The Oilers are ready to fight for their lives. Edmonton hosts the Florida Panthers tonight in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers need to find a way to win in front of the home crowd to keep their chances at winning the Stanley Cup alive. A recent reports suggests that they may have Evander Kane back in the mix.
According to head coach Kris Knoblauch, forward Evander Kane is a game-time decision, per ESPN. Kane has missed the last three games with an undisclosed injury. He seems to be trending in the right direction. In fact, Kane was seen skating with forwards Sam Gagner and Sam Carrick outside of the team's top four lines in practice on Thursday.
The 32-year-old forward has eight points (four goals, four assists) and a minus-seven rating in 20 games played in the playoffs. During the regular season, he logged 44 points (24 goals, 20 assists) in 77 games played.
If Kane is available, there's a solid chance that he could play. At today's optional morning skate, Oilers forward Dylan Holloway remained on the ice with the potential scratches, per Sportsnet.ca. This suggests that he could be the one to come out of the lineup if Kane is medically cleared.
The Oilers haven't ruled out changing their lines ahead of Game 6, so there's a chance that Evander Kane can find his way onto the ice if he's available to play.
Previewing Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final: can the Oilers complete their historic comeback?
Edmonton has a chance to make NHL history. If the Oilers can force a Game 7, they will be the 10th team in NHL history to force Game 7 after being down 3-0. Of the first nine teams, the team coming back from 3-0 only won four times. Those aren't fantastic odds, but do they do prove that someone has done what Edmonton wants to do before.
If they are going to complete their epic comeback, it will surely be on the back of superstar center Connor McDavid.
McDavid is having a postseason for the ages. He has already set the NHL postseason record for most assist in a single postseason. McDavid is also five points shy of breaking Gretzky's single-postseason points record (42) and two points shy of Gretzky's Stanley Cup Final points record (13). Finally, after Game 5, he became the first player in NHL history to post back-to-back four-point games in the Stanley Cup Final.
These historic achievements are hugely impressive even if he doesn't surpass either of Gretzky's records. McDavid is now the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP, despite the fact that his team hasn't won the Stanley Cup.
“I don't think you're thinking about that,” McDavid said, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. “Those things just happen. They're a byproduct of being prepared, all the work that we've done throughout the regular season, all the work that we've done through this run. Those moments are a product of guys who are ready for the big moment. There's no group that is more ready for the moment than this one here.”
There are still skeptics out there. In fact, the experts at The Athletic lean towards picking the Panthers to end the series in Game 6.
The Oilers will leave it all out on the ice tonight in Game 6. The puck drops at 8PM ET in Edmonton.
Follow Us
Subscribe