Panthers vs Oilers Game 6 Odds: Edmonton Looks to Force Game 7
Edmonton Trying to Become Third Team to Force Game 7 After Trailing 3-0
The Edmonton Oilers will try to come all the way back and win their third straight when they host the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Friday night.
Edmonton still trails the best-of-7 series 3-2 but has won two straight, including its 5-3 win at Amerant Bank Arena in Game 5 on Tuesday night. Connor McDavid once again had a four-point game, scored twice and is now the favorite to claim the Conn Smythe Trophy.
- The Oilers are also a -125 moneyline favorite to force a Game 7 at just about every online sportsbook. The last team to win two straight after falling behind 3-0 was the 2012 New Jersey Devils, who fell to the Los Angeles Kings in six games. The 1945 Detroit Red Wings were the last team to force a Game 7 after losing the first three Cup Final games.
Here’s a look at the Panthers vs Oilers Game 6 odds.
🏒 Game: Edmonton Oilers (2-3) at Florida Panthers (3-2)
Oilers vs Panthers Game 6 Information 
📍 Location: Rogers Place
📅 Day/Time: Friday, 8 p.m. ET
📺 Television: ABC, ESPN+
Game 5 Recap
The Oilers once again looked desperate from the outset, scoring first with a short-handed goal for the second straight game, this time from Connor Brown.
Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky struggled, especially in the second period where he made just seven saves on 10 shots. Bobrovsky made just 19 saves in Game 5.
The Oilers scored the game’s first three goals and built a 4-1 second-period advantage, spearheaded by Zach Hyman’s first goal of the Final and McDavid’s one goal and one assist. Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner made 29 saves, including nine saves in the third period.
Matthew Tkachuk tried to will Florida back, scoring his first goal of the Final and setting up Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s third-period goal that made it 4-3.
Tkachuk even saved the game initially with the moment of the playoffs when he full-body dove to stop an empty-net goal in the dying seconds. But McDavid hit the empty net seconds later.
History Still Favors Florida
Despite Edmonton’s awakening, it still has a long way to go to win the Stanley Cup.
- The Panthers have -330 odds to win the Cup, down from -2800 before Game 4, but still have a 76% implied probability to win the Stanley Cup.
Only two teams have ever even forced a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final after trailing 3-0, and the Oilers are just the fourth team to even force a Game 6. Teams that trail 3-2 in the Cup Final have won just eight of the previous 43 scenarios (18.6%), and teams that lead 3-2 in best-of-7 playoff series win 80% of all best-of-7 series in NHL history.
Florida has been a superb road team all postseason and won Game 3 at Rogers Place. The Panthers are 7-3 away from Sunrise and still have a plus-2 goal differential despite their 8-1 loss to the Oilers in Game 4.
There is a level of well-earned angst about Florida’s sudden two-game losing streak, especially if you’re a Florida fan or have a Panthers Futures bet on the line. But since 2006, teams that have the chance to win the Cup on home ice are just 7-7 in doing so, and 10 Stanley Cup champions have clinched the trophy on the road in 17 opportunities — not counting the 2020 bubble.
Conn Smythe Watch
If you’re less interested in Panthers vs Oilers Game 6 odds but are monitoring the Conn Smythe watch, there is a new favorite atop the shortest odds.
- Bobrovsky has been the overwhelming favorite after helping the Panthers take a 3-0 advantage. But with his struggles, McDavid is now the favorite, sporting odds of about -150, and Bobrovsky now has the third-shortest odds behind Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.
Bobrovsky has struggled over the past two games, allowing nine goals on 39 shots (.769 save%) and sporting an unsightly -3.93 goals-saved above average. McDavid’s goal was especially bad, since he was caught standing as McDavid snapped a shot between his pads that made the hockey score 3-0.
Couple Bobrovsky’s struggles with McDavid’s sudden dominance — he is the first player with consecutive four-point games in the playoffs since Theo Fleury in 1995 — and the Oilers captain has hopped Bobrovsky and Barkov as the player with the shortest odds.
McDavid is having a playoffs for the ages. In Game 4, he set the NHL record for assists in a single postseason (34), and he’s only the third player to record 40 points in a single playoff year and is within five points of Wayne Gretzky’s single-playoff record (47).
Plus, there is precedent for a Cup-losing player winning the Conn Smythe Trophy — it’s happened five times previously, most recently when Jean-Sebastien Giguere earned the playoff MVP after the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim lost to the New Jersey Devils in seven games.
That McDavid has willed Edmonton to a Game 6 should cement him as the award winner, but if he gets shut down and Barkov has a dominant sixth game leaves him as a solid alternative.
It’s basically coming down to those two players.
Prediction
Though the Panthers vs Oilers Game 6 odds favor Edmonton, and both teams have dragged the hockey world across the continent for hockey in late-June, the series should end Friday in Edmonton. That Florida is a plus-money underdog only adds to the allure of betting the Panthers.
But McDavid should still win the Conn Smythe — and become the second skater from a losing team to win the playoff MVP award (Reggie Leach in 1976)
Panthers 4, Oilers 3
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