Connor McDavid and the Oilers see season end with 2nd straight Stanley Cup Final loss at Florida

Rats, foiled again.

Too many slow starts, not enough offense and spotty goaltending left Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers glumly exiting the ice for a second straight June to make way for another Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup celebration.

A year after a 2-1 loss at Florida in Game 7, the Oilers season came to an end following a 5-1 loss in Game 6 at Florida on Tuesday – with Panthers fans kicking off their toy-rat-tossing festivities with 6:34 left when Sam Reinhart completed his hat trick with his first of two empty-net goals.

Edmonton became the third team in the NHL’s post-expansion era to lose consecutive Cup Final series appearances. The Oilers joined Boston, which lost to Montreal in both 1977 and ’78, and St. Louis, which lost three straight appearances from 1968-70.

Edmonton’s loss also extended Canada’s Cup drought to 32 years. Canadian-based teams are now 0-7 in the final since Montreal won the Cup, beating the Wayne Gretzky-led Los Angeles Kings in five games in 1993.

The Oilers were eventually overwhelmed in a series they opened with a 4-3 overtime win in becoming just the 11th of 63 teams to lose the Cup when opening a final with a win at home.

Slow starts were again an issue on a day Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl opened by saying: “You still haven’t seen our best. We have to get to our game quicker.”

Despite out-shooting Florida 10-9 through the first period, Edmonton trailed 2-0. The Oilers were outscored by a combined margin of 13-4 in the opening period this series, with Florida scoring 10 straight since the midway point of the opening period of Game 2.

Sam Reinhart’s opening goal 4:36 in came on Florida’s first shot on net, and after Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard wasn’t able to control a pass into his mid-section at the Oilers blue line. Reinhart pounced on the loose puck, drove to the net and snapped a shot inside the right post while falling.

Skinner got the start after sitting out Game 5, but had little help in front of him in allowing three goals on 23 shots. He finished the series allowing 16 goals on 105 shots in five starts, and looked little like the goalie who entered the final on a 6-1 roll in which he allowed 10 combined goals, with three shutouts.

Secondary scoring was an issue for an Edmonton team playing without Zach Hyman (broken wrist), who had 16 goals and six assists during last year’s playoff run.

The Oilers proved over-reliant on Draisaitl and Corey Perry to carry the scoring load. The pair combined to score seven of Edmonton’s 17 goals in the series, with Connor McDavid providing a goal and six assists while being swarmed throughout by the relentless Panthers.

The Oilers’ Cup final record dropped to 5-4, with the team losing its past three appearances – last year and a seven-game series loss to Carolina in 2006. Edmonton last won in 1990, when the Mark Messier-led team won a five-game series over Boston.

___