June 22, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers played host to a Game 6 of a Stanley Cup Final for just the second time in their history on Friday night. The Oilers managed to force a Game 7 against the Florida Panthers after a 5-1 win in Game 6 at Rogers Place.

The Oilers opened the scoring 7:27 into the first period, and they took the 1-0 lead to the first intermission. They scored another one early in the second period. The Panthers had a goal disallowed moments later due to an offside challenge by the Oilers. The Oilers took a 3-0 lead into the second intermission. Aleksander Barkov got the Panthers on the board early in the third period, but the Oilers got two empty netters to seal their trip to Florida for Game 7.

Call Outs

Cody Ceci had an opportunity to clear the puck on his backhand on the Barkov goal, but failed to do so. Leon Draisaitl and Derek Ryan could not win the battle along the wall. Barkov walked past Warren Foegele and Brett Kulak before tucking the only Panthers goal of the game past Stuart Skinner.

Stand Outs

Foegele scored the first goal of the game on an excellent feed from Draisaitl. Foegele also got an assist on Ryan McLeod’s empty net goal. He was the only Oilers to record a multi-point game in Game 6. This is also the second time that he has opened the scoring in a home game in this series (Game 3).

Mattias Janmark was simply fantastic in this game. He made a beautiful sauce pass to Adam Henrique for the Oilers’ second goal of the game. Janmark was a demon on the forecheck all night long though.

Shoutouts

Zach Hyman scored his league-leading sixteenth goal of the playoffs on a breakaway. The goal was his 70th of the season including the regular season and the playoffs.

Skinner didn’t have to make many difficult saves in this one, but he was solid when called upon. He also got an assist on Darnell Nurse’s empty netter! Skinner is the eighth goalie in NHL history to record a point in a Stanley Cup Final game. No goalie has more than one Stanley Cup Final point; so yes, Skinner is now tied for the all-time record for the most career points by a goalie in the Stanley Cup Final.

Draisaitl was critical of his play prior to Game 5, but he stepped up with a world class pass to Foegele for the game’s opening goal.

Philip Broberg was plus three with three shot blocks in Game 5. He added an assist on Nurse’s empty net goal.

A huge shoutout goes to Noah Segall and Mike Fanelli. Segall is the Video Coach for the Oilers, and Fanelli is the Video and Coaching Analytics Coordinator. Head Coach Kris Knoblauch acknowledged that the decision to challenge the Panthers’ goal early in the second period started with Segall and Fanelli. They saw enough to warrant an Oilers challenge, and the call on the ice was reversed. The Oilers were able to hold on to their 2-0 because of that video review.

Related: Oilers Hire Fanelli and Segall

Wrap

That was an INCREDIBLE game! Oil Country showed up in a BIG way! The Oilers stepped up and got a massive victory. This was a true team effort. As a fan, Friday was a night that I’ll never forget.

The Stanley Cup Final will go to a Game 7 for the first time since 2019. Game 7 goes on Monday night.