SUNRISE, Fla. – Once more unto the breach.
With a chance to hoist Lord Stanley on the line, the Florida Panthers will host the Edmonton Oilers for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
Florida is seeking its first Stanley Cup, while Edmonton last won in 1990.
“We have an unbelievable opportunity,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said.
A roller coaster of a series, this is just the 17th time the Final has gone to Game 7.
In those games, the home team boasts a 12-5 record.
After the Panthers raced out to a commanding 3-0 lead in the series, the Oilers responded with three straight wins of their own to force a decisive winner-take-all contest in Sunrise.
In each of the last three games, the Oilers rode an early lead to victory.
Trying to swing things back in their favor in front of what should be an all-time raucous crowd, the Panthers know that getting off to a strong start will be crucial in Game 7.
Overall, the team that breaks the ice owns a 5-1 record in the series.
“Looking forward to having a good start,” Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg said. “The building is going to electric. It’s something our fans deserve. We’re excited to hopefully put on a good show.”
When it comes to what the Panthers will need to do in order to come out on top in Game 7, head coach Paul Maurice points to how his team performed just a few days ago in Game 5.
Despite suffering a 5-3 loss on home ice, the Panthers felt they dominated the game for long stretches. Owning a 3-1 lead in goals at 5-on-5, they were simply undone by special teams, where the Oilers had two goals on the power play and one shorthanded strike.
If they get a similar performance in Game 7, they like their chances.
“The biggest part of it is built over years,” Maurice said of preparing for tonight’s do-or-die matchup. “It’s built over time. X’s and O’s, you’re as dialed as you’re going to be. We’ll go through the basics of it, and then it’s about setting a tone that allows them to play with a certain amount of freedom in that game. You encourage that in the style of play we play.”
The Panthers will be making just one lineup change for Game 7 as veteran Kyle Okposo will slot in on the fourth line in place of Nick Cousins, who had re-entered the lineup in Game 6.
For the Oilers, no information on their lineup will come until warmups.
Between the pipes, it’ll be Sergei Bobrovsky against Stuart Skinner once again.
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