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Three critical factors have Oilers on the brink

13 3
17.06.2025

After a disappointing showing in Game 5, the Edmonton Oilers are one game away from again losing the Stanley Cup Final.

Consecutive defeats by the Florida Panthers in the final would leave a serious organizational sting. The Panthers have again proven to be a matchup problem for the Oilers and after the trouncing in Game 5, you can rest assured Kris Knoblauch and Edmonton’s coaching staff have every potential lineup change on the table.

How did we get here? For my money, there are three key reasons why the Panthers are again at the doorstep of history — and if Edmonton cannot find answers to these problems, that Stanley Cup may be handed out as soon as Tuesday night.

So, what’s going wrong for this Edmonton club? Three big things, starting with what we talked about in our series primer.

1. Florida’s middle-six forwards are dominating

Entering the series, we talked extensively about the matchup problems the Panthers middle-six forwards could create with their lethal combination of speed, physicality, and credible two-way play.

The Eastern Conference playoffs had all of this on display, with the Panthers third line of Eetu Luostarinen, Brad Marchand, and Anton Lundell incinerating teams. The same has held true against........

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