The Florida Panthers host the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
For the 18th time in NHL history, the final will be decided in the ultimate game. The Panthers are trying to lift the precious trophy for the first time in their history while the Oilers are looking to win it for the first time since 1990.
The Panthers grabbed the first power play of the game early in the game. Warren Foegele was chased for a high stick, but the Oilers, as they did so well in the playoffs, put the brakes on the massive attack.
A few seconds after the end of the penalty, Carter Verhaeghe skillfully deflected Evan Rodrigues’ throw between the legs of Stuart Skinner to open the scoring.
But the response did not take long, Mattias Janmark created the tie on a breakaway by thwarting Sergei Bobrovsky with a feint.
Pre-match note
After Florida took a 3-0 series lead, Edmonton responded with three straight wins to force a deciding game at Sunrise.
In the series, the team that scored the first goal won five of six games.
With 42 points, Connor McDavid is the top scorer of this spring tournament. His teammates Evan Bouchard (32 points) and Leon Draisaitl (31 points) follow him while Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov lead the Panthers with 22 points.
Florida made a change in its formation. 36-year-old veteran Kyle Okposo will take Nick Cousins’ place on the fourth line.
Between the two teams, only one player played a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final. Vladimir Tarasenko helped the St. Louis Blues win the cup in 2019 against the Boston Bruins.
With a win, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch could become the seventh coach to win the Finals by being hired midway through the season. Craig Berube was the last to do so in 2018-2019.
All the details on RDS.ca
