2024 Stanley Cup Final: Game 6 Preview in Edmonton
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00:00It is the day before game number six back in Edmonton, Alberta, in the 2024 Stanley
00:12Cup final.
00:13And we still have a cup final and a quest for the cup to break down, and that is a good
00:19thing on the ice.
00:20We welcome in the NHL's Pete Jensen to join us here on this Thursday to take that look
00:25at game number six tomorrow night at Rogers Place up in Alberta.
00:29Pete, thank you so much for taking the time to be here.
00:32Hey, it's a great thing that you are here and we still have at least one more game to
00:37break down in the Stanley Cup final.
00:39Oh, definitely.
00:41When I texted you guys more hockey, LOL, it means I'm excited about it for sure that the
00:46season is going on and the drama is escalating with how good Connor McDavid has been historically
00:52these past two games.
00:54So Edmonton's alive and well, heading back home.
00:56Going to have a real shot to come back and at least force game seven here.
01:01And Pete, this is how we got here.
01:03The Panthers won the first three games to take that commanding 3-0 series advantage,
01:08dominant in the first two in Sunrise, winning each by three goals.
01:13But Edmonton has had other ideas, staving off elimination, keeping this series and their
01:19season afloat, 8-1 in game number four, 5-3 in game number five earlier this week in Sunrise.
01:28Pete, what has flipped here in the Stanley Cup final?
01:33I mean, certainly Connor McDavid, Leon Dreisaddle, some line tweaks, Dylan Holloway elevated
01:39to the top six.
01:40He's one of their better young players that's been mostly in the bottom six in his NHL career.
01:46Just little adjustments like that.
01:48And that's what we saw all year from Chris Knobloch, remember taking over in November
01:52for the coaching change when Edmonton was near the bottom of the league standings.
01:56And then all of a sudden, he's pushed all the right buttons.
01:59So I think now it turns back to Florida and Paul Maurice.
02:02We know how good of a coach he is in terms of making those necessary tweaks through the
02:06years with Winnipeg and now Florida.
02:08But now it's kind of like the pressure is mounting on Florida.
02:12They're playing this game on the road where they have been very good this postseason,
02:15away from home.
02:16But still, it's like that historical drama is kind of probably weighing on them, even
02:22if they're not going to say it outright.
02:25It certainly will be.
02:26And also game six is going to be very exciting, getting that game back to Canada.
02:30If we look at the money line on this series right now, Florida still a decided favorite
02:34and they should be.
02:35They have the series lead at a minus 375 price if Edmonton can pull off this upset.
02:39It's plus 290.
02:40But Pete, talk to us about some of that historical context, because you're right about this.
02:44It's not as if you're just having an even series all the way through with the pressures
02:46on both sides.
02:47When you get a 3-0 series lead, your fans, your organization, and yourself as a player
02:52are expected to win that Stanley Cup.
02:55Talk about some of the pressure, maybe that historical pressure that might be on the Florida
02:58Panthers.
02:59Well, first of all, that number on Edmonton is still pretty big.
03:04So if you've watched the past two games, one of them was 8-1.
03:08McDavid, of course, is really ramping up back-to-back four-point games in the Stanley
03:13Cup Final.
03:14That's never been done before.
03:15So even the immortal Wayne Gretzky hasn't done that in the Cup Final.
03:19So pretty insane stuff there.
03:21But yeah, historical context coming back from down 3-0.
03:25It's only happened four times in a best-of-seven in NHL history.
03:29The only time that it happened in the Cup Final was way back like in the 1940s when
03:34there were far fewer teams.
03:35The road to the Cup Final was not as grueling as it is now.
03:40So really, it would be historic in so many ways if Edmonton is able to pull this thing
03:45off.
03:46And again, they've been a good home team this year.
03:48They won game four to stay alive here.
03:51They have all the momentum on their side right now.
03:53There's a lot more pressure on Florida.
03:55So I think overall, generally speaking, the numbers are stacked against them, but they're
04:00really trying to do something special with one of the all-time great talents in McDavid.
04:04And also Leon Drysaddle is not far behind him, by the way.
04:09And Pete, you mentioned Conor McDavid.
04:11A historic moment for McDavid in game number five.
04:15Two goals, including the empty netter at the end.
04:18Two more assists.
04:19That's four points.
04:20He has recorded four points in back-to-back games.
04:23He's the only guy in Stanley Cup Final history to do that, record four points in two consecutive
04:30matchups.
04:31And you see the price on Conor McDavid to win the Con Smythe Award.
