Wayne Gretzky had some criticism for his former staff after their loss to the Florida Panthers within the Stanley Cup Ultimate.
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 sequence for poor efficiency. He stopped 20 of the 23 pictures he confronted, as Florida added two empty-net targets within the third interval.
Gretzky, who was a star for the Oilers for 9 seasons from 1979 to 1988, was vital of Edmonton whereas speaking on Turner Sports activities after the sequence ended.
“Is that this our goalie or not? They gotta solidify that,” Gretzky mentioned of the Oilers. “You possibly can’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 problem wasn’t that they didn’t know who their goalie was; it was that Skinner carried out poorly within the Stanley Cup Ultimate.
The Oilers have now misplaced within the Stanley Cup Ultimate to the Panthers for the second yr 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 might 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 state of affairs as properly and informed followers he believes McDavid already is aware of what he will 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 embrace Edmonton on the list of teams able to difficult the Panthers for the 2026 Stanley Cup.
