Edmonton Oilers force Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals with a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers

Extending an improbable comeback from a three-game deficit, the Edmonton Oilers forced a deciding Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals with a 5-1 win over the Panthers Friday night.

Extending an improbable comeback from a three-game deficit, the Edmonton Oilers forced a deciding Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals with a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers Friday night. With the best-of-seven series level at three games apiece, the teams will return to Florida Monday night in a final showdown for the championship. The Oilers weren’t done with their quest to end Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought, and fought back for a chance to win it all. After falling to an 0-3 deficit, the Oilers became only the third team in Stanley Cup Final history to force a decisive Game 7, joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 and Detroit Red Wings in 1945. “It’s crazy. I mean there’s a strong belief in our locker room. The fans, everybody believes in us. It’s special to play here, it’s special to play in front of this crowd to force a Game 7,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said after the game. Edmonton opened up the scoring in the first period, when Warren Foegele buried a feed from Leon Draisaitl into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. The Oilers then doubled their lead 46 seconds into the second period, as Edmonton took advantage of a 2-on-1 with Adam Henrique finishing off a pass from Mattias Janmark for the 2-0 lead. Florida seemed to have taken one back seconds after the face-off, when Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov hammered home a rebound past Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner. However, Edmonton challenged for offside, and the goal was overturned after replay officials ruled Florida’s Sam Reinhart preceded the puck into the offensive zone and was offside prior to the goal.