GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Panthers 1 (Game 6)

EDMONTON, AB – Don't stop believing, Oil Country.

After being down 3-0 to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers banded together to stave off elimination for the third straight game with a 5-1 victory on Friday night at Rogers Place, evening the championship series at three games apiece and forcing the all-important deciding Game 7 back in Sunrise on Monday evening.

"Having that belief, it's really hard to put into words," Stuart Skinner said. "There's just a feeling, a really strong feeling of belief with this whole group, and we've had that for a long time now. And no matter what situation we put ourselves in, we always do have that belief. So me saying that feels very normal.

"I really do believe in this group, and I'm sticking to those words. If anyone can do it, it's the Oil, but we've got a lot more work to do here."

Warren Foegele had a goal and assist while Stuart Skinner made 20 saves in the victory to improve his record in Games 4-7 during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs to 10-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .940 save percentage, along with picking up an assist in the final three minutes after making an unbelievable clearance and pass to Darnell Nurse, who fired the puck 200 feet down the ice to make it 5-1 and secure Edmonton their famous home victory.

Foegele opened the scoring in the first period before Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman bookended the middle frame with goals to build the Oilers a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes, leaving their team one strong period from going back to Florida for Game 7.

Even after their three-goal lead was dented early in the final period by Aleksander Barkov, the Blue & Orange held down the fort in the final stanza, recording empty-net goals through Ryan McLeod and Darnell Nurse to lock down the 5-1 victory that leaves Edmonton one victory away from completing the reverse sweep and winning their sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Game 7 and Edmonton's chance at history will come on Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena.

"You get down 0-3, it's easy to fold. But I think we've truly believed in each other this whole season and throughout the whole playoffs," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. And you're in the Stanley Cup Final, so it's a lot of fun. This is what we play for, so nobody's going to give up, nobody's going to turn on each other, and we've shown that belief and the character that we have in this group."

FIRST PERIOD

Liftoff.

The Oilers and their feral fans inside Rogers Place, around ICE District and throughout Oil Country received the elevation they so desperately craved in Game 6 when Warren Foegele finished off a superb set-up from Leon Draisaitl at the end of a quick rush that began off the stick of Stony Plain product Brett Kulak.

Kulak quickly pushed the puck up to Draisaitl from the blueline after picking off a lazy Panthers’ pass, leading to a three-on-two rush through the middle led by Draisaitl with Foegele rushing to his left and Dylan Holloway heading for the net-front.

Draisaitl outwaited the sliding Gustav Forsling as he eyed up a far-side saucer pass to Foegele, who fell after coming in contact with Aaron Ekblad before he lifted himself off the ice and buried the opening goal into the top echelon of Bobrovsky’s net, providing a release from the crowd inside the bowl that lifted the roof off Rogers Place with the opening goal at 12:33 of the opening period.

Draisaitl spoke candidly pre-game about his resolve to have more of an impact in the series, and his sensational pass to set up Foegele was a confirmation that he’s a man of his word after picking up his third assist of the series in 6:37 of ice time in the opening frame.

"I'm an offensive guy. Confidence comes from putting up numbers sometimes. That's just the way it is," Draisaitl said. "Do I have other things that I'm good at? Yeah, of course. But sometimes it's nice to make a play and get rewarded for it. You can ask any offensive player, that's just the way you feel it felt good to make a nice play and get rewarded for it, but we still have lots more to go."

With his third goal of the playoffs in the first period, Warren Foegele stretched his point streak to four games (2G, 2A), with more than half of his points (3G, 4A) this postseason being registered in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Oilers outshot the Panthers 11-2 in the opening 20 minutes, with both of Florida's shots being registered by defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Panthers' forwards wouldn't register a shot until after the half-way mark of the second period, where Edmonton continued their dominance of the pace of play to push them even closer to a Game 7 on Monday night.

SECOND PERIOD

Florida couldn’t believe it. Believing is all Edmonton can do.

That unshakeable faith that there’d be a Game 7 in this series grew even stronger when the Oilers doubled their lead just 46 seconds into the second period after catching the Panthers on a bad change, leaving Mattias Janmark alone at the far blueline to create a two-on-one with linemate Adam Henrique.

