Can the Oilers overturn a 2-0 deficit?

The Edmonton Oilers are currently 2-0 down against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup final. Why have they struggled so far, and what can they do, if anything, to turn things around?

Box scores never tell the full story in sports, but when you are 2-0 down with an aggregate score of 7-1 in a series, it suggests the games haven’t been close. Mike Spector for Sportsnet brutally summed up their performance in Florida, “The mighty Edmonton Oilers blew into South Florida, made landfall, and then petered out.”

Talismanic captain Connor McDavid told reporters after their game two loss, “We’ve got to get better. We can do better, for sure. I thought they went up a level and we didn't match it today.”

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The Oilers’ brutal start to the series has seemingly turned Canadian fans away from their TVs, with 58% of Canadians not following the Stanley Cup, per CBC. Perhaps a win in game three will get some national pride swelling behind them?

The Oilers boasted one of the best offenses in the NHL in the 23-24 season, but so far they have registered just one goal in two games. Per Sportsnet, McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have so far combined for just one assist, with the solo series goal coming from defenceman Mattias Ekholm.

Part of the Oilers’ insipid scoring is due to Panthers’ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who recorded 33 saves in game one and became just the fifth goalie to record a Stanley Cup final shutout, per The Daily Mail. As Zach Hyman told reporters after game two, “You’ve got to find a way to score,” seems simple enough…

The Oilers ranked fourth in the regular season and second so far in the playoffs in Covers’ power play rankings but have been unable to capitalise against the Panthers, going 0-for-7 in game two, per Sportsnet.

No one wants to use the refs as an excuse, especially in a final, but when both Ken Reid and Luke Gazdic are bringing them up as reasons why the Oilers may have lost game two, it’s tough to ignore. Gazdic said on commentary, “(The refs) were a part of it and at this point in the Stanley Cup playoffs you don’t want them to be a part of it.”

Edmonton’s coach Kris Knoblauch took a pragmatic approach to his teams’ losses, telling NHL Media, “I don’t see any reason to panic or do anything drastic. … We just have to win the next game.”

Canadian hockey teams have been starved of a Stanley Cup since 1993, and now the Oilers have an uphill battle to reverse that 31-year trend. With a two-game home stand ahead, it’s now or never for McDavid and co. Can they do it?

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