The Athletic Hockey Show - Oilers on the brink with the Panthers 1 win away from the Stanley Cup

Episode Date: June 14, 2024

Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman discuss the Florida Panthers 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers in game three of the Stanley Cup Final, Sergei Bobrovsky's Conn Smythe Trophy worthy post-season, the dominating strength of the Panthers and if the Oilers can avoid the sweep with the Stanley Cup in the building on Saturday night. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. Welcome, welcome, welcome. This is the athletic hockey show. This is the post-game three, Stealing Cup final edition. Once again, it's the SG show. Of course, talking about Shana Goldman. I'm Sean Jantilly.

Florida Panthers up 3-0 officially over Edmonton. It was a result that felt like it was locked in at some point during the second period. Maybe it didn't turn out to be the case. Had a little bit of drama down the stretch. But the result is the result. We're one game away from the off season. Florida is up 3-0.

Shana, we got game four coming up on Saturday in Edmonton. Boy. So, was there, how about this? Was there any point in a third period that you thought that Edmonton was going to pull this off? No. Um, I don't think so. Maybe it's, I'm digging my heels in with the third goal.

I was like, that's it. That's the dagger. This game's over. And it was, it was the benical. I was like, that is it. Um, and then Barkoff scored after that. And it was like, see, this is definitely it. But in the third, like, it was nice to see they had a little bit of jump, but it's like,

jump relative to what? Relative to what they did and bring in the first two period. So it just felt like, I, I can't see the Panthers giving up. a three goal lead in the third year, even to the Oilers. And so I was curious about it. And I went back during the regular season to see like how many comeback wins of the Oilers have because it felt like they were a very good team. If they were behind a pretty safe bet,

but they weren't like this oh my God strike back team, right? Like they generated a ton of offense when they were down in games, but it's not like they were the bonafide, you know, comeback king of the season. They were a good response team. And that's the difference. Like their team, we saw this postseason.

Like when they go down, they tend to strike back within two minutes. and they were leading the way through three rounds and response goals. It's not happening now that I don't see it that they're going to come back while they're down three. I feel like if they're going to do it, they're going to keep it close and immediately show that they have a little life, and that wasn't the case. I think it's a testament to how good Florida is just across the board

that we could watch a third period like that, you know, whatever. It's series was 2-0 at that point. right like we know it's it's do or die to some extent but the fact that you could watch a pushback like that and at no point really have any have any doubt that uh that the that the florida was was going to get the job done even though it was very even though it was very much in doubt you know just by by a matter you know as far as math is concerned uh it's such a testament to florida man and in the in the in the stuff they're good at in general and the way they're playing in this series specifically. And I just look back on that second period. So three goals. The way they scored

them, not just the fact that they scored them, but, but the way they did it, the varying kind of skill sets that they showed, the different players that were involved, like this is the Florida Panthers, right? Like that, that pushed during the second period. That's why they're so close to, that's why they're so close to getting this done, isn't it? Yeah. And like we're saying this and we're forgetting the fact like two of the best players in the world are on the other side of the ice we're saying like yeah they have no shot yeah it's over it's so over it's so it's never it's never been more over and and you got connor mac david and leon dry siddle sitting on the other side it's crazy it really is and it's because of all the skill in florida right and like it's it's a different

type of skill but you have barkoff who's making these unbelievable plays to shift from defense to offense and spark his team. And you have guys like Kachuk, and I know there's a lot of talk about, is he a rat king enough this year? Is he scoring enough goals? I don't give a shit about any of that because look at that path to Sam Bennett. And, you know, it's darnall Nair's making mistake, but it's Sam Bennett pressuring him to make the mistake.

It's Kachuk's readiness to be there to send him this, you know, lateral pass and set up the goal. It's quintessential Panthers hockey, this entire series. We're not talking about how the oilers have any, any spark or, you know, Wow, watch them in transition. We're not. We're just saying watch the Panthers dominate and do what they do best for this second straight game. Man, that that benefit goal, that's like, I feel like at each goal that Florida scored tonight.

And I tried to frame it this way, like in our live blog, you know, in kind of in various ways. I'm like, this is it. This is like the definitive Florida Panthers goal. You look at the first at goal one, right? You have Barkop disrupting stuff. in the defensive zone, makes a play on Bouchard, has the puck on his stick. He's like, he's as strong as ever, like, you know, along the boards, feeds Forsling. Forzling makes this super heady play.

