At gut-check time, what separates the Oilers from the Leafs and Jets?
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When you're a goalie who has a couple of bad playoff starts in a row, loses the starting job and the entire world seems like it's crashing down on you, how do you not curl up in a ball and wait for the noise to stop?
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When you're down by two goals, half a period away from falling behind 3-1 in your series with the L.A. Kings, how do you not get flustered and let it all slip away?
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The Oilers scored twice in the third period to tie it, won it in overtime and didn't lose another game to the Kings.
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Edmonton outshot the Knights 15-5 in the first period of Game 4, took a 2-0 lead and didn't allow another Vegas goal the rest of the series.
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When people talk about a playoff-hardened hockey team, this is what they mean.
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Back in the Western Conference Final for the third time in four years, the Oilers have evolved from the young, inexperienced lions of the past into the scarred, battled-tested team you see today.
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'We have that maturity level,' said Skinner, who's become a poster-boy for mental toughness. 'We've been here before, we know what to do, we know what to expect. Whatever comes your way, there is a lot less chance of you getting rattled.'
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The Oilers kept their calm and pushed through the aforementioned adversity because they've seen it all before. Skinner lost the job last year and recovered wonderfully, so he knew he could do it again. So did his teammates.
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The Oilers trailed in games, and in series, last year, and the year before, and the year before, so they know what formula works and what doesn't.
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When you come back from 3-0 down in the Stanley Cup Final to force a Game 7, there isn't much anyone can throw at you that's going to weaken your knees.
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'Experience has so much to do with going forward and being able to find ways to win,' said Skinner. 'We have a veteran team, guys who've won the Cup, guys who've been to the finals, guys who've played a long time. It gives us a huge advantage.'
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The Oilers were on the other side of the composure scale back in the early days of this group's evolution. They were the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs all rolled into one — rock stars in the regular season, raising everyone's expectations for the playoffs, and getting mowed down in the first round in back-to-back years.
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Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Not our best': Undisciplined Oilers thumped 6-1 by Panthers in ugly Game 3
SUNRISE – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had the puck with Sergei Bobrovsky at his mercy. The Oilers forward — an injury question mark coming into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final — fired high and wide of the Panthers' goal with his team enjoying an early power play. It was about as good as things would get for Edmonton on an ugly Monday night that saw Florida dominate in picking up a resounding 6-1 victory to grab a 2-1 lead in the NHL title series. 'Not our best,' Oilers captain Connor McDavid said of his team's performance. 'I don't think our best has shown up all series long, but it's coming.' It better happen quick. A knife-edged matchup through 8 1/2 periods — a 4-3 Edmonton overtime victory and a 5-4 Florida triumph in double OT — didn't follow the same pattern after shifting from Alberta's capital to Sunrise's stifling heat. 'We didn't play very well, that's evident,' said Oilers winger Evander Kane, who took a pair of penalties in the first period. 'We have nobody to blame but ourselves.' Brad Marchand scored 56 seconds after puck drop to send Amerant Bank Arena into an early frenzy before that man-advantage chance where Nugent-Hopkins ripped that puck off the glass. The Oilers were undisciplined from there with three minor penalties in the offensive zone and another for too many men on the ice before the first intermission. The Panthers finally made the visitors pay when Carter Verhaeghe went bar down on Stuart Skinner. Corey Perry cut the deficit in half 100 seconds into the middle period on a power play as Edmonton briefly showed signs of life, but a turnover by Oilers defenceman John Klingberg led to Sam Reinhart making it 3-1. Sam Bennett then crushed Edmonton winger Vasily Podkolzin to create a turnover that led to his own breakaway goal before Aaron Ekblad and Evan Rodrigues rounded out the scoring on man advantages in the third. The Oilers played into the Panthers' hands all night, coming unhinged with scuffles after the whistle — something they had largely avoided through two games. Florida, which defeated Edmonton in seven to capture the franchise's first championship 12 months ago, showed again why its roster is littered with players adept at straddling or crossing the officiating line. And, from the Oilers' perspective, the calls have been tilted in the Panthers' favour. 'They seem to get away with it more than we do,' Kane said of the gamesmanship. 'It's tough to find the line. They're doing just as much stuff as we are … there seems to be a little bit more attention on our group.' Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, whose team felt there should have been a too-many-men penalty on Florida in extra time of Game 2, had a biting take on the refereeing so far in the series. '(Wes McCauley and Francis Charron) did an outstanding job,' he said of Monday's officiating crew. 'They even caught the too-many-men penalty in the first period, which was too many men. 'They caught us there. I just wish they had been calling the game in Game 2 in overtime.' Skinner said it won't be difficult to flush the result. 'It's one game,' the netminder said after getting the hook following Florida's fifth goal on 23 shots. 'They could've beat us 12-0 and it's the same result. It's still just 2-1 (in the series). 'It might feel a little bit harder just because we weren't in the game, but it doesn't change how we're going to respond.' Both teams pivoted to message-sending mode in the third period, including a long fight between Edmonton defenceman Darnell Nurse and Florida forward Jonah Gadjovich. 'Boys being boys,' Knoblauch said. 'Just trying to make investments for the next game.' McDavid said his group can, if necessary, match the Panthers' physical style moving forward. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. 'We feel like we can play any game,' he said. 'When the game's out of hand, you're going to see that stuff.' Edmonton now has 48 hours to regroup before Game 4 on Thursday. 'You go back home at 2-2 or down 3-1 … it's a big swing,' said McDavid, whose team will host Game 5 on Saturday. 'It's a pivotal game. There's no doubt about it.' The Oilers will need a lot more — offence, discipline and composure — in a contest that could go a long way in determining if their Cup script is any different this time around. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2025.
