Ft. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — There is actually some peace, probably, when you finally get to this moment after a season full of games that you’ve been telling yourself really matter. But of course, we all know they don’t matter as much as this one does.
Or, in the Edmonton Oilers’ wildest dreams, these two.
“When you get put in a corner,” said winger Connor Brown, “sometimes the path becomes a little bit more clear.
“It’s obvious what you’ve got to do.”
And that you’ve got to do it now — not some indefinite time from now.
It has been, for better or worse, a defining trait of this team. They’ve always worked as hard as required, always saved their best slider for when the bases were loaded, as it were.
“We have a lot of guys who, for whatever reason, like adversity. Like the competition, like being pushed,” said Darnell Nurse. “Tomorrow is the epitome of that. It’s not a situation we haven’t been in before, so there’s lots of experience to draw back on. But for us we just have to enjoy the moment, enjoy the game.”
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It would be naive, however, to describe this as simple procrastination on Edmonton’s part. As if they haven’t found their game in this Stanley Cup Final the way a guy doesn’t get around to doing his taxes, or taking in the bottles.
The facts are, the Florida Panthers have gained a 3-2 lead in this series the old fashioned way: By being the better team for more of the minutes of this series.
Far better, for far more of the minutes, actually. The Panthers have led this series for a whopping 200:25, compared to just 33:51 for Edmonton.
The Oilers won their two games in overtime, games that are basically a coin flip. Meanwhile, the Panthers won Games 3 and 5 decisively, leaving no question as to who was the superior team on the night.
So, yes, there is some solace in being able to tell yourself that you’re one win away from being one win away. But forget about flipping a switch here, if you’re the Oilers.
They’ve been standing there against the wall for most of two weeks now, flipping, flipping, flipping. And still, the answer to Florida’s forecheck has not come to light.
Now, we’re no analytics expert. But what if the Oilers grabbed a lead at some point in Game 6? Would change the way the mighty Panthers play the game, perhaps?
“It would open them up a little bit more,” agreed Brown. “When they’re able to … get leads early, they’re a really good defensive team. And when they don’t really have to take any risks, they do a good job managing leads. As you know, we’ve come back from a few leads against these guys. And I don’t know how many other teams have been able to do that.”
The Oilers did erase some deficits, something that no opponent had managed to accomplish against Florida. And Edmonton has built a strong recent history on winning games like the one they are faced with Tuesday in Sunrise, where the Stanley Cup will be on hand for the first elimination game Edmonton faces this spring.
Edmonton went 5-1 when facing elimination last spring — a near perfect run that came here to die in Game 7 — and last year Edmonton won Game 6 by a commanding 5-1 score, though it was at home.
Back in ’06, the Oilers trailed Carolina before smoking the Hurricanes 4-1 in Game 6, and it could have been 10-1. But again, that was on home ice.
Edmonton beat Vancouver in Round 2 last year in a Game 6 in Edmonton, then won a gritty Game 7 at Vancouver. And there was a Round 1 series in ’22 against Los Angeles that Edmonton closed with wins in Game 6 and 7 as well — but the Panthers are a completely different animal, we all know that.
Four teams have come back from a 3-2 series deficit to win a Stanley Cup just since the year 2000, so it’s not as far fetched as it perhaps seems.
Certainly, the tone that Connor McDavid was setting after a spirited, “Who? Us worry?” practice held here Monday was one of opportunity over situation. This is a chance to do something great, McDavid would say, over whatever the opposite of that may be.
“I’m excited. I’m excited about the opportunity,” he said calmly. “We’ve bounced back — lots has been made about that. We talk about that all the time.
“For whatever reason, our group doesn’t like to make it easy on ourselves. We’ve put ourselves in another difficult spot and it’s our job to work our way out of it. I would expect that tomorrow.”
We suspect you will see Stuart Skinner in goal for Edmonton in Game 6 here, behind an Oilers team that will give you the highest pedigree of hockey it could possibly produce. Played by 20 players who will leave every single ounce of whatever they have on the ice here in Florida.
If, all along, that has been enough to defeat the Panthers and the Oilers just haven’t found the bottom of their well yet, then great. Game 7 will be awesome.
If Florida wins Game 6, it will be for one reason — that they are truly the better team.
They have been thus far. Now it’s time to see if the Edmonton Oilers can do something about that.
