The Oilers Erase an Improbable 3–0 Deficit to Force Game 7
The Oilers continued to roll as they put together an incredible 60-minute Game 6 performance where all four lines were buzzing, giving the Oilers a 5–1 victory. Rogers Place may have been the loudest building I’ve ever heard through the broadcast in a long time. The belief and sheer focus of this group to come together after being down 3–0 in a Stanley Cup Final is exactly what champions look like.
For the first time in almost 80 years, this Oilers team has forced a Game 7 after trailing 3–0 in the Stanley Cup Final. The last team to ever win after this deficit was the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942. All other occurrences, teams who lead 3–0 in the cup final have an all-time record of 27–1; 208–4 in all playoff rounds. Can this Oilers team cap off their historic run with another record under their belt?
Edmonton Oilers & Connor McDavid
Since the end of Game 3, the Western Conference Champions continue to unload goals past Sergei Bobrovsky and haven’t shown any signs of slowing down — they have now scored 20 goals on 86 shots in their last 10 periods of play. Assisting in this effort is Zach Hyman, who now sits atop the league in goals (16) among active skaters in a single postseason, just ahead of Sidney Crosby ’09 and Alex Ovechkin ’18 who both went on to win the cup that year. Hyman is now three back from the record that is currently held by Jari Kurri (’85) and Reggie Leach (‘76).
Game 6 marked the first time in Connor McDavid’s career that the Oilers have won a regular season or playoff game without him recording a shot on goal or having a point. An absolutely ridiculous stat on how invaluable McDavid is to this team and the fact that he is coming to the end of his ninth season in the league. What left is there to say about this guy? One of, if not the best player in the world has dragged his team out of a hole and put a franchise on his shoulders as they enter Sunrise, Florida for the first Game 7 we’ve seen in the Cup Final since 2019 and only the 18th time in the history of the NHL.
Connor McDavid is sitting five back the single postseason point record that is held by Wayne Gretzky and he never fails to elevate his play. This entire ‘23-’24 season, he has focused on mastering the ‘weak’ areas of his game to find another gear which seems ridiculous to even think he had one.
His playoff career stats in 73 GP are something to behold:
Games with 3+ points: 18
Games with 0 points: 17
Special-teams Edge Continues
Yet again, as I’ve mentioned in the Stanley Cup Preview article, the Edmonton Oilers continue to get the best of their opposition when it comes to power plays and penalty-kills — the numbers speak for themselves. The only change we’ve seen going into Game 7 is that their PK has only gotten better.
The Oiler’s brilliance with the man-advantage and man-down continues to push their pace of play against opponents. Their powerplay was humming in Game 6 with incredible movement along the blueline, but failed to record a goal. Nevertheless, their percentage is still averaging just shy of one for every three attempts — second among all teams that entered this year’s postseason behind the Colorado Avalanche. The penalty kill has soared to an absurd 94.1%. In the last 16 games, the Oilers are near perfect (45 of 46), having allowed just one power play goal. As we witnessed in their last home game of the season, the Oilers just seemed to gain an extra gear due to the energy of the crowd and the momentum that a killed power play has continuously brought to the table in the playoffs.
Stuart Skinner continues to be lights out in Games 4–7 throughout this postseason. His record climbs to 10–0 while rocking a 1.50 GAA and .940 SV%. He joins an elite list of goaltenders of whom also recorded 10+ wins in Games 4–7 in a single postseason run: Martin Brodeur ’12, Corey Crawford ’13, and Jordan Binnington ’19.
Florida Panthers
This team needs to come out the gate with all guns blazing on home ice against this scorching Edmonton Oilers team. The Cats have looked uncharacteristic in all facets in Games 4–6 of this Stanley Cup Final so far in comparison to their unbelievable run to start this postseason. Over these last couple of games, the Cats have gotten behind on games in almost every single aspect. Attempting to even the score has made this team become desperate (and in not a good way) completely losing their forecheck structure and the defense has been hung out to dry on all of the odd-man chances the Oilers have continued to capitalize on.
Their stars have been held to almost nothing in this three-game span outside of Matthew Tkachuk who has hauled his weight in the latter half of this series. Sergei Bobrovsky took the day off of practice the day prior to Game 7, which is not out of the ordinary, as it has been his routine throughout this postseason when having an extra day of break. It allows him to take some time away from the game and come back as sharp as he started this playoff run. Since the third period of Game 3, Bobrovsky has been scrambling as he currently holds a .781 SV% as he has allowed 14 goals on 64 shots.
All criticism aside, this team is built to win. They have a head coach in Paul Maurice who knows this roster, and exactly how to get his guys going. This roster possesses so much experience and players who have been there, done that when it comes to winning in this league. As a side note, Maurice is 4–0 in Game 7’s throughout his tenure in the NHL.
Game 7
It’s what every kid dreams of doing when they play in the league. The spotlight is set and everyone will be tuning in to see who comes out on top to hoist the best trophy in all of sports. This is one of the biggest games in NHL history with Canada’s cup drought in the hands of Edmonton and Panthers seeking their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. This game is going to be a bloodbath right to the final whistle. Will we see one of the best players to lace up the skates in McDavid hoist his first cup or the first-ever Finnish captain to raise it and bring his franchise its first in NHL history? Both franchises have been waiting in anticipation since 1993 to finally see this moment.
Game 7 Predictions from the 5th Liners Team:
Casey Ditzel: Edmonton 4 — 3(OT) Florida: Edmonton wins the cup
Jorge Bannister: Florida 4 — 3 Edmonton: Florida wins the cup
Jenna Bonomo: Florida 2 — 1 Edmonton: Florida wins the cup
Khalin Kapoor: Florida 3 — 2 Edmonton: Florida wins the cup
Matt Leonardo: Florida 4 — 2 Edmonton: Florida wins the cup
Jake Swanson: Edmonton 3 — 2 Florida: Edmonton wins the cup
Nick Kozsan: Edmonton 3–2(OT) Florida: Edmonton wins the cup
