Panthers tweak lineup slightly for Game 7 against Oilers

Whatever happens tonight, both the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers’ fan bases will probably never forget June 24, 2024.

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is taking place tonight at 5 pm PT/6 pm MT/8 pm ET at Sunrise, Florida’s Amerant Bank Arena, in a matchup that’s been dubbed one of the biggest in NHL history.

It’s guaranteed to be the final game of the 2023-24 NHL season, but one player on the Panthers’ roster has gotten the news he won’t get the chance to suit up tonight.

Florida coach Paul Maurice announced at today’s morning skate just one tweak: pulling out 31-year-old forward Nick Cousins in exchange for 36-year-old Kyle Okposo.

Both players have travelled well in their NHL careers: Cousins is now on his sixth NHL team in 10 years in the league, while Okposo is on his third after eight years in Buffalo and a previous nine with the New York Islanders.

Okposo has averaged 8:36 of ice time throughout the playoffs, putting up two assists but no goals across 15 postseason contests. Cousins, meanwhile, hasn’t fared much better, putting up one assist in 12 playoff games while averaging 8:42 a night.

For Okposo, it’s probably not unreasonable to assume that it could be his last NHL game ever, given the length of his career.

“I grabbed my son today, who’s eight, and said, ‘You know what I was doing when I was your age? I was in the driveway with my Rollerblades on pretending I was in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. How special is it you’re going to the game?” Okposo told the media today, as relayed by Sportsnet’s Luke Fox.

Kyle Okposo, drawing into Game 7: "I grabbed my son today, who's eight, and said, 'You know what I was doing when I was your age? I was in the driveway with my Rollerblades on pretending I was in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. How special is it you're going to the game?'"

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) June 24, 2024

Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky also hit the ice after skipping the team’s skate over the weekend and is expected to be in net tonight against Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner.

“As we’ve gotten further along, we wanted to get him back into routine on the day before,” Maurice said Sunday. “So, it’s to get back to an actual repeatable pattern, even though the days aren’t lined up the same.”

The Oilers’ lineup for tonight is expected to be announced in the coming hours.

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