The Edmonton Oilers made NHL historical past on Friday and at the moment are one win away from making extra. In the meantime, the Florida Panthers look lifeless and should win a deciding Recreation 7 at dwelling to keep away from an epic collapse for the ages.
Driving the momentum of two straight wins after falling behind 3-0 within the Stanley Cup Ultimate, the Oilers dominated Recreation 6, successful 5-1 in a contest that was by no means actually doubtful.
Edmonton is the primary group for the reason that 1945 Detroit Purple Wings to pressure a Recreation 7 after trailing the collection 3-0. In the meantime, with a win on Monday in Dawn, the Oilers would develop into solely the second group to efficiently make the comeback to win the Stanley Cup (1941-42 Toronto Maple Leafs).
In Recreation 6, the Oilers adopted the identical script that gained them Video games 4 and 5. They out-paced the Panthers, canceling out their sturdy forechecking to permit ability to take over.
Whereas the Oilers dominated play a lot of the night time, the turning level got here early within the second interval.
Shortly after Adam Henrique gave Edmonton a 2-0 benefit 46 seconds in, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov appeared to reply with a aim of his personal 10 seconds later. However, following a problem from the Oilers bench, officers disallowed the aim after a evaluation, ruling the play offside.
Earlier than the interval ended, Zach Hyman scored on a breakaway, placing the Oilers up by three after two intervals. Barkov finally scored a aim that counted, lighting the lamp 1:28 into the third to tug the Panthers to inside one, however two empty-netters from Edmonton late sealed their destiny.
The Panthers seemed uninspired from the beginning, which confirmed on the stat sheet. They managed solely 21 pictures and went 0-for-3 (4 pictures) on the ability play whereas committing a startling 18 takeaways, a number of of which ended up at the back of their internet.
The Oilers additionally managed solely 21 pictures and, just like the Panthers, went scoreless on the person benefit (0-for-2). However they made probably the most of their alternatives, turning the Panthers’ errors into objectives whereas stifling Florida’s offense with an incredible group effort on protection led by a sturdy night time between the pipes from Stuart Skinner (20 saves).
The Panthers will host the Oilers for Recreation 7 on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
