June 11, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Florida Panthers took care of business in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers. The Panthers won both of their first two home games, including a 4-1 win in Game 2 on Monday night.

The shots were lopsided in favour of the Panthers in this game, whereas it was the other way around in Game 1. The Oilers got on the board first, but the Panthers scored four unanswered goals including three in the third period.

Call Outs

Evan Bouchard took two penalties in Game 2. One was an elbowing call that he earned. He got away with the first one, but not the second one. It didn’t look like it hit the Panthers player hard, but the elbowing motion was there from Bouchard. The other was a pretty weak slash to the hands, but it was a slash to the hands. Bouchard committed both infractions and both deserved to be called.

Bouchard also coughed up a puck that directly led to the game winning goal. To be fair, Ryan McLeod failed to clear the puck out of the zone moments earlier, and it appeared that Evan Rodrigues’s shot deflected off of McLeod and into the Oilers net; but Bouchard’s giveaway was poor. Bouchard was also on the ice for the 3-1 goal, the powerplay tally which ended the Oilers’ consecutive penalties killed streak at 34.

Speaking of penalties, the Oilers took five minor penalties and a major penalty in Game 2. Three of those came in the third period. They also took three misconduct penalties, including two late in the game. It wasn’t all on Bouchard. The team as a whole took too many penalties. The penalty kill has been amazing recently, but that’s a heavy load to put on any penalty killing unit in any game.

Stand Outs

Mattias Ekholm scored the first Stanley Cup Final goal for the Oilers since 2006. It was four-on-four, and Ekholm got the puck in his own end with room to skate. He had Leon Draisaitl to his right on a two-on-one, but he took the shot and beat Sergei Bobrovsky through the five hole. He also led the team with five shot blocks in Game 2. 

Shoutouts

I referenced the Oilers’ consecutive penalties killed streak earlier. It ended at 34 in Game 2. That was after killing off seven minutes worth of penalties in the first period, including a major penalty taken by Warren Foegele. The goal was scored on the fifth Panthers powerplay of the game. The penalty killing unit deserves all the praise in the world for their work in these playoffs, and it was great again in Game 2 (even though they gave up a goal).

The best way to kill a penalty is to draw one on the penalty kill. Mattias Janmark and Connor McDavid did exactly that. Both drew tripping penalties by jumping laterally to avoid hits from Panthers players. They both failed to stick the landing due to a little bit of contact on the way down. I personally felt that the Oilers got a little bit lucky with those calls, but the calls were made. Janmark’s drawn penalty came during Foegele’s major, and it was a big reason why the Oilers were able to kill off that penalty.

Once again, Philip Broberg played over seventeen minutes in Game 2; and once again, Broberg had a clean sheet. He was not on the ice for a goal against in Game 2, one of only three Oilers defencemen able to make that claim. One of those was Darnell Nurse, who only played 4:20 due to an injury sustained early in the game. Broberg contributed four blocked shots and a hit.

Wrap

The Panthers were just the better team in Game 2. There’s no other way to put it. The Panthers got the better of the shot share and the scoring chances. They didn’t make any costly mistakes, and the Oilers did.

The Panthers did what they needed to do at home. Now, the Oilers need to hold serve back in Edmonton. They will have the support of 18,000 strong behind them in Game 3 at Rogers Place on Thursday night.

Related: Call Outs, Stand Outs, and Shoutouts: Panthers escape with Game 1 win over the Oilers