The Oilers are trying to become the first team in 82 years to win the Stanley Cup after falling behind 3-0 in the Final. The 1941-42 Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team to successfully complete the comeback, defeating the Detroit Red Wings.
The Oilers are third team in NHL history and first since the Red Wings in 1945 to force Game 7 in the Final after falling behind 3-0.
Edmonton can become the fifth team in NHL history to win a best-of-7 series in any round after losing the first three games.
“Of course, when you are down 3-0 you are going to say you believe, but we truly, truly believe in each other and the ability to just win one game at a time,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “That’s all it comes down to. You don’t need to worry about winning two, or three, or four, you just win that game, and I think we all have that belief that if we play our best on any given night, we can win, so that’s been our focus, and we put ourselves back in a good spot.”
Aleksander Barkov scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves for the Panthers, the Eastern Conference champions, who were 0-for-3 on the power play, falling to 1-for-19 with two short-handed goals against in the series.
“Right now, if you walked into the room, there won’t be a lot of happy people,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “It doesn’t have to be right tonight. You’ve suffered a defeat. You feel it. It hurts. You lick your wounds and we start building that back tomorrow. But who you are tonight means nothing to who you’re going to be two days from now.”
