Say what you want about Connor McDavid being a generational player. He’ll never win a Stanley Cup until he and his Oilers teammates understand what it means to come through in meaningful games. The display they put on at home in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers was underwhelming at best. In the Oilers’ 5-2 loss, it seemed Florida wanted it more and were beating the Oilers to every loose puck. The Panthers simply had more of a will to win. The Oilers, meanwhile, looked like they were playing the San Jose Sharks on a Thursday night in November.
Related: Oilers Never Do Things the Easy Way
I have a theory about this that not too many people in the hockey world have talked about. The Oilers were away from their wives, partners, and families for almost a week while they were in Florida playing Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. That’s a long time. Coming back to Edmonton on a five-hour flight, getting reacquainted with the family, then playing hockey in less than 48 hours obviously did not benefit the Oilers at all. The Panthers were the team with more jump all game while the Oilers were lucky just to put two good passes together on a shift. It was a disappointing effort, especially when the stakes were so high. If the Oilers were to somehow pull off a miracle and win Game 6 of the series in Sunrise, Florida on Tuesday, I would take a page out of Muhammad Ali’s playbook or the old Montreal Canadiens back in the 1970s and have the Oilers stay in a hotel away from the distractions from home before Game 7 back in Edmonton.
The Oilers Need to Do Some Soul Searching Before Game 6
If the Oilers go on to lose Game 6 on Tuesday or Game 7 on Friday, they have no one to blame but themselves. To come up as small as they did in Game 5, in such an important game when they could’ve grabbed the series by the horns, is simply inexcusable for a team that wants to win the Stanley Cup. I’ve watched the Oilers since 1974 — even attended a World Hockey Association playoff game in the old Edmonton Gardens — and I can’t recall being as frustrated as I was with this team as this past Saturday.
I could just imagine how the players and coaches felt. The fans? Well… they let the world know how they felt on social media. I know Florida is a good team, if they win Game 6 at home, then they absolutely deserve all the praise and respect in the world. As for the Oilers, if they play the same in Game 6 like they did in Game 5, then I would perform some serious surgery on the team in the offseason if I was general manager Stan Bowman.
I don’t blame goaltenders Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard. The Panthers Sergei Bobrovsky has provided his team with better goaltending during the Stanley Cup Final, but it’s not he’s provided an overwhelming advantage for the Panthers. The Oilers seem to be shooting themselves in the foot at inopportune times, and I’m still waiting for that team that beat the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars in Rounds 2 and 3 to show up. The difference in those two series was the confidence the Oilers were playing with. It seems like the bright lights of the Final, combined with a relentless Florida forecheck, have caused the Oilers to stumble. One of the most disappointing aspects of watching the Oilers in this series is they haven’t seemed to put together a complete game like they have in past rounds. Maybe they will in Game 6 and in Game 7 if they’re fortunate enough to get there.
Game 6 is The Biggest Game of McDavid’s Career
This might be the best opportunity McDavid has to win a Stanley Cup, and I expect he, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and company to come up with their best effort Final. I think the Oilers’ best could be good enough to push the series to Game 7 but they have to play their game. Having three days off between games this week, will benefit the Oilers because as they showed in Game 5, 48 hours between games isn’t enough time to reset and get focused. So much credit is being lavished on how great the Panthers are, and they definitely deserve their kudos. But I just feel that the Oilers haven’t played their best yet. Are the Oilers capable of playing two great games in a row? No doubt. But they have to start with Game 6 on Tuesday in Florida. Let’s see what happens.
