Will the Edmonton Oilers seize the opportunity in Game 6, or will they let it slip away?
Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” wasn’t written with Game 6 in mind, but the lyrics fit perfectly.
‘Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?’
The Oilers’ immediate goal is to force a Game 7 in Florida, and their one chance to achieve this is Thursday night at Rogers Place.
“You spend your life working to get into a position like this,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, confident in his team’s readiness for such pivotal moments.
“This has always been part of the plan for our group, to be in a position like this, playing big games at home in big moments and there’s another one to go yet.
“There is no group that is more ready for the moment than this one here.”
Thursday night is the last time local fans will see the Oilers play in person this season, and they plan to give it their all. The atmosphere will be electric, possibly the loudest and most vibrant it’s been in nearly two decades.
Fans will either cheer the Oilers into the summer after an extraordinary season or send them back to Florida to finish the job. The team knows what to expect and is eager for the noise.
“It’s pretty incredible to witness,” said veteran winger Corey Perry.
“Coming here for the playoffs (as a visitor) you don’t really know. If you’re not from here you don’t pay attention to it. But now you really see what’s going on around the city. All the people coming outside to the watch parties, everybody knows. You can hear the horns honking when you’re in the dressing room. You can hear everything. It’s pretty tremendous, pretty special to be here and go through it.”
The big question is: Will the Oilers capture the moment or let it slip? Despite being on home ice, Game 6 is far from guaranteed. Florida now has experience in closing out a series.
Their initial attempts were shaky, losing 8-1 in Game 4 and falling behind 3-0 in Game 5, but they managed to cut the deficit to 4-3. They are likely growing tired of the delays.
For the Oilers, what began as a low-pressure situation when they were down 3-0 and 3-1 has now become a high-stakes scenario. They are two wins away from a Stanley Cup, which represents their ultimate goal and brings immense pressure.
“Our backs are against the wall, there is no easy way to put it,” said Perry. “So you have to have the same mindset we had going into Game 4 and Game 5. The vision has to be the exact same. We have to come out and get that jump early. We’ve done that the last couple of games.
“We’re excited to be coming home and playing in front of our fans. We feel comfortable here. They give us that extra boost. We have to be ready to have the same mindset we had in Games 4 and 5.”
They must ensure the atmosphere and the moment don’t overwhelm them, which hasn’t been an issue so far.
Scoring more
In fact, they thrive under such circumstances. The Oilers are 4-8 in the first three games of a series but improve to 9-2 thereafter. They scored one goal in the first two games of the Final and 13 goals in the last two.
They are known for slow starts but tend to figure things out and improve as the series progresses.
“They’ve been down and out before,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch of his team.
“Going into the Dallas series, we weren’t expected to win that. Against Vancouver, we had two elimination games. We should have been finished then. And when this series started, we weren’t really expected to have much success.
“And going down 3-0, it looked like we were done. That puts a lot of pressure on a team. You see a lot of players clam up and not play their best because of that extra stress. Our guys have gone through it so many times they just savour the moment. They’re having fun and trying to stretch our season out as long as possible.”
That’s why Ekholm is certain the Oilers won’t be intimidated by the stage on Thursday. If they lose, it won’t be because they wilted under the weight of it.
