![Oilers fans]()
If you're an Edmonton Oilers supporter and are longing for the glory days of Wayne Gretzky, when Stanley Cup parades seemed to roll through town with relative ease, this ain't exactly a return to form. Unless Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Edmonton stage some historic rally, the Florida Panthers will take home Lord Stanley's Cup for the first time in their history.
In a twisted display of foreshadowing the sadness that was to come to many our neighbors up north, when the Panthers opened the scoring in the first period on Sam Reinhart's goal, an Oilers fan was seen cheering on:
https://twitter.com/BackAftaThis/status/1801421059830517996
https://twitter.com/GinoHard_/status/1801420882079862962
Plain as day. Wearing the jersey and everything. Did she bet the over? Where's that
other, you know,
woman who wore (and briefly didn't wear) Edmonton gear when the team needs her most?
https://twitter.com/EPSports22/status/1801420224266441041
First of all, though, let's ease up on this woman. She might've just been over-served at the bar. I would be blacking out, too, if I saw the first two games in Florida and how thoroughly the Panthers dominated. Their forecheck is relentless. Their depth is sick. Sergei Bobrovsky has been phenomenal in net. The Ps just wear their opponents down unlike any club I've seen in recent years.
Like, for most of the opening two periods, the Oilers were dominating puck possession. They were handily outgaining Florida as far as time in the offensive zone.
Then, in a literal 94-second span on the game clock, Edmonton's collective heart was ripped out of their chests as the visitors rattled off a flurry of three goals.
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1801430066385010925
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1801431997501276427
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1801433035474075842
Bobrovsky had
twice as many saves (28) as his counterpart Stuart Skinner (14) in the first 40 minutes of action. Skinner's own buffoonery cost him dearly on a misplayed puck behind the net. The Oilers had another sloppy turnover in their own end that led to another goal. By the time the Oilers woke up and scored a couple goals in the third period to make things interesting, it was too little, too late.
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1801448808003314110
Ugh. Are we about to have a sweep in the NBA Finals
and the Stanley Cup Final? What a depressing, anticlimactic pair of conclusions that'd be to those respective leagues' seasons. If Edmonton does indeed lose Game 4 at home, sh*t could get squirrelly real fast. Leon Draisaitl is entering a contract year as is. To be
thisclose yet so far from the Cup is only going to frustrate McDavid and fuel speculation about
his future. Skinner hasn't had a roller-coaster postseason at best, with a sub-.900 save percentage.
Edmonton, I don't know what to tell you, except form here on out, it might spare you some pain to hammer the over on the Panthers' team goal total, and applaud the Oilers in an "A for effort" sort of way. Or just make like the lady fan nobody was hoping to see who straight-up cheered for the bad guys' goal. Because y'all are at Florida's mercy at this point.
https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1801431551571276000
https://twitter.com/ConnorHalley/status/1801432372325531911
