As the Edmonton Oilers face the difficult task of overcoming a 3-0 deficit in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final, they can look ahead to the regular season.
They had a 16-game winning streak and streaks of eight and five games, more than enough to bounce back and capture their first title since 1990.
“When things are going well, we can really get better,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said after a 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 3.
Of course, none of the games in those streaks involved the Panthers.
Only four NHL teams have won a series in which they were down 3-0, and only one has won the Stanley Cup Final. Here’s why the Oilers are on the verge of being the first team swept in the finals since 1998:
Their best players have not scored
The Oilers are scoreless in the series from Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, who combined for 127 in the regular season and 29 in the first three rounds.
Welcome to Panthers hockey. Florida’s pre-control plan disrupts offensive attacks. The Panthers held Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov scoreless, Boston’s David Pastrnak to one and the New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider to two combined.
Florida’s style wears down teams, which is why the Panthers have been so effective in the third period until the Oilers scored twice on Thursday.
Sergei Bobrovsky surpasses Stuart Skinner
The Oilers broke down the Panthers’ defense in Game 1, but Bobrovsky posted a 32-save shutout. He stopped 32 more shots Thursday, including several big ones after the Oilers tied the game. He has only allowed one bad goal: on Mattias Ekholm’s Game 2 shot that slipped between his legs.
Bobrovsky does well blocking the back of the net. The Oilers need to do more of what led to the Game 3 goals: a high shot, a lucky rebound from a Panthers defenseman and a deflection.
In addition to Skinner playing against Vancouver and Dallas after missing two second-round games in a restart, he allowed nine goals on 68 shots in the finals. He misplayed the puck behind his goal in Game 3, leading to Vladimir Tarasenko’s goal.
“I tried to play the puck,” he said. “I don’t know if he rebounded on me… They took the puck, they passed it to the front. I tried to catch it too and I tried to save it, but none of those three things worked.”
The Panthers have put an end to the Oilers’ power play
They are perfect on the 10 Oilers man advantages. Again, that’s Panthers hockey. They have only allowed six power play goals in the entire playoffs. Bobrovsky plays a role in that too. The Oilers’ power play had reached 37.3% heading into the final. That is an important source of lost goals.
Panthers pounce on mistakes
Sam Bennett won a puck battle before one of Evan Rodrigues’ Game 1 goals. Rodrigues scored in Game 2 after Evan Bouchard gave up. Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov stole the puck from Bouchard before Florida’s first goal on Thursday. Darnell Nurse had the puck stolen before the third goal. The fourth goal was scored on a 2-1 break. Florida is opportunistic and has the ability to make you pay for what Skinner called “dumb mistakes.”
Panthers deeper than battered Oilers
The Panthers couldn’t overcome injuries when they lost in last year’s finals. But now they are healthier and deeper. They added three defensemen in the offseason to address the early-season absences of Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour. With those two back, Florida has one of the best blue lines in the NHL. Tarasenko, a former Stanley Cup winner with nearly 300 goals, plays on the third line. Free agent Rodrigues can move up and down the lineup as needed.
The Oilers have high-level talent but can’t match the Panthers’ depth. And Evander Kane was ineffective with an injury before missing Game 3. Nurse played less than five minutes in Game 2 due to injury. And as is typical playoff tradition, other injuries won’t be known until the series ends.
