The very last thing a crew desires to do in a playoff collection is give their opponent hope. Any doorways barely ajar want to be shut instantly.
The Florida Panthers have had two alternatives to shut out the Edmonton Oilers and win their first-ever Stanley Cup title. But Sergei Bobrovsky has been off his recreation (.769 save proportion) and Connor McDavid used Games 4 and 5 to present everybody that his crew shouldn’t be taking place with out a struggle ± and that he can carry all of them the means again on this collection with consecutive four-point nights.
McDavid mentioned forward of Game 5 in Florida that the Oilers wished to drag the Panthers “back to Alberta.” That meant one other recreation and one other 2,500-mile flight.
He obtained his want, and whereas Panthers head coach Paul Maurice can say there’s additionally stress on Edmonton at this second, his crew is the one which doesn’t need to drop a 3rd straight recreation and go away the collection up to a winner-take-all Game 7 that would have unlucky historic penalties for his franchise.
“When you have nothing to lose, there’s a freedom to that. When you have something to protect, sometimes you feel the pressure to protect it,” Maurice mentioned on Thursday. “So there’s an evening out in this series now. I think the pressure is closer [between us].”
The Panthers will stay assured heading into Friday’s Game 6 (8 p.m. ET; ABC). The Stanley Cup shall be in Rogers Place awaiting presentation to the Panthers ought to they win. The Oilers have seen their confidence develop with two large wins and their captain — McDavid — taking part in at his traditional otherworldly stage.
Little errors are magnified on this stage, and the Panthers know what areas they want to be higher in to get again to the means they performed earlier in the collection. Florida pushed to get again into Game 5 to no avail, however the gamers noticed that regardless of rating results, they haven’t fully misplaced their recreation.
“We are that team. I mean, we’ve been that team all year,” mentioned Panthers ahead Matthew Tkachuk. “We had a little bit of a lapse in Game 4 here for a period and a half. But for the most part, we’ve been pretty consistent with it. We really like our 5-on-5 game. We’re comfortable against anybody in the world with it.”
Only one NHL crew — the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs — has ever gained the Cup after falling behind 3-0 in the Cup Final. The Oilers are gunning to be the second to accomplish that.
“There’s no group that is more ready for the moment than this one here,” said McDavid.
2024 Stanley Cup Final schedule (Panthers lead collection 3-2)
Game 1: Panthers 3, Oilers 0
Game 2: Panthers 4, Oilers 1
Game 3: Panthers 4, Oilers 3
Game 4: Oilers 8, Panthers 1
Game 5: Oilers 5, Panthers 3
Game 6: Panthers at Oilers | Friday, June 21, 8 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN+)
*Game 7: Oilers at Panthers | Monday, June 24, 8 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN+)
(*if crucial)