You know, Reinhardt's there to finish. Like, I watch that. I'm like, this is it. This is like, this is the Florida Panthers in a nutshell. This is like 15 seconds that defines like what this team is about. And then successively, each of their next four goals, really, I'm like, ah, no, maybe that, maybe that's it. Maybe that's the defendant of Florida Panthers goal.

Maybe the Sam Benickle, when he crashes in the corners and Kachuk makes that steel and in the feed, maybe that's it. Maybe that's like the, you know, the, you know, the play that you watch that kind of defines what this team is about. And I think the fact that we don't have a definite answer, is kind of the answer. Like this team is so good. It's so much stuff that, you know, it's, it's tough to pick one.

Yeah, but that's also it, right? Because we're saying the top guys are scoring goals. You have Barkoff, you have Reinhardt, you have Kachuk making big time plays. So you're getting the top guys, but you're also getting the other guys. And that's a huge part of it, right? That's the difference between the Panthers this year and last year. It's their balance that allowed them to not lean too heavily on their top guys and get to this point and be a lot healthier. And now you have that third line that's scoring goals too.

Aterosenko set up by Lusorne and Lundell. And that's another part of the Panthers, right, has been like smart coaching adjustments because that third line looked a little bit different. It was Lusdren and Lundel and Rodriguez, and they were just okay. And then Lundell jumped up to, you know, Kachuk's line and started thriving. And now they made a couple tweaks and look at that. So it's even more Florida Panthers like you have someone like Sam Bennett, who's defiant. who's defining series, right? Look at the Boston series.

His name's all over the place. Everyone's talking about Sam Bennett, whether he crosses the line, the hard game he plays, anything like that and more. And through all that, he's still scoring goals. It's not like we're only talking about this

in a negative light, right? Like, oh, the panthers is behind and now he's throwing hits or he's doing, we're talking about Sam Bennett because he's taking down his opponents with a little bit of everything. So it just, it's all very like, I don't even know the right word,

but it's all Florida panther-esque-esque. that's the word. It's Florida Panther-esque to a T. I think whenever you have a team that doesn't really play one defined style, you know, and that they can beat you in so many different ways, right? That's, to me, that's what this team is. Because, like, whatever, right? And I don't mean to make it sound like it's some fait accompli that, you know,

the series ends, but, you know, it feels like it feels like a fait accompli. It feels like the series is going to end. And when it happens, you know, we're going to be talking about this. team's high in skill. We're going to be talking about its depth. We're going to be talking about, you know, the, the fact that they've taken all these

flawed defensemen in one way or another and cobbled together. A couple together is probably not the right word, but assembled, you know, three pairs that are, that are, that all do their jobs to varying degrees. You want to talk cobble together. We can talk about the Oilers defense. But no, you're right. It's like they find these reclamation projects basically. Like, Forrestling, multiple teams didn't want.

Oliver Ackman-Larsons coming off a buyout in, like, a pretty tough year. And guys like Kulikov and Miko, like, they didn't go out on high notes before. So you're like, all right, new team, new vibe, new system. Let's find a way to maximize your strength and put you in the right usage. So, yeah, they assembled a really good blue line there. There's one name we haven't mentioned yet, though. We're going to get to that after the break. I think the single biggest reason

that we're having this discussion though God bless Matthew Cichuk and Anton Lundell and A2 Listerina and all these all these all these skaters that are that are doing their jobs you know to varying degrees

the main reason we're here talking about the Florida Panthers being up three oh in one win from the Stanley Cup is because of Sergei Bobrovsky and he had another unblembrowski. And he had another unblembrough. believable game tonight. Yes, you know,

Edmonton makes it interesting down the stretch. Those are two pretty greasy goals. I don't think anybody's going to blame, blame him in particular for those. We're watching another all-time performance from Sergei Babrovsky in a playoff series. And I know I'm, I feel like we might disagree on this.

We can talk about this. We can talk about this in the second. I think Sergey Bobrovsky won the cons might tonight. I think it happened. I think he took it from Alexander Barkov. And like, yes, third period is kind of uneven, whatever. I think he was good enough in those first two to plant the seeds and kind of change the narrative, which is a huge part of all this stuff.

