its McDavid and Draisaitl vs The Mirage that are the Florida Panthers

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SUNRISE, Fla. — On their way to the Stanley Cup final, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl found a way to get through and get by Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty; J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes; Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen.

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All of those matchups ending with the Edmonton Oilers coming out on top against many of the greatest defenders in hockey.

Now comes a new challenge for these magnificent playoff scorers of this generation. McDavid and Draisaitl, in all of their formations, in all of their ways of creating offence, playing now against Sasha Barkov and Gustav Forsling.

A mismatch in name, maybe — just not on the ice in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.

McDavid played 25 minutes and 19 seconds Saturday night. It’s not an accident that Forsling, the least talked about great shutdown defenceman in hockey, played 25:31.

Draisaitl played just more than 23 minutes as Edmonton was shut out 3-0 by the Panthers. The Selke Trophy-winning Barkov, the best 200-foot centre in hockey today, played just more than 21 minutes himself.

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And during the broadcast on Hockey Night In Canada, The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, called Barkov the best defensive forward he’s seen since Bryan Trottier. When told of Gretzky’s words Sunday afternoon, the usually speechless Barkov was even more humble than normal.

But here’s the point: In Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, it’s a little too easy to get caught up in what the Oilers did, and how unstoppable Sergei Bobrovsky was in goal, but bypass the overall defensive strength of the Florida Panthers at your own peril.

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For two periods, the Panthers weren’t very impressive. But after two periods, they still led 2-0 on the scoreboard.

The third period, though, was a clinic in protecting the lead put on by Florida, led by Barkov and Forsling, the Finn and the Swede, not just sucking the life out of the game, winning on the forecheck, winning on the cycle game, protecting the puck, playing the kind of hockey that never makes the highlight films.

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The kind of hockey that McDavid and Draisaitl, among others, are going to have to work their way through for the Oilers to come back and even the best-of-seven series in Game 2 on Monday night.

Paul Maurice, the Florida coach who has been around the game forever, has rarely seen any players like McDavid and Draisaitl before. But then, who has?

They centre two separate lines. Then they play together. Then they play power play, all two minutes of it. It is breathtaking to watch and a giant challenge for the Panthers to deal with.

Sometimes you need more than a plan to coach against McDavid and Draisaitl. Sometimes, as a hockey fan, Maurice would like to take out his autograph pad and ask the Oilers duo to sign something for him.

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“You become desensitized to how good those two players are,” said Maurice. “You see it every night and they’re so dynamic and so special, but after a while, you get used to it.

“They’re truly special because in all aspects of the game, you can do all things right and still not stop them. You have to have layers. You have to have gap. I don’t know how you gap that speed, it’s just dynamic.”

The important statistic from Game 1: The Oilers didn’t score. They were shut out in the playoffs for the first time in two years.

Barkov made the backhand pass on the first period rush that enabled Carter Verhaeghe to score the first goal of the final. Forsling finished the night at plus-2 on the Florida defence, playing against the greatest Edmonton players. Barkov got a second assist on the empty-net clincher and ended up with two points. The Panthers scored three goals. McDavid and Draisaitl were blanked in combo for just the third time in this playoff season.

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Edmonton has every reason to be encouraged after a loss in Game 1. When the Oilers lost to Los Angeles in the opening round, they came back and won the next game 6-1. When they lost Games 1, 3 and 5 to Vancouver, they came back with wins in Games 2, 4 and 6. In the conference final, the Oilers lost Games 2 and 3 to Dallas, then won the final three games by an 8-2 score combined.

This is among the many reasons why the Oilers believe in themselves. They know what usually happens after a loss. But what they don’t know completely — and don’t seem to have full grasp of after the Game 1 defeat — is what it’s like to try and beat the Panthers.

Florida is something of a hockey mirage. You think you’re close, but you keep on skating and get no nearer to your target.

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The Oilers might have been the better team everywhere but on the scoreboard through two periods of Game 1, somehow trailing 2-0. But the mirage was evident in the third. The Panthers took over the game, especially in the final 10 minutes. They went into their style of lead-protection that choked away time from the New York Rangers in the Eastern final and the Boston Bruins before that.

The games look close, sound close, feel close. That’s the deception.

But it is that Florida desert walk. You think you’re getting close. You believe you are. Then the buzzer rings and it’s on to Game 2.

ssimmons@postmedia.com

x.com/simmonssteve

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