The Edmonton Oilers or Florida Panthers will lift the Stanley Cup on Monday night after Game 7 (8 p.m. ET; ABC). It will be a historic achievement — regardless of the outcome; an unprecedented championship for the Panthers or a complete comeback by the Oilers that hadn’t been seen in the Stanley Cup Final since 1942.
The Oilers have already made history. They are the first NHL team since the 1944-45 Detroit Red Wings to fall behind in the Cup Final 3-0 and force a Game 7. Win on Monday night and they join the Toronto Maple Leafs of 1941-42 as the only teams to finish the job.
“It’s not a common game, everyone understands that, but you’ve got to make it as common as possible in your head,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said Sunday. “Our room did a great job of putting our best foot forward in these big moments, and I wouldn’t expect any different.”
After the Panthers’ 4-3 victory in Game 3, it looked like Florida would end up being crowned champions. They were in complete control of the series and the Oilers had no answers. Even after Edmonton’s 8-1 rout in Game 4 to avoid elimination, it was thought the Panthers would bounce back and close out the game at home in Game 5.
But they didn’t. The series got away from the Panthers and the Oilers woke up, including McDavid, who recorded eight points in victories in Games 4 and 5. Now he has helped bring the franchise to the game every young hockey player dreams of.
One victory and you will be a champion forever.
“You’re not sure if you’ll ever get that opportunity,” McDavid said. “Here we are with this opportunity.”
There will be nerves during Game 7 on both sides. But if you’re the Panthers, having an extra day off between Games 6 and 7, realizing you’re about to blow a 3-0 lead in the Cup final, could have an adverse effect on your mental preparation.
“I think this will be the ultimate test for the Florida Panthers mentally,” NHL Network’s Mike Rupp told Yahoo Sports on Monday. “I think they are a very strong mental group. You can turn off the TV, you can turn off social media, you can turn off your phone, you still know it was 3-0. You’ve had several chances to close this and now you need to sit here another day and think about it. It must be difficult.
“I’ve never been there. How do you get that out of your head and just make sure you’re not thinking about it?”
Rupp knows the pressures of playing in a Game 7. He played in six of them during his 11-season NHL career but none were as memorable as his performance in the final game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Final when he scored a goal and recorded two assists. as the New Jersey Devils beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3-0 to win their third title.
As a 23-year-old rookie, Rupp was surrounded by veterans and future Hall of Famers from that Devils team. Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko, Patrik Eliáš, Sergei Brylin, among others, were in that locker room acting as if Game 7 of the World Cup final was just another day of the season.
This is how the Panthers need to approach Monday night. They also, as Rupp notes, must remember why they are on the brink of a championship for the second straight season.
“It’s really critical for them to not sit there and look at their opponent and say, ‘Oh, they’ve got Connor McDavid, they’re breaking records, that hasn’t been done since 1945′ It is ‘Oh my God, we were winning 3-0.’ You can’t think about it. At some point here you’ll have to change that [and] to be like, ‘Let’s not forget who we are. It’s not about everything they are and everything we need to adjust to who they are.’”
The Panthers won the Atlantic Division title, finished third in the Eastern Conference and lost just five times in three rounds en route to the Stanley Cup Final. They have also beaten the Oilers team three times in a row, dominating up front, getting timely goals and solid defense from Sergei Bobrovsky.
“It doesn’t matter how it went or how you planned it,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “This is an absolutely incredible, incredible opportunity. So yeah, you want to recognize or remember some of the good things that helped you beat these guys earlier in the series, but I’m trying to forget all that. Just get in there and win a game. That’s what it all boils down to.”
Now it’s just Game 7 and a final victory that separates them from a summer of celebrations.
“You have a game to play. It doesn’t matter how you got here,” Rupp said. “That’s the only message that can exist.”
2024 Stanley Cup Final (series tied 3-3)
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: Oilers 5, Panthers 1
Game 7: Lubricators in Panteras | Monday, June 24, 8 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN+)
