The Edmonton Oilers defeated themselves on Thursday night.
They lost Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers by a score of 4-3, and now face near-impossible odds with a 3-0 series deficit.
Despite scoring two goals in the third period, their first multi-goal period in the Cup Final, the Oilers were unable to dig themselves out of a 4-1 hole. So now they face an even deeper hole.
Only once has a team come back from 3-0 down in the Stanley Cup Final. That would be the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942.
That was during World War II. Oh.
There are a few reasons why the Oilers find themselves in this difficult situation.
One is Sergei Bobrovsky, who has been nothing short of phenomenal this postseason. The Panthers goalie seals the bottom half of the net with ease and has made impressive acrobatic saves.
Another is the offense. While Connor McDavid has assisted on three of Edmonton’s four goals in this series, the other members of their prolific offense have gone silent.
Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman have yet to score against the Panthers.
Then there’s the power play, which was once the calling card of the Oilers’ offense early in these playoffs. They are 0 for 10 in this series. and they went 0 for 3 in Game 3.
But the most glaring problem for this Oilers team has been defense.
They made three unforgivable mistakes below the goal line Thursday night, and each mistake gave Florida a goal.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Final: Game 3 winners and losers
First Oilers Mistake: Evan Bouchard Gets Defeated…Again.
It’s been a never-ending Stanley Cup Final nightmare for Evan Bouchard, who became a fan favorite this year for his Bouchard blast slaps and impressive offensive numbers.
But Bouchard was lost on the defensive side of the puck in the Stanley Cup Final.
The 24-year-old defenseman has been beaten on the boards several times by faster forwards and lost the puck in critical moments.
Watch as Aleksander Barkov steals it (and then hits it in his own zone) to allow the Panthers to score the first goal on Thursday.
It is not something isolated.
He made a similarly costly mistake Monday night in Florida, that time delivering a pass directly to Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues in the Oilers zone as they tied 1-1 with 16:49 left in the third period.
He panics at a simple punt, not realizing that the two Panthers are standing in the way of his intended passing target, Connor Brown.
You can see Stuart Skinner’s frustration with Bouchard when he raises his arm in the air after the goal.
Have a look:
It’s disappointing for the Oilers, who witnessed a career season from Bouchard, in which he totaled an impressive 82 points and earned a solid plus-34.
Second Oilers mistake: Stuart Skinner’s slip
It’s a goalkeeper’s worst nightmare and it happens to everyone.
But did it have to happen now to Stuart Skinner?
Midway through the second period, Skinner attempted to intercept a shot from Panthers center Anton Lundell, but it slipped off his stick as he failed to stop his full momentum.
Waiting just outside the trapezoid is Eetu Luostarinen, who hands the puck to Vladimir Tarasenko, who beats Skinner to make it 2-1.
Certainly, some of the blame could fall on Oilers defenseman Cody Ceci, who, despite having superior angle and position to Luostarinen, lost the puck battle below the goal line.
However, every time the goalie is behind the net to concede a goal, it doesn’t look good.
Skinner had been very solid since being passed over by backup goaltender Calvin Pickard in Game 4 and Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Vancouver Canucks.
He never allowed more than three goals in a game during the Western Conference finals against the Dallas Stars, and it was starting to look like he had found his playoff groove.
That was until he ran into the Panthers.
In the Stanley Cup Final, Skinner allowed 9 goals on 68 attempts, giving him an undesirable .868 save percentage and three goals allowed per game.
The Oilers defense hasn’t done him any favors, but that unfortunate situation behind the net will follow him for a while, considering it was a tied game at the time.
Third Greasers Mistake: Nurse Darnell’s Nightmare
Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse has had a tough time this postseason.
He’s been on the ice for a lot of goals.
Nurse’s plus/minus is a stabbing -16, tied for the worst in postseason history with Paul Reinhart’s 1983 season with the Calgary Flames.
And yes, that’s the father of Panthers frontline wing Sam Reinhart.
This series alone hasn’t been easy for Nurse.
He took a hard (but clean) hit from Rodrigues in Game 2 that injured his hip, limiting Nurse to just five minutes of ice time and leaving him absent from practice the next day.
Nurse returned to the ice Thursday night for Game 3 and appeared shaky.
Although he was able to get a secondary assist on Philip Broberg’s goal to cut the lead to 4-2 early in the third period, it was not enough to rectify this mistake in the second half of the second:
Nurse receives a pass from Broberg along the boards and then finds himself under pressure as he tries to skate to start the breakaway.
He quickly realizes he is under pressure from Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett and instantly coughs the puck to Tkachuk.
The Panthers forward waits patiently, finds Bennett open at the back post and quickly makes it 3-1.
The mistakes below the goal line are endless for the Oilers.
Unless the Oilers can fix things quickly, they could be watching the Panthers hoist the Stanley Cup inside Rogers Place on Saturday.
