‘A lot of memories come flying back’: Oilers look to put past behind them as Stanley Cup Final shifts to Florida

It was just under one year ago that the Edmonton Oilers watched the Florida Panthers celebrate their first-ever Stanley Cup Championship in front of 19,939 fans at Amerant Bank Arena.

The Panthers won the first three games of the series, but the Oilers battled back with three wins of their own, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7 with history on the line. After exchanging goals in the first period, Florida took the lead late in the second and shut Edmonton down the rest of the way, resulting in a heartbreaking loss for a team that was one win shy of becoming just the second in NHL history to come back from 3-0 down in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Oilers visited Florida during the regular season, but the stakes weren’t the same during a late-February road trip as they are now in June. Being back in Florida in the Cup Final is something completely different for this team.

“It’s a different, different feeling,” Darnell Nurse told NHL.com on Sunday when the Oilers arrived in Sunrise. “It was very emotional for us. Obviously, a lot of memories come flying back. You get those whenever you return to a place you’ve played before in the playoffs, but obviously losing a Game 7 here is always going to stick with you.”

Home-ice advantage was huge for the Panthers in last year’s Stanley Cup Final. They opened the series with wins in Games 1 and 2 at home by a combined score of 7-1 and held off a historic comeback effort by the Oilers with a 2-1 victory in Game 7. The only win the Oilers had in Florida during last year’s Cup Final came in Game 5 after they had fallen behind 3-1 in the series.

The Oilers finished ahead of the Panthers in the standings this season and the two teams split Games 1 and 2 in Edmonton. The Stanley Cup Final rematch will now shift to Florida for Games 3 and 4. The Panthers are looking to take a stranglehold on the series with a couple of wins at home, while the Oilers are looking to regain home-ice advantage.

In order to win the Stanley Cup, Edmonton will need to steal a game in Florida. They were able to do so once last year when facing elimination, and the Oilers can use that as motivation again this year.

“I think we just look at it as another opportunity to win a Stanley Cup and, being back here, using that as motivation,” Nurse added. “Yes, it was one game — one very important game in which we didn’t get it done. But don’t forget, we’ve also had games here where we’ve had big moments and extended series.”

Game 3 will go on Monday at 6:00 PM MT at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. Game 4 is scheduled for the same time and place on Friday.