The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers squared off for Game 1 at Rogers Place on Wednesday night, and from where I was sitting in section 119, the first night of the rematch lived up to the billing. And while it wasn’t always a perfect night for our boys, you knew the Panthers were going to push hard, the Oilers still managed to grind out an incredible 4-3 OT win.

I wish I were smarter so that I could come up with better words to describe how fantastic Leon Draisaitl was for the Oilers in Game 1. Yeah, he scored the first and last goals of the night — both massive moments that nearly blew the roof off of Rogers Place — but it was his attention to detail and willingness to grind at both ends of the rink that stood out the most. The guy has been so dominant offensively for so many years that I genuinely believe people outside of this market are sleeping on how strong his two-way game has gotten. Draisaitl was all over the ice in Game 1, and his impact was felt in all three zones.

That’s a pretty impressive feat when you also consider that Draisaitl played a whopping 28:13 through nearly four periods of action. In those 32 shifts, Draisaitl had two goals, four hits, four shots, and a +1 rating to cap off his best game of the Stanley Cup Final through eight total matchups against the Panthers. We heard a lot about how Draisaitl didn’t score a single goal in the final last year, and I loved how it only took 66 seconds in the first period of play to remedy that issue. Even better was that his second goal of the night completed the comeback and sent the City of Champions into euphoria. Big moments call for big players, and there’s little doubt that Leon Draisaitl rose to the challenge.

I love Kasperi Kapanen. Since getting back in the lineup for Game 4 against Vegas, the guy has been an absolute menace in the best possible way. He’s scoring goals, he’s adding assists, he’s hitting everything that moves, and the dude is genuinely playing like he never wants to be a healthy scratch again. That’s pretty damned good for a guy who was claimed off waivers back on November 19th when the St. Louis Blues didn’t feel he was an NHL player. As it turns out, he’s been a fantastic addition for the Oilers when they needed him to step up.

In his post-game presser with the media, Kapanen admitted that he thought landing in Edmonton might be his last chance to show that he can play at the NHL level. That was almost unbelievable to hear from a guy who has been so damned good since getting the opportunity to play, and you love to see how he’s turned that chance into a successful run. With two assists on the night, Kapanen got a lot done in the 20:28 he played, and I wish I had video of how fired up he was to hit the ice as the game’s third star. He was doing everything he could to keep that barn fired up, and I’m getting chills thinking about how great his story has been over the last eight games. Onward and upward, my friend.

How good was Mattias Ekholm in Game 1? Before sliding back into the mix for Game 5 against the Stars, the guy hadn’t played since April 11th when he got 1:52 in against the Sharks before having to leave again. As much as the rest of the defensive group performed admirably in his absence, it’s impossible to replace a piece like Ekholm. When he’s healthy and at his best, the guy is arguably Edmonton’s most complete defender, and having him back for the Stanley Cup Final truly is a blessing.

Again, this was only his second game back from missing weeks with some type of lower-body injury, and it almost stuns me that we were able to have him out there for 25:19 in TOI. It’s not like he’s playing easy minutes on the power play or something, you know? Instead, Ekholm is getting thrown out in the most challenging situations imaginable and finding a way to navigate those situations effectively, even though the game is probably still moving at 9000 mph as he works himself back into game shape. Not only did he play monster minutes, but Ekholm became the 20th Oilers to register at least a goal after he buried Connor McDavid’s centring pass up and over Bobrovsky on the glove-hand side. I love Big Viking Daddy, and I could not be more excited to have him back in the lineup.

1. I was sitting behind the ‘HAPPY RULES’ guys in section 119, and I’ve gotta say how much fun those guys were all night. Those boys were in the rink to promote Happy Gilmore 2 for Netflix, and they were a blast to interact with throughout the night. As the game wore on, those five dudes got funnier and funnier, and I hope they were shown on TV as much as they deserved.

2. I don’t know that Sergei Bobrovsky will love the video he sees on Viktor Arvidsson’s second period goal that narrowed the gap to a one-goal lead, but I’ll be telling everyone it was an unstoppable clapper anyway. Arvidsson has got a bullet of a shot, and the second goal was a great example of how hard he can rip it. Great goal by Arvidsson at a huge moment in the game, and it gave the Oilers the life they needed to rally in the third.

3. I’m a big fan of how Paul Maurice doesn’t use all of his players. It worked out great for the Kings, and I assume it will also work out great for the Panthers as the series rolls along. Despite the game running nearly 80 minutes, Florida had three forwards who played less than 9:20 and two defencemen who played less than 18:15.

4. JAKE WALMAN! I love him. That’s all I have to say. The guy is so quietly solid basically every shift he gets, and I’m loving that trade with San Jose more and more by the day.

5. Looking at the special teams, the Oilers once again got half the chances with the man advantage than their opponent, but the good news is that the boys were able to cash one in on the power play when it mattered most. On the PK, Edmonton gave up one goal on four shorthanded situations, and it was a bummer that it ended up being a failed coaching challenge that resulted in that lone marker.

6. Unfortunately, I must report that the Oilers won only 43.6% of the faceoffs. Always room to improve, you know?

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