Panthers at Oilers, Stanley Cup Closing Recreation 2 preview

Oilers: Scoring on the power play in Game 1, as they did in overtime, could bode well foe Game 2 and beyond. They were 0-for-3 with six shots on goal on the power play before Draisaitl’s goal. It was getting to be reminiscent of arguably the biggest issue they had in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final last year, when they were 0-for-10 with 13 shots on goal on the power play, including 0-for-3 with six shots in Game 1, a 3-0 loss. On Draisaitl’s goal, they had the Panthers chasing the puck with quick passes on the strong side before finding Draisaitl at the hash marks on the weakside. They scored their first power-play goal in last year’s Cup Final in Game 4 and then got two more in Game 5 to turn a potential sweep into a series that would go seven games.

Number to know: 21. The Oilers’ defensemen had 21 of their 46 shots on goal in Game 1 led by Evan Bouchard’s game-high seven. Ekholm scored, and Jake Walman and Bouchard each had an assist. There was clearly activation and intent to score or generate chances off the shot from the Oilers’ blue line. The Panthers’ defensemen accounted for eight of their 32 shots on goal. Nate Schmidt had two assists.

What to look for: When will the Oilers put Connor McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice at the same time? It’s unlikely they’ll start that way as Knoblauch said he likes to have Draisaitl centering his own line to get him skating and to enable the rest of the forwards to play well in their roles. They played four shifts together in the first 40 minutes of Game 1; two in the first period and two in the second. But they played together regularly in the third period and overtime, and the Oilers controlled the game. McDavid set up Ekholm for his game-tying goal just nine seconds after Draisaitl went for a change. Draisaitl scored in overtime on the power play off a pass from McDavid. The Oilers would prefer not to have to put them together because it means they’re playing well and likely in the lead, but if necessary the option is there and it’ll be interesting to see how the Panthers adjust, if they can, if or when it does happen.

What they are saying

“You see more people outside the rink (in Edmonton) than I guess you would in December when we play here. The energy starts early before games like most rinks and cities do at this time of year or in playoffs in general. It’s something as a road team, you can definitely feed off of. It’s that us against the 20-plus guys you’re playing against, the 20,000 that are in the rink, the 20,000 that are outside the rink. It’s just us against everybody. That’s what makes playing on the road so fun and rewarding when you can get a win.” — Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk

“Every game is going to be a challenge, especially against the team we’re playing. I watched a lot last year when these guys were playing. I think we’re playing against a better Florida team than they did last year.” — Oilers defenseman Jake Walman, who was acquired in a trade with the San Jose Sharks on March 7

Panthers projected lineup

Evan Rodrigues — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand

Jesper Boqvist — Tomas Nosek — Jonah Gadjovich

Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones

Nate Schmidt — Dmitry Kulikov

Sergei Bobrovsky

Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Uvis Balinskis, Jaycob Megna, Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm

Injured: A.J. Greer (lower body)

Oilers projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Corey Perry

Evander Kane — Leon Draisaitl — Kasperi Kapanen

Trent Frederic — Adam Henrique — Connor Brown

Vasily Podkolzin — Mattias Janmark — Viktor Arvidsson

Mattias Ekholm — Evan Bouchard

Darnell Nurse — Brett Kulak

Jake Walman — John Klingberg

Stuart Skinner

Calvin Pickard

Scratched: Joshua Brown, Cam Dineen, Ty Emberson, Max Jones, Derek Ryan, Jeff Skinner, Troy Stecher

Injured: Zach Hyman (dislocated wrist)

Status report

The Panthers held an optional morning skate that included none of the regulars, but coach Paul Maurice said Florida will dress the same lineup it used in Game 1. … Greer remains out, but the forward is expected back for Game 3 on Monday. … The Oilers held a full skate and are not expected to make any lineup changes from Game 1.

NHL.com independent correspondent Gerry Moddejonge contributed to this report