10 reasons to believe the Edmonton Oilers will win the Stanley Cup

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After losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers were given just a 24 per cent chance of winning the series.

After falling behind 2-0, the odds dropped to nine per cent.

At 3-0, they were staring down the barrel of certain doom, with nothing left to cling to but faint hope. Their only way out of the grave they were sitting in was to accomplish something that had only been done once in NHL history, 82 years ago.

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Now with the series at 3-2 and the Oilers gaining strength by the shift, those odds are evening out. The Oilers have a very realistic chance to pull off a miracle.

This could happen.

Here are 10 reasons to believe they will win the Stanley Cup:

CONNOR McDAVID

McDavid is two wins away from solidifying his legacy and carving his face onto hockey’s Mount Rushmore. Seeing him put up eight points in Games 4 and 5, the most in any two-game span in Stanley Cup Finals history, gives you the sense that he is not going to be denied. What we’re watching here is historic — an all-time great delivering his best work on the game’s biggest stage when his team needs him the most. Only two players, Wayne Gretzky (47) and Mario Lemieux (44), have ever scored more points in a single postseason than McDavid’s 42. You think he’s going to let his foot off the gas when he’s two games away from a Stanley Cup?

THE POWER PLAY

We’ve seen this before. Edmonton couldn’t get a thing done on the man advantage in the Dallas series (zero goals in the first four games) and then they figured things out and used the power play to tilt the series their way for good, scoring four goals on five chances to win the last two games and eliminate the Stars. The same thing happened in the final — zero goals on 10 chances in the first three games, then three goals in the last two games. Once the Oilers find their rhythm on the power play, the other team is in trouble.

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SERGEI BOBROVSKY

Florida’s biggest advantage over Edmonton was supposed to be in net and, while that was the case at the start, the 35-year-old Russian seems to be hitting a wall. He gave up two goals on six shots in the third period of Game 3, five goals on 16 shots before getting hooked in Game 4 and three goals on the first 13 shots in Game 5. After posting a .953 save percentage in the first three games of the final he sunk to .769 in the last two. Did the Oilers figure something out or is he starting to leak? Either way, it’s a concern for the Panthers.

PANTHER PRESSURE

Florida is feeling it, no question about it. Twice now they’ve had an opportunity that every player dreams about — win one game and win the Stanley Cup — and couldn’t do it. Not even on home ice, knowing that a loss meant jumping back on a plane and flying back to Edmonton. The Oilers are playing with house money, loving the fact that there’s a Game 6, while the Panthers are trying to figure out why a foregone conclusion is now a life and death struggle.

STUART SKINNER

Edmonton’s goalie is 9-0 in Games 4-5-6-7 of a series this year and has a .938 save percentage in the last two Oilers wins. He just beat Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger in the Western Conference Final and made big, timely saves early on to keep Florida from getting any sort of foothold in the last two wins. When he gets hot, he’s a problem for the other team.

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PENALTY KILL

After Connor McDavid, Edmonton’s penalty kill might be the biggest reason they are two wins away from a championship. Over the last 15 games they’ve killed 43 of 44 penalties. And not only have they killed off 15 of 16 Florida penalties in the final, but they opened the scoring in each of the last two wins with shorthanded goals. When the PK is outscoring the other team’s power play 2-1 over 16 chances, it’s big.

EDMONTON

The city is winding up for the biggest hockey game in Edmonton in 18 years. The biggest sporting event in Edmonton in 18 years. Edmonton fans will rise to the occasion, you can bet on it. If you thought Game 4 was crazy, you haven’t seen anything yet.

LEON DRAISAITL

He has two assists in five games against Florida, his driest stretch of the playoffs. This is the same guy who opened the post-season with a 13-game points streak (25 points). He’s a proven playoff performer (107 points in 72 games) who’s due for a breakout night.

THIRD LINE

Connor Brown, Mattias Janmark and Adam Henrique changed the course of this series, laying the foundation for Edmonton’s wins in Games 4 and 5 with early goals, stellar penalty killing and the kind of pressure and zone time that puts the other team on its heels. Brown’s slow start to the season is long forgotten. He’s paid for himself with his work in the playoffs. Credit general manager Ken Holland for acquiring all three of these players because they are making a big difference when it counts.

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DESTINY

The Oilers are indeed starting to look like a team of destiny. From their well-documented struggles in the regular season to their comebacks in the playoffs, they continue rising from the dead and proving everyone wrong. In the four games in which they were facing elimination against Vancouver (remember them?) and Florida, they outscored the other team 21-7. After falling behind 2-1 to Dallas, they outscored the Stars 10-4. That’s 31-11 when their backs are against the wall. You want to bet against that?

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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