NHL insider drops truth bomb on Oilers vs. Panthers Stanley Cup Finals Game 6 clash - "Eventually comes back to bite you"

The Florida Panthers will look to clinch the Stanley Cup in Game 6 against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. They lead the series 3-2 and are back on home ice.

Florida won 5-2 in Edmonton on Saturday, with Brad Marchand scoring twice and now has six goals in the final. Sam Bennett and Eetu Luostarinen also scored, while Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves.

Former NHL player Frank Corrado talked about the series on the "First Up" podcast, saying that Florida wants to avoid the mistakes it made last year. In 2024, the Panthers were up 3-0 but lost three straight games before winning Game 7.

"They would like to probably write some of the column wrongs from last year, games four, five and six, where they didn't get it done, and not have to relive that again," Corrado said on Tuesday (04:00).

Corrado also discussed the problems with the Oilers’ play, failing to start strong and often fall behind early.

"I think you can only play with fire so long against the Florida Panthers, meaning the Edmonton Oilers, they just, they don't get out to lead," Corrado said. "They don't play with leads in this. Quite a valiant effort from them at times, you know, scratching and clawing their way back in.

"But, I think there's an expiration date on how long you can do that against Florida until it eventually comes back to bite you."

Corrado added that Edmonton needs to score first and play with a lead. Florida has scored two or more goals in the first period of every game in the series.

"Tonight for the Oilers, (the strategy is) just to get out to a lead and see if you can preserve it or build on it and make the Panthers chase the game a little bit," Corrado said.

"But you know, even the goal setting situation in Edmonton, Skinner going back in the net, just there's no real ace in the hole right now for the Oilers, which sounds crazy to say, on the team that has (Connor) McDavid and (Leon) Draisaitl."

The Oilers will need to contain the Panthers' early offense

The Oilers struggled in Game 5 on Saturday, with only three shots in the first period and 21 total, and their power play went 0-for-3. Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the series, but it came too late. After he scored, Florida answered quickly with a goal from Sam Reinhart before Corey Perry scored later. However, it wasn’t enough.

Florida has looked more organized and calm in key moments. Brad Marchand has led the way with his scoring, while Sam Bennett has 15 playoff goals — the most in the league this postseason. The Panthers are strong early in games and have been sharp throughout the series. They have 10 road wins this postseason, tying an NHL record.

Edmonton came back from a 3-0 series deficit last year to force Game 7, and will try to push this series to a seventh game again. However, Florida is confident, knowing what’s at stake and want to secure the Stanley Cup at home.

The puck drops at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday.