The Edmonton Oilers’ incredible postseason run came up just short of the ultimate goal on Monday (June 24) at Amerant Bank Arena, where they lost 2-1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
After the Oilers won three consecutive games to rally from a 3-0 series deficit and force a seventh game, the Panthers were finally able to capture the franchise’s first championship with a victory before 19,939 fans in Sunrise.
Panthers forward Sam Reinhart scored the winning goal in the second period, breaking a 1-1 tie. The teams had traded goals in the first period, with Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe striking first before Mattias Janmark tallied in response for Edmonton.
Related: Panthers Win Game 7 vs. Oilers to Capture Franchise’s First Stanley Cup
The 66-day marathon that was the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs ended in heartbreak for the Oilers, who were trying to win their first championship in 34 years and become the first Canadian team to hoist the Stanley Cup since 1993.
On Monday night, two terrific teams engaged in a great game that only one of them could win. Unfortunately for Edmonton, it wasn’t the Oilers. Here’s why:
Panthers Kept Oilers’ Stars in Check
Oilers superstar Connor McDavid was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy, becoming just the sixth player from the Stanley Cup-losing team to be named playoff MVP.
McDavid was more than deserving of the award. Edmonton’s captain played brilliantly in the playoffs, leading all players with 42 points, including 34 apples to break Wayne Gretzky’s record for most assists in a single NHL postseason. As his team battled back from the brink, in Games 4 and 5, McDavid became the first player in Stanley Cup Final history with consecutive games of four or more points.
But McDavid was held without a point in three of the Final’s seven games, including Game 7. Monday was McDavid’s opportunity at immortality, and on this night, he wasn’t able to pull his team across the finish line. McDavid certainly didn’t have a bad game by any means, but with only two shots on goal, it wasn’t enough.
McDavid also had no help from Leon Draisaitl, who completely dropped off the face of the earth over the second half of this postseason. Through the Oilers’ first 13 games, he had nine goals and 16 assists to lead the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 25 points. Over their final 12 games, he had just one goal and five assists. The German forward went from averaging 3.75 shots on goal per game in the first two rounds to 2.15 in the Western Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final.
Details may emerge in the days to come that Draisaitl was playing hurt, perhaps even seriously. Otherwise, there really is no way to explain his dismal output over the last month.
Credit also goes to Florida’s defenders, who played no small role in keeping Edmonton’s dynamic duo, along with playoff-leading goal scorer Zach Hyman, off the board in their biggest game. When at their best, as was the case Monday, the Panthers are a strong-checking team that makes it very difficult for the opposition to get quality chances.
Bobrovsky Wins Goalie Duel
And then there’s “Goalie Bob”. Sergei Bobrovsky was a brick wall early in the series, allowing only one goal in Games 1 and 2 combined. But the Florida goaltender struggled in his team’s three losses, allowing 12 goals on 58 shots over Games 4, 5, and 6.
Bobrovsky bounced back big time on Monday, stopping 23 of the 24 shots he faced, and coming up with some huge saves, especially late in the third period as Edmonton pressed for the equalizer. For his performance, the 35-year-old Russian was named First Star of the Game.
On the whole, Bobrovsky didn’t have the greatest series: The two-time Vezina Trophy recipient posted a 2.67 goals-against average (GAA) with a .899 save percentage (SV%) over the duration of the Stanley Cup Final. But he was a difference-maker on Monday, and the Panthers probably aren’t in possession of the Cup if Bobrovsky hadn’t risen to the occasion in Game 7.
At the other end of the ice, Stuart Skinner blocked 19 of 21 shots, finishing the series with a 2.33 GAA and .909 SV% over seven starts. He was solid on Monday, making some key saves to keep the Oilers within one shot. While some may feel that he should have stopped the winner by Reinhart, he certainly wasn’t the reason his team lost Game 7. But in a game that was decided by one goal, Florida won the goaltending duel on Monday night.
Oilers Had Too Much to Overcome
Ever since Edmonton started the season 5-12-1, falling 10 points behind the Western Conference’s last playoff spot at American Thanksgiving, the Oilers have been constantly pushing uphill. They made one of the greatest turnarounds in NHL history, climbing all the way up to second place in the Pacific Division after posting the league’s best record over the final five months of the regular season.
In the postseason, Edmonton got past the Los Angles Kings 4-1 in the first round, came back from trailing 3-2 to beat the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in Round 2, and knocked off the Dallas Stars 4-2 in the conference championship to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006.
For a while, Edmonton couldn’t get anything going in the championship series, as Florida outscored the Oilers 11-2 over the first eight periods of the Final. When they fell behind 3-0 in the series, the Oilers were left needing to win four straight against a team that hasn’t dropped that many in regulation since March 2023.
Then the Oilers roared to life, led by McDavid’s historic performances, and reeled off three incredible wins, by scores of 8-1, 5-3, and 5-1. From the third period of Game 3 to the end of Game 6, Edmonton outscored the Panthers 20-5. But winning four straight games against the same team, especially one the calibre of Florida, was just too much to ask. It’s no coincidence that 82 years (and counting) have passed since a team rallied from down 3-0 to win the Stanley Cup.
Home ice was also critical. The host team went 5-2 in this series, and with respective records of 9-4 and 8-4, Florida and Edmonton had the two best home winning percentages of all teams in the 2024 NHL Playoffs.
It’s reasonable to think that if Game 7 had been at Rogers Place and not Amerant Arena, the outcome would have been different. Months later, the Oilers are still haunted by their dreadful start to the season, which cost them home-ice advantage for the biggest game of them all. That traces back to their dreadful first six weeks of the season. If Game 7 was at Rogers Place, it’s reasonable to think the outcome would have been different.
It won’t be long before the Oilers are back on the ice again, as the NHL preseason is slated to start in late September, and if experience has taught them anything, they’ll hit the ground running, so to speak.
With a better start to the 2024-25 season, maybe the Oilers are playing this game on home ice next year. And maybe they have a bit more gas left in the tank. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll be the ones hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup.
