2024-25 Playoff Focus: Gustav Forsling (GM2 vs. EDM)
The final boss
Crackpot theory: Maybe Aaron Ekblad’s worst brings out the best in Gustav Forsling.
Despite staring down both a voracious opponent and his own partner’s ineptitude (undisciplined play, mistimed pinches, porous coverage), the Swede found his groove in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. In fact, Friday night was one of the defenseman’s strongest outings of the postseason.
As always with Forsling (FLA 42), gap control was front and center:
This game within the game is critical vs. an Oilers group that’s hellbent on stretching out the Panthers’ structure, either attacking the space between the back line and F3 or taking the top off the defense altogether.
Florida’s 1D refused to give up an inch in the NZ, using his mobility and hair-trigger reads to press up on, angle off and squeeze the life out of the opposition.
At least on Forsling’s side of the ice, separation came at a premium.
Don’t mistake his individual excellence for a sterling team-wide effort, though. Third line aside (a recurring story), the Panthers failed to establish their forecheck and were thus leaky throughout the contest. Fortunately, they wield a defenseman who can extinguish offenses from his toes and his heels.
Want proof that Florida was out of sorts on Friday night? How about Connor McDavid (EDM 97) and Leon Draisaitl (EDM 29) rumbling downhill with no forward support in sight?
Edmonton’s superstar forwards weren’t granted this kind of daylight in Game 1, but Forsling held his ground, balancing his depth and line to cordon off the guts of the ice. The end result of 1-on-1 rushes vs. the league’s two scariest weapons: a one-handed shovel shot and a turnover.
All told, he served up every flavor of desperation defense you can imagine in Game 2. Clog Draisaitl’s shooting lane on a two-man disadvantage? Can do:
Fly from one circle to the other in order to mark two Oilers (EDM 29 and 90) on a 3-on-2? Got you:
Cover for some classic Ekblad (FLA 5) silliness? Sure thing:
Evander Kane (EDM 91) walks Shrek to the inside, triggering a 2-on-1 in overtime.
Unsure of whether Aleksander Barkov (FLA 16) can catch the pass recipient, Forsling goes prone to delay the winger’s decision (forces a toe drag).
Once a sliver of the puck is exposed—in this case, under Kane’s left skate—he sweeps it away to put out Florida’s hundredth fire of the night.
Wait, there’s more. How about a couple of 11th-hour stick checks?
Stranded and outnumbered on a NZ reload in double overtime? He can handle that for you too:
The sequence above displays how sharp Forsling was in Game 2. Before Mattias Janmark (EDM 13) even completes his reception in the slot, the blueliner anticipates a touch pass to the trailing forward (Vasily Podkolzin, EDM 92) and throws his body in the shot path.
Another crisis averted.
Although the reigning champs knotted up the series, this was an ugly blow-for-blow slugfest. The Oilers repeatedly broke the Panthers’ posture. Their final hurdle (i.e. Forsling) was just too tall to scale.
He hasn’t done it often in these playoffs, but the 28-year-old concentrated what little juice remains in the tank to don his cape and flash his shutdown credentials on Friday night. That, along with a few timely saves, helped his club survive long enough for Brad Marchand to activate his clutch gene in 2OT.
A phenomenal white-knuckle performance. Amid his third consecutive SCF appearance, the question now is…does he have any more up his sleeve?
On the night, Forsling conceded 0 goals at 5-on-5 in 33:13 TOI.
Here are the full highlights: