Tonight (June 24) is the night. One game for all the marbles. The Edmonton Oilers vs. the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.
Edmonton is on the verge of making all kinds of history: the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since 1993. The first championship for the Oilers franchise in 34 years. The first time a team has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the Stanley Cup since 1942.
Related: Edmonton Oilers’ Top 7 Game 7 Heroes
Many are giving the Oilers the edge, simply because their lineup includes the greatest player on the planet, Connor McDavid. The likely Conn Smythe Trophy winner has had an all-time great postseason, racking up 42 points including an NHL Playoff record 34 assists. The Oilers captain put his team on his back in Game 5, scoring twice and assisting on two other goals in a 5-3 win for Edmonton, as McDavid grabbed the Panthers by the scruffs of their necks and dragged them back to Alberta for a sixth game.
But McDavid was held pointless in Game 6. He needed a little help from his friends at Rogers Place on Friday (June 21) and received more than enough assistance in Edmonton’s 5-1 victory, as five different Oilers scored, including four players that came into Game 6 with less than four goals this postseason.
McDavid might have the game of his life tonight. He might not. Or he might have the game of his life and it might not be quite enough. If they’re to bring the Cup back to Canada, the Oilers may need an unsung hero or two to rise to the occasion. Fortunately for the Oilers, they have several players capable of playing that role. Here’s a look at who could be Edmonton’s difference-maker tonight in South Florida.
Cody Ceci
Since joining the Oilers three years ago, Cody Ceci has played in a combined 277 regular season and playoff contests, and scored a grand total of 14 times. That’s virtually one goal every 20 games.
But in his two Game 7 appearances as a member of the Oilers, the defenceman has scored each time. He had the series-winning goal against the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and opened the scoring for Edmonton in its 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the second round on May 20.
Edmonton wouldn’t be playing tonight if not for the contributions of its blueliners, who have combined to score 18 times in the 2024 Playoffs, a franchise high for goals by defencemen in a single postseason. Could Ceci be that Oiler from the back end that steps up tonight?
Adam Henrique
The Stanley Cup Final began to turn in Edmonton’s favour in the third period of Game 3, which also happened to be the first game together for the line of Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown centered by Adam Henrique.
The newly formed trio has been a series-changer. Henrique, Janmark and Brown have been everything and more that a team could ask for from its third line, affecting the game positively in all three zones, and providing that proverbial spark.
While any three of these skaters could be that guy who rises up tonight, (Janmark, after all, had a hat trick to lead the Vegas Golden Knights past the Minnesota Wild in Game 7 of Round 1 in 2021) the best bet is Henrique, who has an absolutely incredible track record in these circumstances:
Three of Henrique’s four career Stanley Cup Final goals have been game-winners, including both this series, in Games 4 and 6; and in his only career Game 7, as a rookie with the New Jersey Devils against the Panthers in the first round of the 2024 postseason, Henrique scored twice, including in double overtime. Will he continue with his habitual heroics tonight, or will it be one of his new linemates’ time to shine?
Corey Perry
Corey Perry hasn’t made the biggest impact this postseason. The 39-year-old has even found himself a healthy scratch a few times throughout Edmonton’s playoff run. But games like this are the reason the Oilers signed the veteran winger in January, despite the controversy that surrounded his departure early this season from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Perry has played in a Game 7 on 10 different occasions (including once against the Oilers, as a member of the Anaheim Ducks in 2017) in his NHL career, tied for 17th most in Stanley Cup Playoff history. He even notched the series-winning goal for the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021.
No current Oiler can match the experience of Perry: he’s the lone player on Edmonton’s roster with a Stanley Cup ring. Perry’s only goal of the 2024 Playoffs came in Game 5 last Tuesday (June 18), and it was the game-winner. Does he have one more goal in him tonight?
Depth is the biggest reason for Edmonton’s success in the 2024 Playoffs. Nearly every last Oiler has delivered a big moment at one time or another, from Philip Broberg to Dylan Holloway and Ryan McLeod. Game 7 is when legends are made. Someone will become one in Sunrise tonight.
