The finale of this gauntlet seven-game road trip through the Eastern Conference will be in Southern Florida against the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions.

It’s been tough sledding for the back-to-back Stanley Cup runner-ups so far. Edmonton’s usual slow October has bled deep into November, and their 9-9-5 record has them sitting 12th in the Western Conference.

The Oilers don’t just need a win to close out a difficult trip. They need to make a statement against a team that spent an unusual amount of time rubbing the second of two heartbreaking losses in their face.

During this week’s episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman noted that the Oilers weren’t happy with how the Panthers behaved following their Stanley Cup win in June and throughout the summer. Combine the pressure they’re feeling from their miserable start with the resentment that clearly still lingers, and you have yourself a doozy for Hockey Night in Canada.

They could have had a better fate on Thursday night, but the one on Saturday is big, and not only for the reasons you mentioned. They’ve lost there twice. It brings back a lot of bad memories. But the Oilers as an organization were not happy with some of the post-celebration commentary from the Panthers. The Panthers really rubbed that second one in. They really did.
And look, Tkachuk’s not going to be there and Barkov’s not going to be there, and it’s not Florida’s best team. But I see this as a moment where Edmonton’s been in a bit of a malaise and the internal heat is really on. I think it’s really on internally, because everyone understands that maybe you don’t start the year great, or maybe you’ve got a bit of a Stanley Cup defeat hangover, but there’s a point where that’s no longer an excuse, and I think we’ve reached that.
And the owner is someone who puts a lot of pressure on the people he works with, and I think everyone’s feeling it now. So to me, this will be a statement night from the Oilers. And if we look back six months from now and this is the game that turned Edmonton’s season around, I think a lot of people will look at it and say, okay, we can point to this one.

The Panthers beat the Oilers in a thrilling seven-game series to capture the organization’s first-ever Stanley Cup in 2024, sealing the deal at home with a 2-1 victory after blowing a three-game lead. The rematch in 2025 didn’t go the distance, as Florida took down Edmonton with a 5-1 pounding at home in Game 6.

The second Stanley Cup seemed to be even more exciting than the first for the Panthers.

During their victory parade, Matthew Tkachuk got a “F*** McDavid” chant rolling among the dozens of fans who showed up for the celebration. Brad Marchand, the super-pest acquired ahead of the trade deadline, wore a shirt that showed the Oilers logo edited to say “Losers.”

The Panthers also apparently ordered sushi from a specific restaurant that the Oilers had booked days earlier in case they needed somewhere near Amerant Bank Arena to celebrate.

The trolling continued well into the summer. In mid-August, Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett recorded a video of himself wakeboarding with the Stanley Cup in view and Edmonton’s victory song, Pink Pony Club, blasting in the background.

Beef sells records, and maybe this edge the Panthers have shown is ultimately good for hockey, especially in a non-traditional market like Florida. But the Oilers certainly aren’t thinking about it that way.

This is a team that’s pissed off. This is a team that got knocked down and then kept getting kicked while they were down. This is a team that badly needs to win a hockey game.

We’ll see if they’re ready to get back at the Panthers with a full 60-minute effort on Saturday night.

Oilers Talk

Featured

Recent articles from Cam Lewis

The Day After 27.0: Oilers feel they played ‘the right way’ in shutout loss to Wild

Friedman: Oilers need to ask themselves ‘if it’s time to trade Stuart Skinner’

The Day After 24.0: Oilers heading home with momentum on their side

Recent articles from Cam Lewis

Breaking News