04:36Now greater than $2 at minus 210.
04:39But his Oilers, despite being a slight home ice favorite for tomorrow night's game six,
04:44still obviously have a lot of ground to make up in terms of winning the actual Stanley
04:50Cup.
04:51Let's say Edmonton falls flat either tomorrow night or in a game seven in Sunrise.
04:57Can McDavid still win the Con Smythe, even on the losing side?
05:03I think it's possible.
05:04I mean, usually when you see this, it's like an amazing goalie standing on his head through
05:10the whole postseason.
05:11Remember, it is the body of work for the entire postseason at large, and it is the media voting
05:17on this thing.
05:18So I think the media has been captivated, to say the least, by McDavid's career to this
05:23point.
05:24He's never been to the Cup Final.
05:26He's at 40 plus points, which has only been done historically by players like Mario Lemieux
05:32in the early 90s, and Wayne Gretzky did it twice.
05:35So it's really like rare air in so many ways for McDavid.
05:39So to answer your question, yes, it's unprecedented stuff.
05:42But J.S.
05:43Jaguar did it last time for the Mighty Ducks back in the early 2000s as the goalie.
05:49This is a rare scenario, but McDavid could certainly win the Con Smythe, even if the
05:54Oilers lose this series, whether it's in six or seven, because he's building that strong
05:58narrative.
05:59And it's certainly a rare scenario would be for the Edmonton Oilers to come back and win
06:04it in game number seven.
06:05But before we get there, Pete, we're going to have a game number six in Edmonton between
06:09the Panthers and the Oilers, and it's a slight favorite here at the Fayetteville Sportsbook
06:13at a minus 120 price for the Edmonton Oilers and a total of five and a half.
06:17So looking at this game coming up, do we see a game number seven back in Florida?
06:23It's going to be high stakes here in game six.
06:26A lot of pressure on Edmonton.
06:28They'll probably be outshot because we're talking about right over the course of the
06:32series.
06:33I've been saying it all along, like Florida is going to try to grind you down.
06:36Stuart Skinner has been near flawless facing elimination.
06:41So that's one good thing on Edmonton side.
06:42Remember, we were questioning, is Stuart Skinner good enough to get them to this point?
06:46We were saying it all year, like roll the tapes right back in October, November.
06:50I was worried about him having picked Edmonton to win the whole thing at the beginning of
06:54the season, but they've turned it around.
06:56He's four and oh, with only seven goals allowed facing elimination.
06:59So I am feeling like Edmonton can do this thing in game six.
07:04I still lean Florida for the series and game seven being at home and stuff like that.
07:08But yes, I think Edmonton is really playing with house money here and having a good time
07:14embracing this situation, and I think they could win game six at home.
07:19Pete, you talked about Stuart Skinner, the star of the series to begin with Sergei Bobrovsky
07:24for the Florida Panthers.
07:26Of course, anytime the net minders are in a scenario where one is looking for the cup
07:31and the other one is looking to keep elimination at bay, there will be a focus.
07:36But we have seen the first two games where Florida was dominant, total stay well under
07:40in games three through five.
07:42The total has hit the over.
07:44We saw eight goals out of Edmonton in game number four, a five to three victory in game
07:50number five.
07:52Is it as easy to say, Pete, if the game stays under Florida is victorious, if it skies over
07:58that favors the Oilers?
08:01I mean, that's the way that I would digest it from looking at these two teams all season
08:06long.
08:07If Florida puts the clamps down and it's one of those tense, you know, two to one, three
08:11to two type games, I see Florida probably coming out on top.
08:15And then, you know, the games have gotten progressively more high scoring, not just
08:19that eight to one game, but the other two games have been seven plus goals.
08:24So three in a row in that department.
08:27So the adjustments are being made.
08:29And the scary thing for Florida is that like, guys like McDavid are blowing up the score
08:33sheet.
08:34And, you know, I think you could still expect more from guys like dry saddle, certainly
08:39Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard.
08:42Those are guys that have been powering the Oilers all postseason long.
08:45And I feel like they haven't put their best foot forward just yet for the team.
08:49So that's a scary thought on Florida's side heading into game six.
08:54Yeah.
08:55Zach Hyman, who leads Edmonton in goal score throughout this postseason run, scored his
09:00first of the Stanley Cup final in game number five earlier this week in Sunrise Pete Jensen
09:06from the NHL.
09:07As always, we appreciate the time.
09:09Thank you for joining us here and enjoy game number six tomorrow night back in Edmonton.