Oilers up against the clock to find a winning mix against Panthers in Stanley Cup final

Globe and Mail

12 hours ago

The Edmonton Oilers were the favourites to win the Stanley Cup before the season began but now find themselves on the brink of elimination from the final for the second straight year.
After a defeat on Saturday, the Oilers trail the Florida Panthers 3-2 in the best-of-seven and now must win in Sunrise, Fla., on Tuesday to stay alive. They must then do it again on Friday to clinch their first NHL championship in 35 years.
It has been a great and odd final series where the opponents have alternated victories. Neither has been able to maintain momentum but now the Panthers are just one victory shy of capturing the Stanley Cup for the second straight year.
Florida beat Edmonton in seven games a year ago and at present would seem to hold the upper hand.
The Oilers have fallen short in two critical areas that they will have to address to have a chance. The issues are related as well.
The first is being outplayed at the beginning of games. They have been outscored 11-4 overall in the first period and 7-0 over the last three contests.
'We have come out flat for most of the series,' Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton's veteran defenceman, said after Saturday's 5-2 loss. 'We have to find a way to be better at that.
'We have to make sure we bear down in games, and it hasn't happened for us. We need to go to Florida and win a game and flip that.'
Perhaps Ekholm is being hard on himself and his teammates in so far as three of the five games have gone to overtime. But at this time of year there should be no shortage of desperation. There is no reason a team should not be ready to go at the opening puck drop.
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The other crucial issue is that the Oilers' goaltending has been erratic. Stuart Skinner has been excellent, but also pulled from the net twice. Calvin Pickard came on in relief on Thursday and was splendid in an overtime victory where Edmonton fell into a 3-0 hole in the first period.
As such he was given the starting nod on Saturday but allowed four goals on 18 shots. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch cast no blame his way, but it should be pointed out that Sergei Bobrovsky, the Panthers' goalie, has been just OK so far.
Knoblauch would not say who would start Game 6 during a media availability early Sunday morning, before the team boarded its charter flight for Fort Lauderdale.
'It's not an easy decision,' Knoblauch said of who would be put in the net while facing elimination. 'We have two goalies that have shown they can play extremely well. We feel no matter who [we would] choose can win the game.'
The bigger problem is that Edmonton has been collapsing early and its high-powered offence has turned into a popgun in the three losses.
'It would be nice to get some goal support,' Knoblauch said. 'It would be nice to have the lead and for our goalies to not be in a position where the pressure is on them and they have to make every single save to keep the game close or keep us ahead.
'We've had high-quality chances early. Capitalizing on them would be something good for us.'
Neither of the team's superstars – Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl – spoke to journalists after Saturday's game or on Sunday morning. That certainly makes it seem like frustration is mounting.
The Oilers took only two penalties in Game 5 but in previous outings have allowed the Panthers to have too many opportunities with a man advantage.
'We have to clean up that issue,' Knoblauch said. 'That has been a big story throughout the series.'
There are things that need to be fixed for Edmonton to win. Time is running out.