What’s Going On In The Playoffs: The Oilers are one of four teams to force a Game 6 after going down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final
6 days ago
The Edmonton Oilers have made a series out of this.
This past Saturday, the Florida Panthers (also known as Canada’s team) strolled into Rogers Place with a chance to win their first ever Stanley Cup. Things didn’t go to plan, and the Stanley Cup Finals are still ongoing.
The Panthers defeated their state rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first round, before knocking off the Boston Bruins in six games, as well as the New York Rangers.
On the other hand, the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings in the first round again, before a hard-fought, seven round series against the Vancouver Canucks. In the Western Conference Finals, they defeated the Dallas Stars, winning the last three games of that series.
Let’s take a look at what has happened in the last three games since the latest What’s Going On In The Playoffs!
Florida pushes Edmonton to the brink
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final was a must-win for the Oilers. They did not win it.
Sam Reinhart scored his ninth of the season with just over a minute remaining in the first period, before Warren Foegele scored his first postseason goal on a goaltender early in the second. After that though, Florida took over, as Vladimir Tarasenko scored nearly midway through the second, before former Calgary Flame Sam Bennett scored his seventh of the postseason with just over six minutes left.
Before the end of the second period, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov scored to make it a 4-1 game. The Oilers had some fight in the third period, with 2019 first-round draftee Philip Broberg scoring his second goal of the postseason. Ryan McLeod also scored with just over five minutes left, but the Oilers comeback fell short.
With the loss, the Panthers took a commanding 3-0 lead, with only one team winning the Stanley Cup thanks to a reverse sweep being the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. In fact, only three teams (1945 Detroit Red Wings, 2012 New Jersey Devils) even forced a Game 6.
Edmonton throttle the Panthers to stay alive
It was to be expected that the Oilers wouldn’t roll over. The last time a team was swept in the Stanley Cup Finals was back in 1998.
The late comeback attempt in Game 3 seemed to get the Oilers going though. Mattias Janmark scored a shorthanded goal three minutes and 11 seconds into the first, and set up Adam Henrique nearly five minutes later for the game-winning goal. Vladimir Tarasenko would get Florida on the board midway through the first, but a late Dylan Holloway goal gave the Oilers a 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
Then the flood gates opened early in the second period, as Connor McDavid scored his first ever goal in the SCF a minute and 13 seconds in, before setting up Darnell Nurse five minutes into the period. Sergei Bobrovsky, who had posted a .953 save percentage in his first three games, was pulled after allowing five goals on 16 shots.
But the onslaught continued on former Oiler netminder Anthony Stolarz. After killing off all Oiler power plays they’d faced, the Panthers finally allowed a goal on a 5 on 3 power play thanks to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Dylan Holloway and Ryan McLeod added goals in the third period, with the Oilers steamrolling the Panthers 8-1.
After the game where Connor McDavid broke the single-postseason assist record, the Oiler captain said: “We have to go to Florida, do a job and drag them back to Alberta.” That’s exactly what they did in Game 5.
Edmonton drags Florida back to Alberta
For the second straight game, the Oilers opened the scoring thanks to a short-handed goal. Once again, it was the offensive pairing of Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown, with the latter picking off a pass and scoring on the breakaway. Throughout the postseason, those two have outscored the opposition’s power play 3-1.
Early in the second, the Oilers extended their lead late on a power play, as an Evan Bouchard shot bounced off Zach Hyman and into the net to extend the Oilers lead. On a broken play, Connor McDavid scored his second goal in as many games, beating Sergei Bobrovsky low on the post.
After a pretty brutal turnover, Matthew Tkachuk scored his first of the Stanley Cup Final, beating Oilers’ netminder Stuart Skinner high glove. However, Connor McDavid did Connor McDavid things on Edmonton’s next power play, dangling out the Panthers penalty kill and passing it to Corey Perry, who scored his first of the postseason.
The push came almost immediately for the Panthers. Evan Rodrigues jumped on a loose puck to score his seventh of the postseason, giving the Panthers life heading into the third. Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored just over four minutes into the third period to sweat the Oilers for the remaining 15:56.
There were two close calls on the empty net, first a Janmark post, before Zach Hyman nearly scored his second of the game, saved only by Thachuk laying out to drag the puck off the line. However, this immediately led to McDavid getting the puck, icing the game with his second of the game.
The Panthers are still in prime position to win this series
While the Oilers have made a series of the Stanley Cup Finals, their chances of winning it all are still dim. Only three teams have brought a Stanley Cup Finals series to six games after going down 3-0. Most recently was the 2012 New Jersey Devils, who won two games against the Los Angeles Kings who lost just four games en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. The Devils also made a series of it, but were crushed 6-1 in the decisive Game 6.
Other than that, you have to go all the way back to the 1940s. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team to reverse sweep a Stanley Cup Final. It nearly happened to them three years later, when they went up 3-0 to the Detroit Red Wings, who forced a Game 7 but ultimately fell.
The Oilers have the momentum along with the home ice crowd behind them in Game 6. However, the postseason is a game of adjustments and the Panthers are going to make theirs and more than likely wrap it up on Friday.
That game is set to start at 6:00 p.m. MT, and go Panthers!
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.
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