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The Day After +22.0: How the Oilers lost their second straight Stanley Cup Final

11 1
19.06.2025
There’s no shame in being one of the best teams in the National Hockey League.

But no matter which way you cut the cake, it’s nearly impossible to take solace in that when you watch the team across from you lift the Stanley Cup — doubly so when you’re the Edmonton Oilers, who watched it happen for the second straight year on Tuesday night.

It’s easy to point out the issues. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl didn’t step up in a way they needed to in the final two games of the series. Flip-flopping goaltenders throughout the playoffs seemed to hurt both. Losing Zach Hyman right before the Final also meant they lost some juice. A defence that looked so good turned pedestrian.

And while the first four games of this year’s Final between the Oilers and Florida Panthers had everyone calling it one of the closest and most entertaining Stanley Cup Finals we’ve seen in some time, that changed on a dime in the final two games. Florida outscored the Oilers 10-3 and pulled away in this series like a muscle car on a drag racing track.

The deciding Game 6 had all the hallmarks of the series as........

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