NHL Stanley Cup Final 2024: Odds, Hot Takes, Top Storylines for Game 6
The Stanley Cup Finals return to Edmonton Friday for a crucial Game 6 that could either decide the series or setup a breathtaking Game 7 and one of the greatest comebacks in NHL history.
The Oilers have won two straight to bring the series to 3-2, erasing a 3-0 deficit and make a competition out of it.
The home team can do the seemingly impossible Friday, tying the series and pushing it to a once improbable Game 7 in which all bets would be off.
Can Connor McDavid and company do that or will the Panthers deal one last indignity to Edmonton and its fans, celebrating their cup victory on the opponent's ice?
Ahead of the all-important game, find out the current odds for the showdown, hot takes, and what stories to keep an eye on Friday night.
Odds and Viewing Info
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Viewing Info
Time: 8:00 p.m.
TV: ABC
Streaming: ESPN+
Game 6 Odds
Florida Panthers (-102; bet $100, win 198.03)
Edmonton Oilers (-118; bet $100, win $184.74)
Stanley Cup Champions Odds
Florida Panthers (-330; bet $100, win $130.30)
Edmonton Oilers (+275; bet $100, win $375)
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
Hot Take: Florida Cannot Lose This Game
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The Panthers once looked like a sure-thing to sweep the Oilers and win the Stanley Cup on the back of their aggressive play and understandable sense of urgency. After losing last year's finals, they were hellbent to capture the prize that eluded them.
Now, they find themselves facing a potentially historic collapse.
Not since the 1942 Maple Leafs has a team gone down 0-3 in the Stanley Cup Finals and executed a reverse sweep to win the whole thing. The Oilers can accomplish that feat and put their opponents on the wrong side of history.
Needless to say, Florida simply cannot lose Friday.
A defeat puts them in a Game 7 situation, a one-game series in which anything can happen. The dominance with which the Panthers previously attacked the series is gone and one flick of the wrist and sound of a siren can be the difference between hoisting the Stanley Cup and going home empty-handed.
The faces of the team are saying the right things.
"I'd cut your arm off for this opportunity," coach Paul Maurice said ahead of the high-stakes game.
"I think [at] the beginning of the series this is definitely a place we would want to be," Matthew Tkachuk echoed those sentiments.
Really? This is where they want to be? Previously up three, heading back to Edmonton, where the Western Conference champs can even the series and send it to a deciding one-game playoff when the Panthers previously had a definitive advantage and the Stanley Cup within reach?
Sure.
Still, Tkachuk remains reasonably optimistic.
"We were in this position a couple series ago in Boston. We played the [New York] Rangers and had a very similar position going there for a Game 5. So, we're very comfortable right now. We're excited. We know it's going to be a great environment tomorrow and hopefully our last game of the season."
True, but the Bruins were not the Oilers, a team that has overcome deficits in both of their previous series to come back and win, earning their way to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Top Storyline: Edmonton's Gritty Resiliency
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The Oilers have been in this position before.
Maybe not on the brink of elimination, but down and forced to fight for their playoff lives.
Against the Vancouver Canucks, they found themselves down 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 to win the series and advance to the Western Conference Finals. Against the Stars, they went down 2-1 before bouncing back with three consecutive victories to win the series.
They have repeatedly demonstrated a grittiness throughout the playoffs that has defined their entire season, as forward Connor Brown discussed.
"We've put together winning streaks when we've had to this year. We have that belief when you can draw on past experience not too long ago. That's where the belief is, and that unshakable belief is growing."
Coach Kris Knoblauch attributes much of that to the leadership of stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
"They've had a lot to do with the success of this team and us being resilient. They're very driven, obviously driven to be successful individually, but also wanting the team to have success and playing the right way."
He continued, ""For superstars to dump the puck in and forecheck and backcheck and finish checks, they've been committed and bought in to doing that. And when your two star players play that system, the rest of the team has no choice but to tag along and do the little things that are required to be successful."
McDavid has eight goals and 34 assists in these playoffs and surpassed "The Great One," Wayne Gretzky, for most career postseason assists. He has an opportunity to pass him in total scoring in a single postseason with six more points.
He has been everything the Oilers needed their superstar to be and is a major reason for the team's success. His and his team's refusal to quit has them two wins away from the Stanley Cup.
Whether they can stay alive, in front of a rabid fan base on their home ice, is the question. If their 8-1 shelling of the Panthers in Game 4 is any indication, they certainly can.
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