FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — There is always a theme set by leadership, when you get to a game with as much gravity as Game 6 of a Stanley Cup Final. But it’s not always the way you’d think it would be.
Usually, the team that’s ahead tries to create urgency. Don’t sit back. Play the same way that put you ahead in the series.
And for the team that’s behind, it’s more often a calming message. Like the one Leon Draisaitl opened his press availability with on the morning of Game 6.
“Not much has changed for us,” he said, when asked to compare this game to the similar situation the Oilers faced a year ago. “If we wanted to win, we would have had to win this game here on the road anyways.
“For us, it’s about trying to get to our game a little bit quicker. Playing better. I think we still haven’t seen our best. Tonight would be a great time to show it.”
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Broadcast schedule
We’ve all watched the Panthers control the games of this series in the opening period. It’s not a trend — it’s a trait.
“I think our first shifts in the last couple games have actually been really good. It’s just the couple shifts after that, we just kind of let off a little bit,” said Draisaitl.
It’s fair to wonder just what the Panthers might look like if they were forced to play catch-up.
“There comes a time in the game where you have to take chances. That’s just the way it is. Your top guys take chances and then you’re leaking a little bit the other way,” Draisaitl said of chasing the game. “For us, playing with the lead and just getting off to a better start in general, not being down 2-0 after the first period will go a long way.”
Tkachuk’s long road back
Don’t look now, but Matthew Tkachuk — five points in the past three games, and 13 over the past 10 — is heating up.
Florida’s playoff scoring co-leader confesses now that he wasn’t sure he’d be healthy enough to start the post-season while rehabbing his groin injury. Not till the day of Game 1 against the Lightning.
“The first round was definitely the worst I felt, by far, and just knowing that was going to be — other than this round — our toughest round, playing Tampa. Even at nowhere close to what I expected out of myself, I knew I needed to help out as best I can, if we’re going to get by them. So, I was proud of myself and happy for playing that round,” Tkachuk said.
“Now I’m feeling the best I’ve felt. So, personally, I’m very happy with where the health is and everything, and just very lucky that I’m able to be playing.
“I thought there was maybe a 50 per cent chance I wouldn’t be playing as close to about a week or five days before the playoffs started. So, very fortunate that I’ve got great trainers and doctors, and they all somehow got me healthy enough to play.”
Tkachuk was noticeably slow in May and not particularly effective outside of the power play.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice estimated that the winger didn’t get feel right until late in the Toronto series or early in the Carolina series.
“But it was still the mental part about how far you want to stress that — taking hits, giving hits,” Maurice explains “This series, he’s back to full health. And when that happens, you’ve seen that line then become a very good line on both sides of the puck. They were producing great numbers from the start, but they weren’t able to defend as well as they can now.”
Line dance
Edmonton continues tweaking, as the Oilers look for the recipe that can control a game against Florida. John Klingberg draws back in on defence, and Kasperi Kapanen replaces Viktor Arvidsson up front.
Nugent-Hopkins – McDavid – Perry
Kane – Draisaitl – Kapanen
J.Skinner – Henrique – Frederic
Podkolzin – Janmark – Brown
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Kulak
Walman – Klingberg
S. Skinner starts
Pickard
The Panthers will roll with the same lineup they’ve been using since they returned to full health early in this series. Maurice says he’s reached a comfort level where any substitutions would be health-based.
“We’re a pretty healthy team, fortunately, at this point,” Maurice said. “The fact these guys have been together, the core of them for three years, there isn’t an adjustment we would make in our lineup that would change the way we play.”
Verhaeghe – Barkov – Reinhart
Rodrigues – Bennett – Tkachuk
Luostarinen – Lundell – Marchand
Greer – Nosek – Gadjovich
Forsling – Ekblad
Mikkola – Jones
Schmidt – Kulikov
Bobrovsky starts
Vanecek
Skin in to win
Stuart Skinner steps back in the net Tuesday night, in a series where he’s been pulled twice and watched Game 5 as Calvin Pickard’s backup.
It’s crazy when you think that Sergei Bobrovsky has played every playoff minute for the Florida Panthers, while Skinner has 14 starts to Pickard’s seven. Bouncing back has to be a strength of Skinner’s or he’d be a basket case by now.
“It might sound weird, but I felt like I played well,” he said of Period 1 in Game 4, when he got pulled after 20 minutes in a 3-0 game. “But sometimes that happens. Life, especially as a goalie, can be hard sometimes.”
How true is that?
Skinner may have been the best Oiler that period, and he’s the one who gets benched for that old coaching chestnut, to “shake up” the team.
“He was amazing in the first period. It was us that let him down,” Draisaitl said.
While Bobrovsky knows he’s getting at least 60 minutes of hockey in Game 6 — no matter what — and the Game 7 start if that game is required, Skinner travels his playoff journey on more of a start-to-start basis.
Is that difficult to deal with?
“To be completely honest about the question, my job is to stop the puck when I’m told to go in the net,” he said. “Sometimes I get told that I’m not (playing) — for sure it’s disappointing. I want to be the guy that’s in all the time. I wish I could help these guys every single night.
“It’s hard watching from the bench, but I’ve just got to stick to what I know what my job is. So, whenever they tell me to go in the net, I’m definitely not going to say no.”
Happy Clinch Day
The Panthers’ lively Tuesday morning skate was brimming with whoops and stick-slaps. The mood was lively and comfortable, indiscernible from a regular-season game day.
“Guys are loose. That’s what I like,” said Panthers forward Brad Marchand. “Feels like every other day at the rink.”
“Another day in paradise,” said a smiling Nate Schmidt, a rare Cat without a ring.
Tkachuk figures the room is at an advantage, having already played four potential Cup-clinching games last June — and having staved off elimination this spring once already, in a Game 7 at Toronto.
Tuesday marks the first time Edmonton has been left staring at the brink, though.
“It’s no secret: the Cup is in the building. It’s going to be the toughest test, the biggest game. We’re just excited to be back home,” Tkachuk said. “We’ve played pretty good hockey over the last, well, this whole series, in the whole playoffs. But especially the last few. So, we know this is the type of game we have to play.”
Panthers versus Oilers. Desire versus Desperation.
And a race for that critical first goal. Everything to lose and nothing to lose, all bundled at once.
“I don’t think anybody saves it for the elimination game. I think there’s a freedom that comes into a Game 7 concept — whether it’s Game 5, 6 or 7 — and that freedom allows them to start the game with that attack mindset,” Maurice cautioned.
“You play all year to try to win a Stanley Cup, right? So, it’s in our grasp. I’m sure we’re all going to be ready to go,” added Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues, who considered whether it’s harder to win the second one than the first.
“I couldn’t tell you. I’ll let you know after this one. … It’s your lifelong dream. You get a chance to do it, and you’re going to be just as excited and just as amped up as the first one.”
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