I regret to inform you that the Edmonton Oilers have been eliminated from Stanley Cup contention. The Florida Panthers have won the Stanley Cup in seven games after a 2–1 victory Monday evening. No reverse sweep was to be seen to completion.
For the third straight season, the Oilers have lost in the playoffs to the eventual champion. If there is any team to lose to, at least it is the one that ultimately won it all. That does not make it any easier to digest, unfortunately.
After losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Cup Final last season with a team ravaged by injuries, the Panthers entered the 2024 Final relatively healthy. Their organizational depth was a key factor in what helped propel them to victory in this series.
The unbelievable performance by Sergei Bobrovsky in the first three games of this series gave the Panthers more than enough cushion to close things out despite getting blown out 8–1 in Game 4 and being forced to a seventh game.
How did we get here? Let’s take a quick look back on the series that was.
Series recap
Game 1
Florida Panthers 3 – Edmonton Oilers 0, Florida leads 1–0
Edmonton came out ready to play to start off the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. With multiple high-quality chances early in the game stemming from tons of pressure, they looked like they were going to get off to a quick start. But the aforementioned Bobrovsky completely shut the door in the first game of this series as the Panthers shut out the Oilers.
Despite outshooting Florida 25–12 in the first two periods Edmonton found themselves down 2–0. The Panthers capitalized on their chances, leading to harsh criticism of defenders Cody Ceci and Darnell Nurse, who found themselves on the ice and involved in both goals against.
Game 2
Florida Panthers 4 – Edmonton Oilers 1, Florida leads 2–0
As the team of moral victories, the #OilersPositives moment from this game was actually scoring a goal. Other than that, this may have been the worst game the Oilers played for the entirety of the playoff run.
At no point did they have control of play, getting outshot 29–19, while the 5v5 goal drought continued. It looked at times as if Bobrovsky got into their heads as the Oilers looked hesitant to shoot after game one.
Game Three
Florida Panthers 4 – Edmonton Oilers 3, Florida leads 3–0
Although the Oilers bounced back from an awful second game, it was still not enough to prevent a potential sweep opportunity for Florida. The game was tied 1–1 early in the second until Florida scored three unanswered goals in six minutes to put the game out of reach.
A late comeback attempt fell short but at least showed the Oilers still had some battle in them.
Game four
Edmonton Oilers 8 – Florida Panthers 1, Florida leads 3–1
With their backs against the wall, the Oilers responded with strength. An 8–1 victory on home ice when facing elimination was an absolute shock to the hockey world.
The game was close for the first, with Edmonton taking a 3–1 lead into the first intermission. But six unanswered goals completely stunned the Panthers.
Edmonton finally solved Bobrovsky, even getting him pulled after the fifth goal on 16 shots.
This was a complete roster effort with Skinner making a huge save to retain an Oilers lead early, scoring depth, and a standout performance from Connor McDavid, who had four points.
Game five
Edmonton Oilers 5 – Florida Panthers 3, Florida leads 3–2
At least Edmonton made this series interesting by winning game five. Following a similar trend to game four, an early shorthanded goal got the offence rolling. But in this game, the Panthers had more battle and got this game close.
But once again, a four-point night from McDavid and some massive saves from Skinner propelled the Oilers to victory for the second straight game. And gave them a chance to play one final home game in what was bound to be the loudest that rink has ever gotten.
Game six
Edmonton Oilers 5 – Florida Panthers 1, series tied 3–3
For the first time since before game one, this series is evened up. The Oilers somehow got away with it yet again and pushed the Panthers to a seventh game.
Another early goal got the Oilers ahead and a crucial offside challenge on what would have made the game 2–1 early in the second kept Florida off the scoresheet for even longer.
In the final home game of the season, the Oilers did not disappoint as they sent the home crowd home happy.
Game seven
Let’s not talk about this one. We all know what just happened.
Thank you, Oilers, for an incredible season. Now…
Run. It. Back.
