Stanley Cup game control: A question of style, puck possession and exploiting mistakes

Losing a faceoff and a battle for position less than a minute into Monday’s game cost them the first goal.

A rash of early penalties then finally caught up to them for the second one.

And then the Edmonton Oilers were really chasing the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, ultimately losing 6-1 in Sunrise, Fla., while taking an atypical 85 minutes in penalties.

“I thought we got away from our game,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said after Monday’s game. “Part of that is due to chasing it a little bit. Part of that is, credit to them, they played well. You find yourself in a hole, you’re gonna do some uncharacteristic things ...

“We’ve done well chasing down games and turning the tide. Obviously, we didn’t do it (Monday night).”

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Yes, the Oilers feature two of the National Hockey League’s best players in McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

But the Panthers are considered the NHL’s fiercest and finest forechecking team. They feature the likes of Sasha Barkov, arguably the best two-way player in the game and this year’s Selke Trophy winner as the league’s top defensive forward, and Gustav Forsling, among the best defensively on the blueline.

Tenacity is in great supply on south Florida ice, too, with the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen in the Panthers’ forward ranks, and Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones on the back end.

Did I mention they’re the defending Stanley Cup champions?

While the first two games of this year’s Cup final are arguably among the best ever played – close, blow-for-blow battles between two of the NHL’s titans ending in overtime, with each side claiming victory once – Game 3 was much different.

The Oilers couldn’t catch up to the Panthers this time for all the aforementioned reasons, but partly because Florida could play to their strengths and clamp down on Edmonton’s attack while protecting – and adding to – their lead.

Case in point: Reinhart’s goal for the Panthers a minute and 20 seconds after Corey Perry got the Oilers’ first, and ultimately only, lamp-lighter of the game. The Panthers pressed the Oilers immediately after Perry’s marker and capitalized on mistakes and misplays to gain the puck and score.

Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm said after Tuesday’s practice “it’s pretty clear” to him that whoever “manages to play their game” more than the other side is the one that wins.

But while the Panthers have gotten the better of the Oilers so far, he says his team’s best “is coming.”

“I think they’ve managed to (dictate their style of play) better in two games, and we did it better in Game 1,” Ekholm told media. “In that regard, I don’t think we have gotten up to standard where we want to be yet. I think it’s coming ... It’s a 2-1 series, so we’re in a good spot, but we need to raise our game.”

The Oilers’ Trent Frederic said maintaining control of the puck more often – and staying out of the penalty box; Florida scored on three of 11 power-play chances in Game 3 – helps keep the Panthers in check.

“When they have a lot of power plays, even if they’re not scoring, their star players are getting touches on the puck and feeling good about themselves,” the forward acquired from the Boston Bruins in late January said Tuesday.

“You never really want that to start. They’re good at playing that game, and I’ve played them in multiple series ... It feels like they’re doing more but (they’re) getting more penalties (to go on the power play), so they’re good at that.”

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Also handcuffing the Oilers to a degree is a hesitancy because of depth concerns on the part of head coach Kris Knoblauch and his staff to go to their nuclear option: Activating the dynamic duo of McDavid and Draisaitl by putting them on an even-strength line together, something Knoblauch and every coach before him have relied on to kick-start the team’s offence.

“With what we have right now, to run those two together for long periods of time makes it more difficult for our depth on our team,” Knoblauch told reporters on Wednesday. “At points, it’s very beneficial to have them playing together, but especially with the absence of Zach Hyman, it makes it a little more difficult putting those two together.”

If there’s any solace in Monday’s loss for the Oilers, it’s that they’ve experienced such a low before. Just last year against the very same team in the very same high-stakes final series, never mind in other series leading up to the Final both this year and last.

Face it, the Oilers faced even longer odds last June while staring down the barrel of a three-games-to-none gun held by these very same opponents.

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Ekholm said his team has “played better this year to start the first three than we did last year.”

“Obviously, the result shows that, but also, we have a better understanding of what needs to be done out there,” he said.

“We can’t let emotions, outside effects, referees – whatever it is – affect us.

“We’ve got to stick to the process and play our game, and I think good things will happen.”