The vibes are much different for the Edmonton Oilers heading into the second Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Florida Panthers than the first.
Back in December, the Oilers hosted the Panthers for the first meeting between the two teams since Florida lifted the Cup in June. The Oilers were riding high on a five-game winning streak but wound up having that snapped by the Panthers in a 6-5 loss.
This will be the first time the Oilers have visited Florida since falling in Game 7 eight months ago and the team is struggling through a four-game losing streak. It’s Edmonton’s longest skid of the season and the longest of Kris Knoblauch’s tenure as head coach.
1. The last time the Oilers lost four games in a row came early in the 2023-24 season. The team had two different four-game skids in October and early November, separated by a win in the Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium, while they stumbled out to a shocking 2-9-1 start.
That terrible early showing from a team with Stanley Cup aspirations ultimately resulted in the Oilers making a coaching change. Head coach Jay Woodcroft and defence coach Dave Manson were let go and Knoblauch was brought in along with Paul Coffey to replace them.
After the coaching change, the Oilers went 46-18-5 the rest of the regular season and then made it to the Stanley Cup Final. They only had three different losing streaks reach three games under Knoblauch and they followed two of them up with winning streaks of eight and sixteen games.
2. To find the last time the Oilers lost five games in a row, you have to go back to the 2021-22 season. They dropped six in a row in December while missing a handful of players to illness and then poor goaltending led to another losing skid that reached seven games in January.
Despite getting a vote of confidence from general manager Ken Holland during the latter losing streak, head coach Dave Tippett was let go in mid-February when the Oilers got hammered in back-to-back games following the All-Star break.
The team went 26-9-3 with Jay Woodcroft behind the bench and reached the Western Conference Final before falling to the Colorado Avalanche, the eventual Stanley Cup champions.
3. It’s hard to imagine the Oilers will fire Knobluach after he led the team to the Cup Final as a rookie head coach last June, but it’s also difficult to see how the team is going to pull itself out of this funk given how many things are going wrong.
The team has allowed 22 goals during this four-game losing streak and only five players are breaking even in terms of goal differential at even strength: Connor Brown, Ty Emberson, Corey Perry, Adam Henrique, and Leon Draisaitl. With Evan Bouchard on the ice, the Oilers have been outscored 5-0. With Connor McDavid on the ice, they’ve been outscored 7-0.
This is the worst funk we’ve seen the Oilers in since the end of the Woodcroft era early in 2023-24. With the trade deadline just over one week away, it seems the team needs a splash from the front office to inject some life into the room. Whether that happens or not is still up in the air because it’s unknown if Evander Kane will be cleared to play this season.
4. The Oilers badly need to stop the bleeding and that won’t be easy given who they’re playing against in their next two games. They’ll face the Panthers on Thursday and then they’ll finish this five-game road trip against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Panthers have a 35-21-3 record and they’re battling with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs currently have a slight edge with 74 points compared to Florida’s 73 and Toronto has a game in hand.
5. Nine players who suited up for the Panthers during their Stanley Cup run last spring left the team in the off-season but they kept their championship core intact.
Brandon Montour inked a big contract with the Seattle Kraken, Vladimir Tarasenko signed with the Detroit Red Wings, while Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Steven Lorentz, and Anthony Stolarz joined the Maple Leafs. Kevin Stenlund, Nick Cousins, and Ryan Lomberg also left in free agency and Kyle Okposo retired.
The team’s top priority in the off-season was getting Sam Reinhart signed, as the winger was heading into unrestricted free agency after scoring 57 goals, and he agreed to an eight-year, $69 million contract. This summer, the Panthers will have Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad heading to the free agent market.
6. The Panthers are coming into Thursday’s game with one win and one loss since the 4 Nations Face-Off break. They lost their first game back on Saturday by a score of 2-1 at home against the Seattle Kraken and they rebounded with a 4-1 win on the road over the Nashville Predators.
Matthew Tkachuk suffered a lower-body injury during his silver medal showing with the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off and he hasn’t suited up for the Panthers in either of their two games since. Head coach Paul Maurice gave an update saying Tkachuk could be long-term but the team expects him back “this year.”
