Special teams are going to be so valuable during the Stanley Cup Final

While people sometimes joke about the penalties called-or lack thereof–during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there is no question special teams will be important with Lord Stanley’s Cup on the line.

The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers are set for the first game of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night. While 5-on-5 play will be crucial, both teams’ power plays and penalty kills will have to be on point to have a chance at lifting the Cup.

The Oilers have a considerable advantage heading into the series. Led by offensive weapons like captain Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, Edmonton leads all teams with a power play operating at a 37.3 percent success rate. They have been equally successful on the other side of things. The Oilers lead all teams with a 93.9 percent penalty kill success rate, the only team over 90%.

The Panthers are right up there shorthanded, sitting second in the playoffs at 88.2 percent. Florida’s power play is good, but not great, coming into the final at 23.3 percent.

During the Coaches Room segment of Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Jon Goyens joined Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk to explain the special teams matchup heading into the Final.

Jon Goyens: We’ve talked about this ad nauseam, [the Oilers] are never stale, they are never stagnant, they never just stall themselves by standing in one spot with the same look…Guys are really interchangeable. Now, you’re playing against Florida, the second-best PK in this playoff run. What these two teams are doing right now on the PK is astronomical. They’ve combined for nine PK goals against.

Edmonton’s power play, for me, was the straw that broke the camel’s back in the previous series. Four out of their last five goals scored were on the power play. Without it, I don’t think they beat Dallas, depth or otherwise.

You can watch the full segment, and entire episode here…