The Swede put his pass onto the tape of Henrique in the right circle before Edmonton’s trade-deadline acquisition from Anaheim put it off the far post and inside the opposite iron, quickly putting Edmonton ahead 2-0 in the middle frame.

Edmonton's incredible third line of Mattias Janmark (1G, 2A), Adam Henrique (2G) and Connor Brown (1G, 1A) have now combined for seven points over the last three games, including their Game 6 performances, as the line that's really taken this comeback for the Oilers to a different level with their contributions.

"Obviously, it's a huge goal. It's 2-0 and that next goal, whoever scores, it's either a one-goal game or a three-goal game," Hyman said. "We didn't think we had it in the bag or anything like that. We had to come out strong in the third, and they obviously got one and it was a good buffer to have. We were able to kind of just manage the game after that."

That explosion inside Rogers Place at 2-0 would be quickly subdued after Aleksander Barkov scored just 12 seconds later before the first minute had even passed, but the call then came down from the Oilers’ bench with the challenge for offside, leading to the play being overturned by the slimmest of margins after Carter Verhaeghe held onto the puck a millisecond too long along the blueline to put the Cats' captain offside by a fraction of an inch.

"It's obviously very tight. I personally thought it was the right call, but you never know and Knobber obviously has the right touch," Draisaitl said. "He knows what he's doing and he seems to make the right decisions a lot more often than not. That was obviously a big one."

"I know it's probably a little stressful to make that call at that time of game, but made the right decision," Nugent-Hopkins added.

With their 2-0 lead intact, the Oilers would kill off their 20^th consecutive penalty on home ice near the midway mark of the period before waiting until the final two minutes to capitalize again and carry a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made a crucial block at the top of the zone to kick the puck into the neutral zone for Zach Hyman to chase, getting locked into a foot race against Forsling that he won before eluding the sliding defenceman and tucking his backhand under the blocker of Bobrovsky for the 3-0 lead.

"I don't know, to be honest. I think I was just in the moment," Hyman said of his sprint for the puck. "It didn't feel so long in the moment, and you kind of race for the puck and then I got it. I didn't have much time when I got it. I think I was at the hashmarks and then obviously, I settled it and made my move and beat him."

The tally was Hyman's 16th of the playoffs, making him the only active NHL player to have 16 goals in a playoff campaign, while only eight other players in NHL history have scored more than the winger.

"It's impressive. He's a heck of a hockey player. Very unique. He's like a little bull," Skinner said. "He jumps out of the gate like nobody can. His first couple of strides are so powerful, and I think you really see it today on the goal. He just explodes out of there and he's gone. And then obviously, he's calm, cool, and collected in front of the net and just knows where to go. Really smart hockey player."

THIRD PERIOD

What else is there to say at this point?

Even after Barkov managed to wind his way through the Oilers defence and cut into the lead only 1:28 into the third period to make it 3-1, the Blue & Orange showed their resolve to seal the deal with two empty-netters through Ryan McLeod and Darnell Nurse – but all the attention belongs to the sensational stop by Stuart Skinner to record the assist on No. 25's full-length shot that settled into the Panthers' yawning cage and add insult to Florida's fightback.

The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky first with under three-and-a-half minutes left in regulation before the puck was pushed out by Foegele for McLeod to chase and backhand into the empty net with 3:15 on the clock, all but confirming we'd be heading back to Sunrise for Game 7 on Monday night.

But the Oilers weren't finished – particularly their incredible netminder – who reached back in the crease and removed the puck from danger with his stick, passing it to Darnell Nurse before the defenceman fired it the length of the ice into another empty net, adding extra insult to the Panthers' injury of having to head back home and try to stop these relentless Oilers from completing the reverse sweep.

"I don't compliment myself much, but I thought that pass was right on Darnell's tape," Skinner said. "I kind of looked like Leo there for a second, but they put the puck on the net and it was kind of an unlucky bounce. It hit off Broby, and then I was just able to kind of get it and I saw an opening, made a nice pass, and Doc was just able to get it in. So I'm happy that he was able to score that and give me a little assist.

"But at the end of the day, being able to hear the crowd after, the most important thing is just being able to be up at that time and being able to win the game at the end. So again, got a lot of work to do, but I'm very proud of how we finished the game out."