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
These Florida Panthers look familiar. And they're two wins from another Stanley Cup after wearing down the Oilers
The Florida Panthers are halfway there. The Edmonton Oilers look halfway done. The Panthers' big guns got the job done, from Brad Marchand's opening-minute goal to Aaron Ekblad's third-period power-play goal that chased Stuart Skinner from the Edmonton net. Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues also scored in a penalty-filled, bench-depleting 6-1 win over the Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final Monday night. 'Emotions are high,' Marchand told Sportsnet after the game. 'Sometimes it's how the game goes.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The Panthers lead the best-of-seven final two games to one with Game 4 — and a chance to put a stranglehold on the series — set for Thursday, also at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. Nhl Fans in McDavid's hometown of Newmarket, Ont., show support for favourite son NEWMARKET - With the Oilers in the Stanley Cup final again this year, the decision to bring … 'We've got to find a way to win,' Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said. 'The focus shifts right away to winning the game on Thursday. We came for a split, didn't get it tonight. Another opportunity Thursday. 'Game 4 is really big. You go back home 2-2, or down 3-1. It's a big swing game.' The Oilers took their swings — quite literally — at the Panthers as their frustrations boiled over with the game getting out of hand. The referees issued five misconducts to Edmonton, three to Florida. 'When we get into garbage time, those things happen and I don't mind when those things happen,' McDavid said. 'It's what good teams do, fight your way out of the rink.' The Panthers know not just how to win but how to beat down an opponent. They needed just five games to beat Tampa in the first round and Carolina in the Eastern Conference final. And though the Maple Leafs took them to seven games in the second round, Game 7 was a 6-1 shellacking. The Panthers find ways to get their opponents off their game. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'We talked about it in the third,' Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. 'If you have to take a punch, take a punch. If you have to take a cross-check, take a cross-check. Spear, slash in the face, whatever the case is, you've got to take it. We just played a really smart game.' The Oilers took 21 penalties. After being the team that complained the first two games about uncalled goaltender interference on Skinner, they were the team that was called for it in Game 3 on Sergei Bobrovsky. 'Look at some of the calls,' said Oilers winger Evander Kane, who took three minors and a 10-minute misconduct. 'Some of them are frustrating. They seem to get away with it more than we do. It's tough to find the line.' Hockey NHL teams in states with no income tax have economic advantage, professor says Tampa Bay, Las Vegas, Florida, Dallas and Nashville all play in states with no income tax. Florida's win bodes well for the Panthers' chance at defending their championship. When a best-of-seven Stanley Cup final is tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 holds an all-time series record of 23-7 (.767). 'We try to play the same way every game,' Marchand said. 'The biggest thing that we talk about is consistency throughout our game. Sometimes, games get a little bit of hand, but they're fun ones to be part of. ' Though Game 3 was the only one so far that didn't require overtime, it started an awful lot likes the first two games: a quick goal, this time 54 seconds in by Marchand, and plenty of penalties. Verhaeghe scored the only power-play goal of the period to put Florida up 2-0. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Corey Perry scored with the man advantage early in the second, but the Panthers didn't let the Oilers come back. Reinhart scored just 1:20 after Perry gave the Oilers life. Then Bennett got his playoffs-leading 14th goal as Florida went up 4-1. The Panthers have outscored the Oilers 5-2 in the middle frames. The Oilers seemed well out of sorts, unable to get anything meaningful going against the defending champs. 'It wasn't our best at all,' McDavid said. 'I don't think our best has shown up, all series long, but it's coming.' The Oilers would be better off forgetting this game happened. They face big questions about a power play that has gone cold and about their goaltending. Calvin Pickard put in a solid third period after replacing Skinner. The Oilers took far too many penalties 200 feet from their net, they were caught retaliating too much, and they showed the kind of frustration more indicative of a young team, not the league's oldest team 'It was penalty chaos tonight,' Skinner said. 'I don't know what to make of it. There's a lot of emotions that are going into this. We're trying to win a Cup. They're trying to win a Cup. So there's fight. 'Some guys are flaking, going down, trying to cause penalties. The other teams don't like that. So then it's just going to be a battle. Obviously, we're not going to go down without a fight.' Cup notes Paul Maurice became the third head coach in NHL history to win 1,000 games in the regular season and playoffs, joining Scotty Bowman (1,467) and Joel Quenneville (1,090) … Marchand, 37 old, became the oldest player to score in the first three games of a Stanley Cup final, besting the previous mark held by 35-year-old Frank Mahovlich (in 1973 with Montreal) … Perry became the third player in NHL history age 40 or older to score multiple goals in the final … Bennett extended his goal streak to four games to establish a new franchise record for the longest in the post-season.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Oilers fans react to 6-1 Game 3 loss
Edmonton Oilers fans who watched Game 3 downtown say they're disappointed but still hopeful the team can turn things around.
