Panthers’ scoring depth has stepped up – the Oilers’ need theirs to show up, too
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final takes place Thursday night, as the Edmonton Oilers hope to get back in this series while being down 2-0 to the Florida Panthers.
A lot of eyes are on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in hopes of them producing, but one thing fans should note is the lack of production from the rest of their lineup, including Zach Hyman, who scored a career-high 54 goals this season, but hasn’t gotten on the scoresheet in this series.
In fact, no one not named Mattias Ekholm has scored for the Oilers, and that could prove costly as the Panthers have gotten some much-needed depth scoring from the likes of Evan Rodrigues and Eetu Luostarinen.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk join us live from Edmonton, Alta., to preview Game 3 of this series and try to dissect where Edmonton could use the most help.
Frank Seravalli: It does feel like these injuries are catching up to the Oilers, and to me, that’s been the biggest story that’s been missing from the news cycle. There’s been so much talk about Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl needing to do more, but I don’t think enough people have talked about where the Panthers’ goals have come from: Evan Rodrigues, Eetu Luostarinen, Aaron Ekblad–
Tyler Yaremchuk: –Niko Mikkola!
Frank Seravalli: Niko Mikkola! That’s who has scored goals for them in the Stanley Cup Final. It hasn’t been Matthew Tkachuk or Sam Reinhart or Sam Bennett, whoever you want to pick in their upper-echelon, these two teams’ top-six have cancelled each other out, and it’s the bottom-six where the Oilers are getting worked. They need more help from the rest of their lineup.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…