“Game Seven” may be the two best words in sports, but perhaps the only thing that can eclipse it is when a team tries to erase a 3-0 series deficit. This is because in the history of major North American professional sports with playoff series (NHL, NBA, MLB), 407 teams have gone 3-0 before the Stanley Cup Final, and only five teams from the three leagues have lost their lead to lose the series.
The good news for the Edmonton Oilers is that four of those instances occurred in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, although the Florida Panthers have home ice as the NHL season comes to an epic finale in Sunrise, Florida. Conor McDavid went crazy in Games 4 and 5, scoring 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) while leading Edmonton back into the series, but the Oilers’ penalty was also huge. Edmonton has killed 18 of 19 penalties in this series and 46 of the last 47 in the playoffs.
Florida, meanwhile, needs to find some kind of spark after coming up short in each of its last three games, getting outscored 18-5. Sam Reinhart (-3), Matthew Tkachuk (-5) and Carter Verhaeghe (-9) have been completely under control over the last three games, and the Panthers will need their big stars to step up to avoid a Cup Final defeat for the second consecutive year and becoming the first team since 1942 to lose in the Cup final after opening the series with a 3-0 lead.
How to watch Panthers x Oilers Stanley Cup Final Game 7
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