SUNRISE, Fla, – The Panthers made it clear from the start on Saturday night, that they have unfinished business in these playoffs. 
Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves in a 3-0 win for the Panthers.
“We’re happy with the win, and it’s a very fun game,” Bobrovsky said. “We’ll reset, refocus and get ready for the next one.”
Carter Verhaeghe scored the only goal Bobrovsky would need early in the first period to give him a 1-0 lead to backstop.
“It’s just one [game],” the Panthers Matthew Tkachuk said. “Obviously, you really want to take care of the first one, especially on home ice. Now, just looking forward to Game 2, but I guess it feels good.
“They played well. We played well enough to win, just really grinded it out, played really well defensively.”
Evan Rodrigues pushed the lead to 2-0 at 2:16 of the middle frame.
The Oilers were scoreless in three power play chances.
“I thought we had looks, that’s the key,” the Oilers’ Zach Hyman said. “You continue to get high-quality looks, you continue to stick with your process. If we play like we did today, we’re very confident in our group.
“I didn’t like the result, obviously, but I thought we were able to skate, and the key to our game is skating and forechecking and getting pucks in the O-zone and making plays. I thought for lots of parts of that game we were the team that was pushing. We didn’t come out on top today.”
Eetu Luostarinen hit an empty net with five seconds left of the 3-0 final. 
Stuart Skinner made 15 saves in the loss.
“Even though we let in the first one, I think that our team played another full 60 (minutes),” Skinner said. “We were amazing for the whole game. We really pushed. ‘Bob’ was absolutely massive for them and a big reason why they were able to win.”
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