Maurice: Panthers must play to 'fullest potential' to limit McDavid, Draisaitl

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice is under no illusions that his team will be able to completely shut down Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the Stanley Cup Final.

It's going to be about minimizing the damage.

"You're not going to," the bench boss told Bally Sports' Katie Engleson when asked about the key to containing the two Edmonton Oilers superstars. "Everybody's had a plan since the day these guys stepped in the league and nobody's got it. So what you need to do is try not to become the story of the game, not let it happen so many times that you can't control it.

"They're two of the most elite players in the world. Rarely do you see them on the same team, and each one of them is a series breaker, he's a series winner. ... Every single guy in that room is gonna have to play to his fullest potential to be able to keep them off the board - to a degree. We're just not gonna close them down."

Unsurprisingly, the Oilers' dynamic duo has been dangerous in these playoffs while propelling Edmonton to its first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2006.

McDavid leads the league with 31 points (five goals, 26 assists) this spring, while Draisaitl ranks second with 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 18 contests. The former has only been held without a point four times, while the latter has been kept off the scoresheet twice.

Luckily for the Panthers, they're doing a solid job of limiting opponents during their second straight run to the final.

Despite facing other offensively gifted squads in the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers, Florida ranks second among all teams in the playoffs in goals against per game (2.29) and shots against per contest (24.5).

The Cardiac Cats have also been able to stymie star players. The likes of Nikita Kucherov, Mika Zibanejad, and David Pastrnak were held without an even-strength goal in their series against Florida.

Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling doesn't see a need to switch up the team's game plan now.

"We do not want to change too much, we want to play the way that got us here," he told NHL Network's E.J. Hradek.

He added: "We know how hard it is to get here and we're really going to take care of this opportunity."

Puck drops on Game 1 Saturday in Florida at 8 p.m. ET.

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