The Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of equalling Stanley Cup Final history, after coming from three games down to tie their series versus the Florida Panthers. If they manage to win game seven on Monday night, they will become just the second team to ever do the reverse sweep, after the Toronto Maple Leafs way back in 1942.
The Oilers have all the momentum -- no matter whether you believe in this concept or not -- and have actually scored more times than the Panthers in the six games to date, with a 22-16 advantage in goals. They also have the hotter goaltender in Stuart Skinner; and yet, they still enter the deciding game as underdogs, at least from a betting standpoint.
Beginning with FanDuel, they have the Panthers as moneyline favourites at -118, compared to the Oilers at -102. In respect of the spread, they have the Oilers as underdogs by 1.5 goals.
Turning to DraftKings, they also have the Panthers as moneyline favourites albeit slightly closer at -112, compared to -108 for the Oilers. As with FanDuel though, they have the Oilers as underdogs by 1.5 goals.
Oilers players more likely to score?!
What's interesting is that despite the Panthers being betting favourites, DraftKings has Oilers players as three of the four most likely to be any anytime goalscorer. Zach Hyman is +135, Connor McDavid is +145 and Leon Draisaitl is +185, while the lone Panther is Sam Reinhart, at +165.
Despite the Oilers having won three consecutive games, it's clear the various oddsmakers like the Panthers due to their playing at home. In this respect, Florida has won three of the four games they've played versus Edmonton at Amerant Bank Arena in 2023-24, including a 5-3 regular season victory back in November.
At the same time, even though the house always wins, it's worth noting that the oddsmakers have already been wrong about the Oilers during these playoffs. Specifically just in the last round of the playoffs, when FanDuel and Draftkings both had the Dallas Stars as favourites to beat them and advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Overall, the reality is that this is the type of game when you can throw everything out of the window; it's the highest of stakes and no one knows how the players will react in the most intense and pressurised of atmospheres. All Oilers fans can hope for, is that McDavid, Skinner and company can rise to the occasion one more time, to finally bring the Stanley Cup back home where it belongs.