FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The best chance a team has at the start of each season is to reach Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and, as an added bonus, host the final at their own rink.
One game. For all.
“Yeah, all 32 teams are totally on board with the idea,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.
That's the reality for Maurice and the Panthers. On one hand, the Panthers were blowing a 3-0 lead against the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup final. On the other, there's still Game 7 on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla. And before the team makes the 5-1/2-hour flight home from Alberta on Saturday, Maurice stressed the team is focused on the opportunities that lie ahead, not the ones they squandered in losing Games 4, 5 and 6 by scores of 8-1, 5-3 and 5-1.
“We're not worried about the past at all,” Maurice said. “The plan is set. It started after last night's game. We met this morning, did some video and will do the same tomorrow and get ready for the game. We know it's 3-3. The concerns from the previous three games didn't affect Edmonton and they won't affect us.”
There are a lot of different numbers floating around right now, but the reality is that none of them are favorable for the Panthers. The Oilers became just the third team in Stanley Cup Finals history to force a Game 7 after being down 3-0 in the series. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7, and the Wings overcame a 3-0 deficit against the Leafs in 1945 but still lost in the Finals.
The Oilers became just the sixth team to score five or more goals in three consecutive games in a title series. The other five — Pittsburgh in 1991, Edmonton in 1984, New York Islanders in 1981, Toronto in 1932 and Montreal in 1919 — all went on to win the Cup.
“I'm happy to be with this team because I think they're having the time of their lives right now,” Oilers coach Chris Knobloch said, “and not just because they got to a Game 7, but I think they were having a great time even when they were down three games.”
The Panthers are not having a good time. That could change on Monday. Or not.
The stigma of being the first team since 1942 to squander a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final will stick with the franchise for a long time. It will inevitably raise questions about the future for many within the organization. It could put an abrupt end to the momentum Florida has built over the past four years after spending the better part of the past two decades largely irrelevant.
Or we could win on Monday and solve all our problems.
“The key is to embrace it,” Maurice said, “and go into it with a positive mindset, excitement and determination. Both teams will be fired up for the opportunity. Game 7, the Stanley Cup Final, is what every young man dreams about. Nobody ever dreamed we'd get a win in overtime in Game 4. It's always Game 7.”
