Stanley Cup Finals Game 6 Preview

The Oilers will expect an exuberant reception for Game 6 at Rogers Place on Friday at 8 p.m. after skating away with a 5-3 victory over the Panthers. With the series now at 3-2, they look to make history in Games 6 and 7 as they have the opportunity to become only the second of 29 teams to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final (1942 Toronto Maple Leafs).

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Although the Panthers have the possibility of celebrating its first Stanley Cup tomorrow night in Edmonton, they’ve found themselves as underdogs after being outscored 13-4 in the last two games. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was outstanding through the first three games of the series but has allowed 11 goals in the last six periods he’s played. Although not all goals were on him, he will certainly have to be the best player on the ice if the Panthers look to put this away any time soon.

The Oilers charge has been led by center Connor McDavid and goaltender Stuart Skinner. McDavid is the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy after becoming the top scorer this postseason with 42 points. After becoming the first player to record back-to-back 4-point games in the Finals, he needs just five more to match the all-time record set in 1985 by the legendary Wayne Gretzky. Skinner looks to have also found his groove the last two games, blocking 32 of 33 shots in Game 4, then 29 of 32 in Game 5 for a .938 save percentage over that span.

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Game 5 Recap

The longer the Panthers wait to close the series, the more the Oilers look to be getting back to the type of gameplay that got them there. Game 5 started just as Game 4 did, with Edmonton getting a short-handed goal and the Oilers were on their way. After falling into a 3-0 hole at 5:00 in the second period, the Panthers nearly erased that deficit, starting with Matthew Tkachuk’s snapshot at 6:53 of the second, just his first goal since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in May. 4-1 before the Panthers fought their way back with the next two goals to set up a crazy final minute with the Florida net empty.

With just :21 remaining in the third period, Tchachuk made a diving goal-line clearance to take away an empty-netter for Evan Bouchard. Bouchard then secured the loose puck and fired it into the open net for his 42nd point of the 2024 playoffs, securing the Blue & Orange their 5-3 victory.

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Elevated by Adversity

The Oilers have played extremely well under pressure, going 4-0 when facing elimination this postseason as well as winning Game 6 at home in each of their previous two series. On the other hand, Florida has also won each of the previous four playoff series in which it took a 3-0 lead.

McDavid has gone from not having one goal through the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final to having a goal and four points just in Game 4. He then followed up with two goals and two assists in Game 5, becoming the first player to score back-to-back 4-point games in the Stanley Cup Finals.

On the Other side, the Panthers have seemed to use the last couple of games as a way to learn from their mistakes. “Nothing has changed for our situation in the last two games except we learned. Some of the lessons we don’t need to learn, we’ve learned enough,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “I’m not feeling deflated, and neither is the hockey team. Just a little grumpy.”

Power Play

Florida: 

After playing extremely well on power plays in the first two games, they’ve hit a slump. The Panthers immediately allowed Edmonton to get a short-handed goal, followed by a Florida penalty as time expired in the first. It immediately proved costly as Zach Hyman made it 2-0 with two seconds left in the second-period-opening power play. Meanwhile, Florida never capitalized on its own chances, going 0-for-3 on the power play. When asked about the possibility of building off the second-half momentum going into Game 6, Panthers Head Coach, Paul Maurice stated,

“Well, we got to find a way to stay out of the penalty box. We have to be real mindful of that as we know that’ll end in a penalty.”

Edmonton: 

The Oilers struggled in the first three games of the series in a similar fashion to the beginning of the Western Conference finals where they faced the Dallas Stars. Edmonton went on to close out the series after scoring four power-play combined goals in Games 5 and 6. During this series, their power play has quickly gone from searching for answers to searching for more goals. Edmonton opened the scoring in Game 5 with a nifty shorthanded goal by Connor Brown and followed up with two power-play goals.