SUNRISE, Fla. — Connor McDavid’s first career appearance on the big stage that is the Stanley Cup Final left him with a stitched-up gash on his chin and nothing to show for on the score sheet.
But if you think the Edmonton Oilers captain is hurting either physically or psychologically after a heartbreaking 3-0 loss in which his team outshot the Florida Panthers 32-18 on Saturday, guess again.
“They do a great job of tilting the rink,” he said of the Panthers. “I thought we did that to them a little bit today.”
He’s not wrong.
Sure, the Panthers got the upper hand in the best-of-7 series by winning Game 1 at Amerant Bank Arena, riding the heroics and acrobatics of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to victory.
At the same time, if they don’t find a better way of suffocating McDavid on the ice, it won’t be surprising if the momentum quickly shifts the other way.
The 27-year-old led all players in shots with six and all forwards in ice time at 25:19. At times, he bobbed and weaved his way around and through Panthers defenders only to be thwarted by Bobrovsky, including a repeat of the highlight-reel toe drag that resulted in the Oilers’ first goal in their 2-1 series-clinching win against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final on June 2.
Edmonton was significantly outplayed in that game, mustering only 10 shots en route to eliminating Dallas. Consider that the Oilers already had that many shots in the first 16 minutes against the Panthers, yet came out on the losing end this time.
“Maybe it was the hockey gods getting us back for that Game 6 where we probably didn’t deserve to win,” he said. “Tonight maybe we deserved at least one goal, maybe two, and we don’t find a way to get them.”
If the Panthers keep allowing McDavid to have Grade-A chances in Game 2 on Monday like they did in Game 1, it will be just a matter of time before he does.
“I felt there was lots to like, to be honest,” he said. “I felt like we had lots and lots of looks, and didn’t give up too much. What we did give up was dangerous and they capitalized, as good teams do.”
Through the first three rounds of the postseason, McDavid led all playoff scorers with 31 points (five goals, 26 assists) en route to reaching the Final for the first time in his nine-season NHL career. Now, here he was, in the same building in which he was drafted in 2015, just four wins away from winning his first championship as a professional.
As he stood on the blue line during the Canada and United States national anthems before puck drop, he allowed himself a quick peek to a table situated on the center ice red line. There, sparkling for all to see, was the Stanley Cup, a source of motivation if ever there was one.
Three hours later, even in defeat, he still was optimistic based on his team’s play. Asked about how the experience went, he cracked a bit of a smile.
“You don’t usually get intro’ed in the road barn, but it gave them a good chance to give us a good boo,” he chuckled.
“I know this group will stick with it, bounce back. That’s what we take a lot of pride in doing. We’ll gear up for a big one on Monday.”
