The Stanley Cup will be in the building once again on Friday night with the Florida Panthers getting to win the first championship in franchise history against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Panthers led the series 3-0 before losing back-to-back games.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no way necessarily to prepare for that new experience,鈥� Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Thursday in Fort Lauderdale before traveling back to Alberta. 鈥淣ow, we鈥檝e got kind of two games under our belt 鈥� so we鈥檙e learning. We鈥檙e learning how to do this. We鈥檙e learning how to feel it.鈥�
To close out the series and finally be atop the NHL, Florida will have to likely cruising to playoff MVP honors and a raucous sellout crowd of over 18,000 fans hoping to see their team force a Game 7 in South Florida on Monday night. in the city of nearly a million people trying to will the their team back across North America.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been incredible to witness,鈥� said veteran winger Corey Perry, who is in the final for the fourth time in five seasons. 鈥淓verybody notices it. You can hear them honking the horns when we鈥檙e in our dressing room. You can hear everything. It鈥檚 pretty special, pretty tremendous to be here and going through that.鈥�
thanks in large part to , Edmonton鈥檚 captain who had four points apiece in and 5. He is the first player in league history with consecutive four-point games in the final, and of Wayne Gretzky鈥檚 record set in 1985.
鈥淐onnor doing Connor things,鈥� linemate Zach Hyman said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what makes him special. He鈥檚 able to elevate his game at the most important time 鈥� the biggest reason why we鈥檝e come so far. We鈥檙e not here without him. He continues to drive the bus.鈥�
for the Panthers in Game 5, the second-best player on the ice behind McDavid with a long gap to who might have been third. Tkachuk scored a goal and assisted on another, sparking a comeback bid despite his diving save to keep the puck out of an empty net in the final minute.
鈥淗e鈥檚 one of the best players in the world,鈥� teammate Ryan Lomberg said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 one of our main leaders. When guys like that lead by example, everybody else is well on board.鈥�
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