EDMONTON — They have a phrase in Edmonton for putting top scorers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the ice together: Going nuclear.
The Panthers were well aware of it ahead of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Friday night. The Oilers went nuclear starting in the third period of Game 1 to come back from a 3-2 deficit and win in overtime 4-3.
Edmonton outshot the Panthers 10-2 in the more than nine minutes McDavid, Draisaitl and Corey Perry were on the same line. McDavid assisted on the final two goals, including the winning one on a power play to Draisaitl.
“What changes?” Panthers center Aleksander Barkov said of the defense against them together. “I think just to know that they’re on the ice. You have to be aware of them all the time. You have to know a little bit of their tendencies as well.
“But at the same time, it’s five guys on the ice. It’s not just one. So five guys need to know where they are and take the time and space away.”
Draisaitl led Edmonton with 52 goals this regular season and is second in the league with 27 postseason points. McDavid leads with 28 points in the playoffs.
Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch prefers to play McDavid and Draisaitl on different lines to give more depth to their offense.
“Leon paying center just spreads out our scoring a little bit. It also gets him in the game a little bit more. He’s skating and involved. It also allows the rest of our team to know they got a role, that they got to play well and we’re not just relying on this one line that is going to do all the work.”
Still, when trailing in the third period of a final game, it’s a good option to have and something the Panther are aware of.
Greer out again for Game 2
Panthers forward A.J. Geer will miss Game 2, and Jesper Boqvist will again replace him. But Greer skated Friday morning and Maurice said he’s “on track to go Game 3” on Monday in Sunrise. Greer was injured in the clinching Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final against Carolina
— Maurice’s good friend and former Panthers coach Pete DeBoer was fired as the Dallas Stars coach after losing to Edmonton in the Western Conference final. “He’ll be all right,’’ Maurice said. “He’s a good coach. You’ve got to push real hard to get them where they got to. At some point, you get the summer off. He’ll be all right.”
— Evan Rodrigues said the Panthers, “punted the puck too much” in Game 1. “That would be a football analogy,” Maurice said, adding, “Maybe we had bad hang time on a couple icings.”
— Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt last played in the Stanley Cup Final for Vegas in 2018 and his return in Game 1 was noticeable. He assisted on two of the Panthers’ three goals. The first was a pass for Brad Marchand for a power-play goal that made it 2-1. The second assist sent Sam Bennett in alone on goal. “Any time you can contribute on the biggest stage, obviously, that’s something you want,’’ he said.