Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final looked like it might head to a second overtime, then the Florida Panthers’ Tomas Nosek put the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty.
Star Leon Draisaitl scored at 19:29 to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 victory and 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series. Edmonton didn’t win in last season’s series until Game 4 of an eventual seven-game loss.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice called it a tough break and addressed how he would help Nosek bounce back.
‘Make sure he doesn’t eat alone tonight, that he’s got a lot of people sitting at his table reminding him of how good he’s been to us,’ Maurice said.
Maurice brought Nosek into the lineup when he changed up the fourth line after the Panthers lost the first two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He said the Panthers wouldn’t have survived the second round without Nosek’s contributions.
‘It’s going to be tough when he’s going to eat that (penalty) for a day, but from his penalty kill to that line, really changed the flow of that Toronto series, we’re going to remind him of that a whole bunch of times before the puck drops,’ Maurice said.
Said Brad Marchand: ‘That stuff happens in the game of hockey. It’s a bad break. He’s been a great player for us all year, all playoffs.’
Oilers coach defends goal challenge
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch’s challenge of Sam Bennett’s first goal initially cost Edmonton before the team rallied.
He challenged for goalie interference but the officials said Bennett was tripped into goalie Stuart Skinner. Edmonton got a delay of game penalty and Brad Marchand scored on the power play as Florida turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
Knoblauch said he based the challenge on how he has seen goaltender interference being called.
‘If that play happened again, I’ll challenge it,’ he said.
Said Bennett: ‘I knew I didn’t just fall. There was contact. I still haven’t really seen it (the replay). Those can go either way.’