The Edmonton Oilers made NHL history on Friday and are now one win away from making more. Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers look lifeless and must win a deciding Game 7 at home to avoid an epic collapse for the ages.
Riding the momentum of two straight wins after falling behind 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers dominated Game 6, winning 5-1 in a contest that was never really in doubt.
Edmonton is the first team since the 1945 Detroit Red Wings to force a Game 7 after trailing the series 3-0. Meanwhile, with a win on Monday in Sunrise, the Oilers would become only the second team to successfully make the comeback to win the Stanley Cup (1941-42 Toronto Maple Leafs).
In Game 6, the Oilers followed the same script that won them Games 4 and 5. They out-paced the Panthers, canceling out their strong forechecking to allow skill to take over.
While the Oilers dominated play much of the night, the turning point came early in the second period.
Shortly after Adam Henrique gave Edmonton a 2-0 advantage 46 seconds in, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov appeared to answer with a goal of his own 10 seconds later. But, following a challenge from the Oilers bench, officials disallowed the goal after a review, ruling the play offside.
Before the period ended, Zach Hyman scored on a breakaway, putting the Oilers up by three after two periods. Barkov eventually scored a goal that counted, lighting the lamp 1:28 into the third to pull the Panthers to within one, but two empty-netters from Edmonton late sealed their fate.
The Panthers looked uninspired from the start, which showed on the stat sheet. They managed only 21 shots and went 0-for-3 (four shots) on the power play while committing a startling 18 takeaways, several of which ended up in the back of their net.
The Oilers also managed only 21 shots and, like the Panthers, went scoreless on the man advantage (0-for-2). But they made the most of their opportunities, turning the Panthers’ mistakes into goals while stifling Florida’s offense with a tremendous team effort on defense led by a strong night between the pipes from Stuart Skinner (20 saves).
The Panthers will host the Oilers for Game 7 on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
