RECAP: Oilers 5, Panthers 1 | Florida Panthers (2024)

EDMONTON – Next game wins.

Winning their third straight game, the Edmonton Oilers pulled even with the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final with a 5-1 win in Game 6 at Rogers Place on Friday.

Edmonton is just the third team to erase a 3-0 deficit in the Final in NHL history.

Game 7 is set for Monday at Amerant Bank Arena.

“We know we need to play better,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “We have good moments in the games. We’ve got to take those to the next game and make the bad moments better.”

Taking advantage of a miscue by the Panthers, the Oilers opened the scoring when Warren Foegele took a perfect cross-ice pass from Leon Draisaitl and beat Sergei Bobrovsky from the left side of the net to make it 1-0 at 7:27 of the first period.

In the series, the team that scores first has gone 5-1.

Just 46 seconds into the second period, the Oilers doubled their lead when Adam Henrique teed up a pass from Mattias Janmark and buried a shot on a 2-on-1 rush to make it 2-0.

“They came out hungrier than us,” Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “They wanted it. That was kind of it. We didn’t really get to our forecheck off the start, and they took it to us. I think it’s for us to look at it and get better. We need some better starts.”

Just 10 seconds later, the Panthers thought they tied the game when Barkov scored, but the goal came off the board after a successful offside challenge by the Oilers.

Looking at the replay, the call was successful by the smallest of margins – if any.

“It may well have been offside,” said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, who was visibly irate after the decision. “The lines person informed that it was the last clip that it was the last clip that they got where they made the decision that shows that it’s offside. I don’t have those with the video I’ve got at my bench. I was upset after the call based on what I see at my feet and what my video person looks at. There’s no way I would’ve challenge that if it was reversed. There’s no way I thought that you could conclusively say that was offside.”

Keeping the Panthers off the board, Stuart Skinner, who finished with 20 saves, stood tall for the Oilers when he robbed Barkov on a quick shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1 rush.

Shortly after officials opted to turn a blind eye to a trip on Sam Bennett, the Oilers tacked on another goal when Zach Hyman beat Bobrovsky on a breakaway to make it 3-0 at 18:20.

Giving the Panthers a spark at 1:28 of the third period, Barkov impressively stickhandled his way right through Edmonton’s defense before tucking a shot around Skinner to make it 3-1.

Barkov reduces Edmonton's lead in the third period.

“We’re a confident group,” said Verhaeghe, who picked up the primary assist on Barkov’s highlight-reel goal. “They’re here for a reason; we’re here for a reason. It’s the Stanley Cup Final. They’re a really good team and it’s for us to come back and respond next game.”

Unable to close the gap further, Florida surrendered empty-net goals to Ryan McLeod and Darnell Nurse at 16:45 and 16:57, respectively, as the Oilers went on to earn the 5-1 win.

Now, all eyes are on Game 7.

“Right now, if you walked in the room there won’t be a lot of happy people, and I’m not worried about how it is tonight,” Maurice said. “It doesn’t have to be right tonight. You’ve suffered a defeat. You feel it. It hurts. You lick your wounds, but then we start building back tomorrow. Who you are tonight means nothing to who you’re going to be two days from now.”

THEY SAID IT

“It’s a tough one to take. It’s obviously tough, but we’re excited to go home and play Game 7 in front of our fans. It’s going to be a good one.” – Carter Verhaeghe

“Mentally, I would say we were ready. There were things in the game where some things happen, they get their chances, they play in our zone, and they get chances. We know we need to get better.” – Aleksander Barkov

“We’ll look at places we can generate speed or keep our speed [on the power play].” – Paul Maurice

CATS STATS

- The Panthers led 1.39-0.96 in expected goals at 5-on-5, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

- The Panthers allowed just 10 shots on goal over the second and third periods.

- The Panthers led 43-21 in hits.

- The Oilers blocked 22 of Florida’s shots.

- The Panthers are set to compete in their fourth all-time Game 7.

- Home teams own a 12-5 advantage in the 17 prior Game 7’s in the Stanley Cup Final.

- Paul Maurice is 4-0 in four career Game 7’s.

WHAT’S NEXT?

It all comes down to this.

With the Stanley Cup and a place in the history books on the line, the Panthers will host the Oilers for Game 7 at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.