EDMONTON, Alberta – Connor McDavid was out of points, so Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers' other top players stepped up to put them one win away from the Stanley Cup.
Draisaitl made his first major impact in the finals by assisting on Warren Foegele's early goal, Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman scored in the second period and the Oilers forced a Game 7 by beating the Florida Panthers 5-1 in Game 6 on Friday. at night.
“At the end of the day, we play to win and this will be the toughest game for us,” Draisaitl said. “We have to get our game back.”
They are the third team to tie the finals after falling behind 3-0 in the series, and the first since the Detroit Red Wings in 1945. The Oilers have a chance Monday night in Sunrise, Fla., to join the Toronto 1942 Maple Leafs as the only NHL teams to overcome that deficit to lift the Stanley Cup.
“There was an unwavering belief,” Hyman said. “No matter what happened throughout the year, we always believed we could get ahead. No matter how dire the circumstances were, we believe we have a chance. It was a long season facing adversity that prepared us. Next season will be the hardest “It feels amazing to do it in front of this crowd. To have a chance to win now, this is our first chance to win.”
After falling into a 3-0 series hole, the Oilers have bounced back by scoring five-plus goals in three straight games, the longest streak in a Stanley Cup Final since the Pittsburgh Penguins did it in 1991. , according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
The chance to make hockey history and end the three-decade Canada Cup drought exists only after McDavid's four-point heroics each in Games 4 and 5 to bring the Oilers back from the brink of Faith. This was the first time in his nine-year career that they won a game in which he did not score or shoot on net.
Draisaitl, his former running mate from Germany, who has also been a league MVP and considered among the best players in the world, provided the spark in Game 5 after being largely ineffective against the Panthers.
“He's a horse,” defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “He's always showing up in the biggest moments. If you look at all of his performances in the playoffs, he's one of the best to ever do it.”
Draisaitl grabbed the puck at center ice, skated around and through Florida defenders and put the puck on the tape of Foegele's stick for a tap-in that Sergei Bobrovsky had almost no chance to stop. That, of course, did not stop the excited crowd of more than 18,000 from chanting mockingly: “Ser-gei! Ser-gei!”
The goalie everyone calls “Bob” wasn't to blame, however, as the mistakes he made also contributed to the 2-on-1 race that ended with Henrique beating Bobrovsky in a 2-on-1 race with a perfect pass from Mattias. Janmark. The Panthers in front of their goalkeeper seemed firm and timid, unlike the giant that reached the final for the second consecutive year and won the first three games to get closer to the first title in franchise history.
“We have one game left,” Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov said. “We were prepared from the beginning to play a seven-game series and now nothing changes. We won three games and they played three good games. Now it's our turn to win at home.”
Florida had just six shots on net midway through the game and finished with 21. Continuing the trend of being there when the Oilers need him most, goalie Stuart Skinner made timely stops to stymie the Panthers, allowing just one goal to Aleksander Barkov less than 90 seconds into the third period.
“He's been brilliant when we needed him to be,” Janmark said of Skinner.
The first time Barkov managed to pass the puck, 10 seconds after Henrique scored, the goal went off the board when Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch successfully challenged the offside call. An extensive review found that Sam Reinhart entered the offensive zone perhaps an inch or less before the puck, the announcement of which was followed by a roar from the fans.
“I actually didn't think it was that close,” Knoblauch said. “In my opinion, he was definitely offside.”
That wasn't the loudest thing Rogers Place got, and there were plenty of contenders for that distinction. The decibel meter displayed on the video screens reached 113.8 when the Oilers took the ice to the tune of Metallica's “Enter Sandman.”
It might have gotten close to that level of noise when Ryan McLeod and Nurse scored empty-net goals in the final minutes, sparking chants of “We want the Cup!” “We want the Cup!” and a wild celebration at the outdoor viewing party.
That was the height of a city that was awash in a sea of blue and orange downtown in the hours before the puck dropped. Friday might as well have been a holiday in Edmonton, home to nearly a million people who can now afford to dream of the Oilers adding another white championship banner to the rafters, and doing so in the most improbable way possible.
“We are excited to continue our season,” McDavid said. “That's what it's all about. One game at a time, one day at a time. We're looking forward to the next one.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
