A year ago when the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers met in the Stanley Cup Final, they were polar opposites in everything from climate, market and franchise history to toughness and experience when it comes to making deep runs in the NHL postseason.
Since the Panthers won that best-of-seven series that went the distance for its first championship, much has changed to make these opponents much more alike.
The Panthers have added talent and skill, and the Oilers have gotten older and become even harder to play against. Those changes set the stage for a compelling rematch, and Game 1 is Wednesday night in Edmonton.
“These are the two nastiest teams left,” said TV analyst Mike Rupp, who won the Stanley Cup in 2003 with the New Jersey Devils. “They don’t seem to get rattled, they play with a lot of intensity, sometimes they cross the line. They just defend well. There’s a lot of things that they’re different than one another about, but at the core of it, they’re pretty similar to each other.”
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid haven’t gone anywhere, but they’ve also been through the heartbreak of forcing Game 7 against the Panthers and falling short of the goal they’ve been hunting over the past decade together. And with Trent Frederic, John Klingberg, Jeff Skinner and Jake Walman, the Oilers are bigger and more seasoned for this.