Rematch For Lord Stanley Is Set

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The Edmonton Oilers have elected to touch the Western Conference Clarence Campbell Trophy in an attempt to shift their luck. Last season, the Oilers elected not to touch the trophy and lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. Much like last season, the Oilers will meet the Florida Panthers in the finale. This comes after Edmonton defeated the Dallas Stars in Game 5.

The Oilers’ road to the cup began for the fourth season in a row against the Los Angeles Kings. Despite losing the first two games, the Oilers won four straight to advance to the conference semifinals. Here, Edmonton met the 2023 Stanley Cup Champions, Las Vegas. Vegas took Edmonton to overtime twice. However, Edmonton came out on top each occurrence and won the series in game five.

Mirroring last season, Edmonton met Dallas in the Western Conference Finals. Dallas looked impressive in game one. Power plays helped the Stars turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead in the third period. A Tyler Seguin goal late and a later empty net goal resulted in a 6-3 win for the Stars.

Stuart Skinner held strong in game two, silencing a potential third-period comeback as Edmonton won 3-0. Pressure was put on Jake Oettinger in game three. The Oilers’ offense cut through hi,m resulting in a 6-1 win for Edmonton. Game four was a story of power plays. While the Stars had four power plays, they only converted one. Edmonton converted two of three of their power plays. The Oilers added two empty net goals for a 4-1 victory.

In game five, the Oilers got to an early 2-0 lead. This resulted in Star’s head coach Peter DeBoer benching Oettinger for Casey DeSmith. Within the first minute, DeSmith let up a goal. DeSmith let up two more goals while the Stars scored three. Edmonton added an empty net goal to advance with a 6-3 win.

DeBoer stated later that the reason for pulling Oettinger was to spark the team. Also in response, DeBoer said, “The reality is… he’s lost six of seven games to Edmonton. And we give up two goals on two shots in an elimination game.”

However, those two goals came off a power play and a breakaway, which can be single issues on defense rather than goaltending. Nonetheless, DeBoer and Oettinger’s relationship will be a point of interest in the coming months. Overall, the decision did not work as the Stars were eliminated once again.

The Oilers meet the Panthers for a Stanley Cup rematch of the previous season. The two No.3 seeds face off on Wednesday, June 4th. Game 1 will be held in Edmonton. It’ll be live at 8:00 p.m. EST on TNT, HBO Max, CBC, and ESPN+.

About Post Author

Zachary Worstell

A Marietta College Student with three years of journalism experience writing for Marietta's Marcolian Online Newspaper. He was promoted to Editor in Chief of the Marcolian in 2023. A Pittsburgh native, he covers sports from the Pittsburgh region as well as Ohio and West Virginia.

zach102803@gmail.com

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