Stanley Cup Final: Oilers embrace challenge to overcome 2-0 series deficit: ‘It should be tough’

The Edmonton Oilers will be greeted by a raucous crowd at Rogers Place on Thursday night. Game 3 (8 p.m. ET; ABC) will be the first Stanley Cup Final game in the city since 2006, and though they trail the Florida Panthers 2-0, they know there’s a lot of hockey left in the series.

Despite the hole they find themselves in, the Oilers are confident as they return home. There is a belief in their locker room that they can bounce back after losing the first two games of the series.

That confidence starts with captain Connor McDavid.

According to the NHL, only five teams have come back from a 2-0 series deficit in a best-of-seven Cup Final to win. None have done so since the Boston Bruins of 2010-11.

The Oilers have just one goal in two games and their vaunted power play, which entered the Cup final with a 37.3 percent connection rate, has been frustrated and scoreless in seven chances. Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is putting in a performance worthy of the Conn Smythe Trophy and the defense in front of him has continued to do what they’ve done all postseason: shut down opponents.

In an effort to find a winning formula, Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch will likely continue with lineup changes for Game 3. However, he didn’t reveal anything during Thursday’s media availability, saying we’ll have to wait until the game to see who’s in and who’s out.

After Bobrovsky single-handedly stole Game 1, the Panthers played better as a collective defense on Monday night, limiting the Oilers to 19 shots. McDavid has slowed to nine shots on goal and one assist through two games. It’s been a similar struggle for Draisaitl, who has zero points and six shots on goal so far in the series.

If Edmonton’s stars can’t get going offensively and the team’s depth leaves much to be desired, it will be tough for the Oilers to turn this into a series.

A loss on Thursday will leave them 3-0 down against a team they have not been able to figure out. But McDavid welcomes the challenge and hopes his teammates will embrace the daunting task ahead.