When it comes to moments in a kid's life there is nothing like playing street hockey and imagining that it is game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and the game is on your stick. Tomorrow the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers players have the chance to live out that dream. When it comes to the final outcome of the game I expect both teams to bring their best hockey.
For the Panthers, they need to get back to whatever they were doing in games 1-3. The thing for the Panthers in those games I think at the end of the day the Oilers lost those games more than the Panthers won them. The Oilers early in this series were making way too many big mistakes that ended up with the puck in the back of their net.
If The Oilers Play Smart, They Will Win Game 7
If the Edmonton Oilers can play the whole game without gifting any goals then the Oilers should win this game. If you look at all the numbers from the 3 losses the Oilers had in this series their overall underlying numbers were better than the Panthers, but it was the big mistakes that let the Panthers in this game.
The Oilers can not do that tomorrow. I know that both teams coming into this game will be feeling the nerves of this high-pressure game, but one thing that can't happen is for the nerves of the Oilers players to cause them to make those big mistakes.
The Panthers players will have that same pressure on them as well and the Oilers need to take advantage of them. The Panthers will have the crowd behind them cheering them on, so in a perfect scenario the Oilers will want to get on them early to take the life out of the fans. As much as fans can push you when they are cheering hard, they can have the opposite effect if they are silent and for the Oilers that should be a priority in this game.
While the game is still a number of hours away the nerves and excitement can be felt throughout Oil Country, If the Oilers are able to win the game, don't expect much to get done in Edmonton on Tuesday... Actually no matter the outcome I wouldn't expect much.