oilers HC Kris Knoblauch on 3-0 Game 1 loss against Panthers

Despite the loss, Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch saw positives in his team's performance.

"Overall, I thought we played a pretty good game. We had some chances to score goals. They didn’t go in. We know that," Knoblauch said post-game. "There’s a lot of things I liked about our game, but we know that we’re gonna have to get even better."

Knoblauch acknowledged the team needs to improve in certain areas:

"I think the start, but you know, there are things that we have to get better at. We can’t just play this game and expect to win it because we know Florida is gonna be better and there’s some things I liked about it. These are things that we need to get a little bit better at."

Edmonton captain Connor McDavid reflected on the tough loss, feeling his team deserved better fate.

"Maybe it was the hockey gods getting us back for that game six (against Dallas) where we probably didn't deserve to win. Tonight, maybe we deserved at least one goal, maybe two goals, and we don't find a way to get them." McDavid said post game.

"I know this group will stick with it and bounce back. That’s what we take a lot of pride in doing.”

Edmonton will look to even the series in Game 2 on Monday.