I think I think he's the guy. I think he's one of the guys, but I think that there's a whole playoff run. I love it. Listen, like, we forget playoff Bob used to mean something else, right? Oh, I totally agree. I totally agree. And last year, he was outstanding. If the Panthers won, he probably was going to win the cons,

he was incredible through all of it, right? This year, he's been good. He's been average, some series. He's been solid. But to me, to win cons smith, I'm like, I need more than one outstanding series. And listen, if in game four, he puts up a performance like game one, he's going to win it and I'm not going to have any complaints.

I'm not going to have any complaints if he wins it now, honestly, because he has been great, right? He had a quality start tonight, gave his team a chance to win. Same thing last game. Game one, he was unbelievable. Best playoff performance he's had this year. But to me, the guy definitely is Alexander Barkoff. Because, I mean, listen, I know a guy like Gus Forrestling's never going to get

consideration for it because we barely know how to measure defense and he's not even going to ignore his trophy for his efforts, let alone a concept. I get that. But Barkoff gives you that shutdown play while bringing the office. offense. And I think the goal that we saw tonight from Reinhardt and the amazing play that Barcoff made to make that all happen. We've seen that throughout the playoffs. You see these great back checks from him and these incredible plays where he just pokes the puck away and he sees a play developing. But even more than that, like, what aren't we talking about this series? We're not talking

about Leon Dreisel much because he's matching up against Barkoff and it's not going on from. We're not talking about the Oilers power play because Barkoff is one of the best penalty killers, the Panthers have to offer. And he's going out, his usage is a little tougher. You know, like in the regular season, he wasn't always going out for the first face off. He was going out more so on the fly and was kind of, his usage was more of a true second unit guy.

That's not the case. It's much more even this time around in the postseason. Like he is going out not just on the fly, not just for that usage against a tired power play unit. He is there thin and he's crushing it. Like to me, he's coming up big off. defensively while still killing it defensively, I would give it to him. And I think he's proved it this postseason and then just furthered it this series.

This is going to come down to the third period of whatever game part of clinches in. That's what's going to happen. It's going to be, it's going to be. Is Barkoff going to make it amazing? I'm telling you, man. He's going to block a pass with his stick, send the puck up the ice, skate up and be there to score the goal as well to give you offense and defense in a single one. Or is it going to be like a Bob spinning save against McDavid, setting, it's setting dry set out for the one timer and that's the game like it's one or the other i thought

this was barcoves i thought he had it locked in against boston because there's something to be said for the smart plays there's something to be said for the nerd plays that he watches and people like us are just like oh like alexander pro play up playoff barcove right but he was doing it he also did it while carrying so much the load offensively right he's he's like producing points while also eating tufts and making, making smart little plays. He's, he's,

he's popping offensively, too, especially against Boston. But man, I, I don't, I don't know. Like this is,

it's, like I said, it's a narrative-based award and I, and I'm, I don't want to see I'm concerned because God bless Sir Gaprabowski. But I, I feel like, I feel like we're watching,

I feel like we're watching him kind of pull it away from Barcoff in real time. We'll see. Okay. Is there, any reason to, what's your biggest reason to believe? How about, we'll phrase it that way. The biggest reason, you know, you think Edmonton has a shot to at least extend this. Is there one?

They have, they have two of the best players in the world, right? Like, we've complained about Edmonton forever. They don't have depth scoring. It's only McDavid and Drysettle. And like, hey, the series, you're getting goals from unexpected places like Matissexie at home and Warren Vogel and Ryan McLeod. So that is something. Absolutely.

You're getting that secondary scoring. but you need that in tandem with your elite scoring. So they have a shot because they're getting other contributions. And we like, can you see a series where McDavid and Drysiddle don't record a point? No. So I give them a shot to maybe steal a game. I don't want to live in a world where Warren Fogel has more Stanley Cup final goals than Leon Drysidal. Doesn't feel right.

But you know what? That's where we are at the moment. good Lord. Game 4 is on Saturday night. Tune in. Let's see if Florida can get it done. Let's see if Edmonton can extend this a little bit. Shana, thank you.

You're welcome. And thank you for listening, dear listener. The Cups are going to be in Edmonton for game four. Like I said, it's on Saturday night. Prospect series has the next The Athletic Hockey Show, later today, which is Friday. And then Mendez and Laz. They're back on Tuesday.

Me, DGB and Frankie C are on Wednesday. Let's see what happens over the next couple of days. But, oof. Cups coming to South Florida. What a time to be alive.