Cats take first shot at winning back-to-back Cups
SUNRISE, Fla. – Lord Stanley is in the building.
With a chance to capture their second straight Cup, the Florida Panthers will host the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.
After defeating the Oilers in Game 7 in Sunrise a year ago, the Panthers can become the seventh franchise in NHL history to win each of their first two Stanley Cups on home ice.
Built for these moments, the Panthers know they can get the job done.
“This is the reason why you play,” said defenseman Nate Schmidt, who’s chasing his first Cup. “To have a chance to be in a situation like this is what you dream of. I think that our guys over the last couple days have handled it really well. I loved our energy this morning.”
Letting an early lead slip away to lose Game 4, the Panthers responded with one of their best performances of the playoffs during a 6-2 win in Game 5 at Rogers Place on Saturday.
Getting off to another great start, the Panthers stormed out of the gate on the road, taking an early 2-0 lead on goals from Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett. Always ready for the puck to drop, the Panthers have outscored the Oilers 11-4 in the first period during the Cup Final.
After Marchand made it 3-0 in the third period with highlight-reel goal – an epic strike that teammate Anton Lundell described as one that “you look at on YouTube when you’re a kid” – the Oilers cut their deficit to 3-1 when Connor McDavid netted his first goal of the series.
Stomping out Edmonton’s would-be comeback, Sam Reinhart responded for the Panthers with a goal just 46 seconds later to make it 4-1. From there, Corery Perry made it 4-2 after Edmonton pulled its goaltender before Eetu Luostarinen made it 5-2 with an empty-netter.
A stalwart defensive effort, Florida allowed just three high-danger shot attempts at 5-on-5.
“I thought we skated well,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the win. “I think that was the foundation. Our ability to defend, I think we skated well and stayed fairly closed together.”
Just the seventh player in NHL history to record five goals in multiple Cup Finals, Marchand, who last achieved the feat in 2011 with the Boston Bruins, leads the Panthers with six goals in the series and has found the back of the net in four of five games.
Also scoring in four of five games this series, Bennett leads the Panthers with 15 goals this postseason, becoming the fourth active player with that many goals in a single playoff run.
Showcasing their depth, eight different players have already recorded at least five points in the Cup Final for the Panthers, including Marchand (6), Bennett (6), Reinhart (6), Matthew Tkachuk (6), Carter Verhaeghe (6), Eetu Luostarinen (5), Lundell (5) and Nate Schmidt (5).
With the Cup on the line in Game 6, any of them could be the hero.
“It’s huge,” Bennett said of the team’s depth. “It’s a huge advantage to be able play all four lines and trust any line in any situation. Our depth has been huge all playoffs, and we’re looking for a big depth game tonight again.”
Trying to become the second team to force a Game 7 in consecutive Cup Finals – and the first to do in almost 60 years – the Oilers will once again be counting on their top players in Game 6.
Tied for the NHL lead with 33 points each this postseason, McDavid and Draisaitl have been two of the best players in NHL history in do-or-die games. In 14 games when facing elimination, McDavid has produced 23 points, while Draisaitl has registered 19 points.
Despite teaming up for 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in five games, McDavid and Draisaitl have had their hands full this series and currently own a combined -6 rating.
Carrying a heavy workload, both are averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time per tilt.
As always, Sergei Bobrovsky will lead the Panthers onto the ice.
Owning a 15-7 record with a 2.26 goals-against average and .912 save percentage this postseason, the two-time Vezina Trophy has won 13 series-clinching games in his career.
Across the ice, the Oilers will go back to Stuart Skinner.
Pulled in Game 4 after giving up three goals on 17 shots in the first period, Skinner backed up Calvin Pickard in Game 5. In four appearances in the series, Skinner, Edmonton’s No. 1 option all season, sits at 1-2 with a 4.20 goals-against average and .860 save percentage.
John Klingberg and Kasperi Kapanen will return to the lineup for the Oilers, replacing Troy Stecher and Viktor Arvidsson. This postseason, Kapanen has six points (three goals, three assists) in 11 games, while Klingberg has four points (one goal, three assists) in 18 games.
For the Panthers, no lineup changes are expected.
As it usually is in games like this, it’s going to be battle of desperation versus desire.
And when it comes to desire, you’d be hard-pressed to find a team with more than the Panthers.
“The closer you get to the end of the series, one of the two teams is going to be in that situation,” Maurice said. “Using that energy, but also controlling that energy is critical.”
THEY SAID IT
“This is the reason why you come down here.” – Nate Schmidt
“There’s no dread. We don’t say we have to win tonight because we can’t win the next one. We’ve played exceptionally well at times in Game 6’s, and then other times the other team has played well.” – Paul Maurice
“I think being around the group and the experience that’s with this group has really kind of calmed my heart rate down. I understand how big it is, but these guys that have been around have been there, done that.” – Seth Jones
“We’ve just got to think about the process, our structure, the same things we’ve been doing since the start of playoffs. It just seems like that’s what we’ve been focused on since the last game finished, and it’s not going to change tonight.” – Brad Marchand
FIVE CATS STATS
– Sam Reinhart has scored in each of the last three games.
– The Panthers have nine skaters with 15 or more playoff points, matching the NHL record.
– Florida ranks first this postseason with 421 hits at home.
– The Panthers are 4-0 when Aaron Ekblad scores these playoffs.
– Brad Marchand’s 179 playoff games are the fourth most among active NHL skaters.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Tuesday, June 17 at 8 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV: TNT, truTV, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR-FM & 1230 WBZT-AM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); Panthers App; SiriusXM Channel 220 / App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click Here
