Okposo back in Panthers lineup for Game 7 of Stanley Cup Final vs. Oilers | NHL.com

The opportunity to play in the 18th Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final history is clearly impacting Okposo emotionally. Before this season he hadn’t played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2016 with the New York Islanders. He has played in one previous Game 7, but that was with the Islanders in the first round in 2015, a 2-1 loss at the Washington Capitals.

Florida acquired Okposo in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on March 8.

“I grabbed my son today who is 8 and just said, ‘You know what I was doing when I was your age? I was in the driveway with my roller blades on pretending I was in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final,’ ” Okposo said after practice Sunday. “I said, ‘How special that you’re going to be able to go to the game?’

“Definitely, you’ve got to embrace it. You’ve got to just smile and enjoy it. This is the 18th one so there’s 18 different sets of players that have experienced this match and you have to embrace every second of it.”

Okposo said he was often the one scoring the game-winning goal in Game 7s in his driveway.

“My buddies weren’t that good, so,” he said. “No, I mean, there’s a lot of memories flooding back about that. That’s what everybody thinks about and very few people get to live it. We’re living it. Just can’t wait to enjoy it.”