What Edmonton Oilers players said after being pushed to brink of elimination
The Edmonton Oilers’ only path to the Stanley Cup is a Game 7 victory on Rogers Place ice.
It’s do or die for Connor McDavid’s squad after a disappointing 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. They started the night with a raucous Edmonton crowd cheering them on, but a third-period Panthers goal to make it 4-1 sucked all the air out of Rogers Place.
It was the same story for the Oilers once again. While they were able to dig themselves out of a bad start in Game 4, they couldn’t find a way to do it again on Saturday night. Instead, Florida suffocated Edmonton in what wound up being a very low event outing for both sides.
The frustration was evident in the Oilers’ dressing room after the loss, with a similar message being shared by the players with the media.
“We’ve come out flat now for most of the series,” Mattias Ekholm said. “If I knew, I’d obviously address it, but they’re a good team over there, we’re a good team.
“We need to go down to Florida and win a game.”
"We just gotta make sure we bear down early on in games. It hasn't happened for us. We need to go down to Florida & win a game."
Mattias Ekholm on the #Oilers moving forward following their Game 5 loss.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/RWmrR1d8BK
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) June 15, 2025
The Oilers have not scored a single first-period goal throughout the last three games of the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers, meanwhile, have been torching Edmonton with seven first-period goals in that same span.
Once Florida gains a lead, they grind teams down with a relentless forecheck. That was the story of Game 5.
“Chasing a game over and over against a team like this, it’s very difficult,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins told reporters. “They took advantage of some opportunities and, at the end of the day, we didn’t.
“We’re never going to quit on each other… but sometimes it’s harder than other nights.”
"Chasing a game over & over against a team like this, it's very difficult. It was a tight-checking game all the way through. They took advantage of some opportunities & we didn't."
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on tonight's #Oilers defeat.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/cxmZXJfgFI
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) June 15, 2025
There is no easy answer to remedy these slow starts. The players have said all the right things, but have yet to find a solution. Darnell Nurse gave his thoughts on what needs to change heading into a must-win Game 6 on Tuesday.
“It’s just hard work, straight lines, simple game, good plays come from that,” Nurse said. “We’ve got to get to that earlier in our game.
“There’s a connectedness you feel as a group. I think we’ve had it for moments over the course of this series, but it wasn’t there tonight.”
Edmonton found a way to stave off elimination three separate times in last year’s final. Now, they will have to do it two more times to win the Stanley Cup.