Wayne Gretzky had some criticism for his former workforce after their loss to the Florida Panthers within the Stanley Cup Closing.
The Edmonton Oilers misplaced to the Panthers 5-1 in Recreation 6 at Amerant Financial institution Enviornment in Dawn, Florida, on Tuesday night time. The Oilers went with Stuart Skinner at goalie for Recreation 6 after he was benched throughout each Video games 4 and 5 of the collection for poor efficiency. He stopped 20 of the 23 photographs he confronted, as Florida added two empty-net objectives within the third interval.
Gretzky, who was a star for the Oilers for 9 seasons from 1979 to 1988, was important of Edmonton whereas speaking on Turner Sports activities after the collection ended.
“Is that this our goalie or not? They gotta solidify that,” Gretzky mentioned of the Oilers. “You may’t go into Recreation 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals and swap your goaltenders. That’s very uncommon that it’s ever occurred.”
The uncertainty on the goalie place definitely didn’t assist the Oilers. However that uncertainty stemmed from poor efficiency. So the difficulty wasn’t that they didn’t know who their goalie was; it was that Skinner carried out poorly within the Stanley Cup Closing.
The Oilers have now misplaced within the Stanley Cup Closing to the Panthers for the second 12 months in a row. Their final championship got here in 1990, which was two years after they traded Gretzky to the Kings.
Dropping the Stanley Cup may have greater penalties for the Oilers. A lot has been made about Connor McDavid’s future in Edmonton. One analyst laid out his reasoning for why McDavid should give the Oilers an ultimatum. And a former Oiler/present podcaster had some interesting comments on the scenario as effectively and instructed followers he believes McDavid already is aware of what he’ll do. McDavid’s most recent comments on the matter definitely did not do a lot to make Oilers followers really feel higher.
Gretzky is not the one one who is not excessive on the Oilers. One hockey author didn’t embody Edmonton on the list of teams able to difficult the Panthers for the 2026 Stanley Cup.
