This could be the end of the road for the Oilers tonight, as they hope to force a seventh game against the Panthers. And later tonight, the Abbotsford Canucks are at home after picking up the split in Charlotte. It's Game Three of the Calder Cup Finals!
EDMONTON OILERS (2-3) vs FLORIDA PANTHERS (3-2)
AMARANT BANK ARENA, SUNRISE, FL
5:00 PM PST/ 8:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
The dreams of another Canadian team trying valiantly to bring the Stanley Cup back home could die tonight. It's alright though, because it's just the Edmonton Oilers.
I mean sure, the Oilers have put forth an effort. The problem is that it's just not enough. Between mistakes, bounces, and just straight up, good ol' fashioned head to head hockey, the Panthers have been better. And now this could be the end of it tonight, as Florida looks to win their second straight Cup, over the Oilers no less.
So how are the Oilers going to be able to force a seventh and final game? Well, first off they need the best game of his life from Stuart Skinner. If he's not the best player on the ice tonight, the chances of the Oilers pulling this off are slim for sure. And let's not kid ourselves, that's a pretty dire situation that you have to rely on younger, calmer Mike Smith to save your season.
They need to stay out of the penalty box. The Panthers have been feasting on the Oilers lack of discipline, and that absolutely must change tonight if they want to be playing back in Edmonton in a winner take all rematch from last year.
LINEUPS
Stanley Cup Final, Game 6
8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS
Florida leads best-of-7 series 3-2
Oilers projected lineup
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Corey Perry
Evander Kane -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kasperi Kapanen
Jeff Skinner -- Adam Henrique -- Trent Frederic
Vasily Podkolzin -- Mattias Janmark -- Connor Brown
Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse -- Brett Kulak
Jake Walman -- John Klingberg
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Viktor Arvidsson, Troy Stecher, Joshua Brown, Cam Dineen, Ty Emberson, Max Jones, Derek Ryan
Injured: Zach Hyman (dislocated wrist)
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer -- Tomas Nosek -- Jonah Gadjovich
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola -- Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt -- Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Jesper Boqvist, Uvis Balinskis, Jaycob Megna, Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm
Injured: None
Pulling Troy Stecher, who's been decent enough as a third pairing guy in place of John Klingberg, who has been absolutely brutal, is a bit of a head scratcher. No other changes it would seem, for the Oilers, and none for the Panthers.
ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS (1-1) vs CHARLOTTE CHECKERS (1-1)
ABBOTSFORD CENTRE, ABBOTSFORD, BC
7:00 PDT/ 10:00 EDT
RADIO: SPORTSNET 650 TV: FLOHOCKEY.TV
After a tough OT loss in Game Two, the Abbotsford Canucks hope that months of strong, consistent play at home will continue as they host the next three games of this series. Obviously, they'd love to be able to hold home ice advantage and not have to fly across the continent again in this series, so doing the things that have propelled them on this magical run for a shot at their first ever Calder Cup is a must.
They have been getting outstanding performances from their leadership group, but they've also gotten support from the depth guys in their lineup. Jujhar Khaira and Ty Meuller have been outstanding down the stretch, and getting help from back end guys like Victor Mancini and Kirill Kudryatsev has been a huge help. And of course, they wouldn't be here without the play of Arturs Silovs. The Olympics-bound Latvian goalkeeper has been one of the best stories of the playoffs so far.
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Featuring the late, great Dave Brockie, here's GWAR demolishing Billy Ocean's 80's party anthem 'Get Out Of My Dreams' (And Into My Car). You're welcome.
Enjoy the game! Go Canucks Go!
