A comeback for the ages fell just short last night as the Edmonton Oilers lost 2-1 to the Florida Panthers in a nail-biting Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. After becoming the first team in 79 years to force a deciding game in the championship series after trailing 3-0, the Oilers came agonizingly close to joining the 1942 Maple Leafs as the only clubs to complete the rally. But the reinvigorated Panthers held on to capture the first Stanley Cup in franchise history and prevent the Oilers from becoming the first Canadian team to win the Cup in 31 years.
Another big trophy did go to an Oiler though, as Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. He’s the first player from the losing team to get the award in 21 years and just the second non-goalie, after Philadelphia forward Reggie Leach in 1976.
Florida fans booed the choice (they wanted Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky), but McDavid was the correct pick. He broke Wayne Gretzky’s record for most assists in a post-season with 34 (in 25 games), while his 42 points were the fourth-most ever and just five shy of the Great One’s record. McDavid fuelled the Oilers’ comeback with an incredible eight points in Games 4 and 5, and even when he didn’t get on the scoresheet (which was the case in Games 6 and 7) he was the best player on the ice and a scoring-chance machine.
WATCH l Sam Reinhart lifts Panthers over Oilers in Game 7:
Florida defeated Edmonton Monday night 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final giving the Panthers a 4-3 series win.
Losing Game 7 of the Cup final “sucks,” as McDavid said after the game, but the Oilers still have a strong core in place for another run next year.
Along with the best player in the world, they’ve found a good young coach in 45-year-old Kris Knoblauch, who guided the team to the league’s best record from the time he took over in mid-November to the end of the season. Leon Draisaitl, despite his sub-par performance in the Cup final (no goals and just three assists in the series, plus some flubbed chances in Game 7) remains an elite second banana. 24-year-old defenceman Evan Bouchard just added to his breakthrough 82-point regular season by finishing second in the playoff scoring race and recording the most assists ever by a blue-liner in a single post-season. Zach Hyman scored a playoff-best 16 goals after potting a career-high 54 this season. In net, hometown boy Stuart Skinner…
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