Edmonton Oilers can't 'drag 'em back to Alberta' for Game 7 showdown
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The best the Edmonton Oilers could have hoped for facing elimination in Tuesday's Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final was to be able to face another elimination game Friday.
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That was the consequence of a 5-2 loss in Game 5 on Saturday to the very same Florida Panthers the Oilers needed four straight wins against in last year's Cup final, after falling behind 3-0 in their previous championship go-round.
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So, the prospect of having to win two in a row this time couldn't have felt like mission impossible.
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The thing is, nothing comes guaranteed when Lord Stanley's mug is on the line, and what Edmonton ended up with Tuesday was anything but the best.
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Here are some takeaways from Florida's 5-1 win over the Oilers in Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena:
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• It might have a year's worth of dust covering it, but the quote by Connor McDavid from last year's final still had fans in Edmonton hoping the Oilers could 'drag 'em back to Alberta.' This time, for what would have been Game 7 on Friday.
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It wasn't McDavid's most infamous quote from that Cup run, however. Thanks to a Prime Video camera giving us an intimate look inside the Oilers dressing room following a loss to the Panthers in Game 2 that year for, Faceoff: Inside the NHL, we saw the Oilers captain go on a memorable rant in effort to refocus his teammates.
'Dig the f–k in, right f–king now,' was the main takeaway.
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And you can bet that while those words didn't need to be spoken again, they were still echoing off the walls of the Oilers dressing room as they faced elimination for the first and only time in these playoffs Tuesday.
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In the end, the Oilers ended up digging their own graves with a dud of a performance in the one game that mattered most.
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• The Oilers decided to make another change in net and go back to Stuart Skinner for Game 6. And for good reason.
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When the pressure cranks up, so too do Skinner's stats. The 26-year-old came in with a record of 5-2 with a .910 save percentage and 2.11 goals-against average when facing elimination, including a 3-1 mark with a .935 save percentage and 1.76 goals-against average in Stanley Cup Final elimination games.
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In two of his three previous starts in the series, Skinner ended up getting pulled for Calvin Pickard, including Game 4, after the Oilers fell behind 3-0 in the first 20 minutes on the way to a 5-4 comeback win in overtime.
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• Had the Oilers not gone back to Skinner, it would have spoken volumes about not only what they think of the young hometown product, but also to his future with the club.
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A change in general manager since Skinner reached the all-star game as a rookie in 2022-23 means there are no loyalty ties from Oilers brass, and those questions still loom large. Skinner's current three-year contract, worth an annual $2.6 million, has him lined up to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season. But the possibility of a trade as early as this off-season exists.
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• And the Oilers were not very solid in front of Skinner early on, once again. In five straight games, the Panthers drew first blood. This time, it was the result of a turnover on the doorstep of Edmonton's zone by Evan Bouchard, the Oilers defenceman with a nose for the net, who has been accurately described as being dangerous at both blue lines. At this point, you have to ask when does his offensive upside no longer outweigh the defensive blunders that end up in the back of his own net?
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• The Oilers were looking to become the ninth team in NHL history to force a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final en route to winning the Cup: The 2011 Bruins, 2009 Penguins, 2004 Lightning, 2001 Avalanche, 1971 Canadiens, 1964 Maple Leafs, 1950 Red Wings and 1942 Maple Leafs.
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• Florida came in with an all-time record of 14-11 in potential series-clinching contests, with a 6-6 record at home, a 1-3 overall mark in the Stanley Cup Final and a 3-2 record in 2025. Edmonton came in 23-21 all-time when facing elimination, while holding a 6-3 record in the Stanley Cup Final, a 12-10 mark on the road and a 5-1 record in its last six games overall in that scenario.
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While last year's Cup final felt like the Oilers simply ran out of time, after bouncing back from a 3-0 series deficit to force Game 7, this year's rematch didn't feel nearly as close — despite three of the opening five games going to overtime. The Panthers were calmer, showed more bounceback, their stars outshone those of the Oilers and they were just the overall tougher team.
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• It was the second year in a row the Stanley Cup was presented to the Panthers after a game where McDavid was held off the stats sheet.
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• It was the fifth appearance in and fifth elimination from a Cup finals over the past six seasons by Corey Perry, 40, who was with the Dallas Stars in 2019-20, the Montreal Canadiens in 2020-21 and the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021-22, prior to joining the Oilers last season.
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