Florida Panthers Making Lineup Change for Game 7

SUNRISE — Kyle Okposo will play in the biggest game of his life tonight when the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers square off in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Okposo was a healthy scratch in Game 6 on Friday night but returns to the lineup tonight in place of Nick Cousins on the fourth line.

Now in his 17th NHL season, one which may be his last, Okposo has the chance to go out in style.

On Sunday morning, Okposo talked about what it means to finally have this opportunity to play in a Game 7 with so much on the line.

Not only did he not make the playoffs in seven seasons with the Buffalo Sabres before being traded the Panthers, but he had never made it out of the second round with the Islanders prior to that.

“I grabbed my son this morning, who’s 8, and I said ‘you know what I was doing at your age? I was in the driveway with my rollerblades on, pretending I was in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals’,’’ Okposo said.

“I said how special it was that he was going to be able to go to this game. Yeah, you definitely have to embrace it. Just smile, because this is the 18th one, so there have been 18 different sets of players to experience this match. You have to embrace every second of it.’’

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Much is being made of how the Panthers got to this point.

Florida led Edmonton 3-0 in the series before losing the past three.

With a loss, the Panthers would be part of the biggest collapse in modern team sports history.

The Panthers cannot dwell on that, and it does not sound like they are.

“What’s your most important game? It is your next one, in the playoffs, and that’s it,’’ Okposo said. “At the end of the day, they got one win in our building and we got one win in theirs. Now we’re here in Game 7. It is what it is. You can look at every story line, you can analyze how we match up, they have the momentum, we’re on our heels, whatever. It doesn’t matter. You’re only as good as your next game.’’

If the Panthers have their best game tonight in Game 7, it will be remembered for a long, long time.

— The Panthers had a limited morning skate Monday with Sergei Bobrovsky and Aaron Ekblad taking the ice after having Sunday off.

— On Sunday, the Panthers mixed up their top power play a bit with Vladimir Tarasenko taking Carter Verhaeghe’s spot on the top unit.

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2024 STANLEY CUP FINAL

EDMONTON OILERS VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS 

GAME 7

Best of 7 Series Tied 3-3

• When: Monday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV: ABC
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Series Schedule — Game 1: @Florida 3, Edmonton 0;Game 2:@Florida 4, Edmonton 1; Game 3: Florida 4, @Edmonton 3; Game 4: @Edmonton 8, Florida 1; Game 5: Edmonton 5, @Florida 3; Game 6: @Edmonton 5, Florida 1; Game 7: Edmonton at Florida, Monday
• How They Got Here — Florida: d. Tampa Bay 4-1, Boston 4-2, New York Rangers 4-2; Edmonton: d. Los Angeles 4-1, Vancouver 4-3, Dallas 4-2.
• This Season (Florida Won 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 5, Oilers 3 (Nov. 20). At Edmonton: Panthers 5, Oilers 2 (Dec. 17).
• Last Season: Edmonton Won 2-0
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-16-0, 3 ties
• Postseason History: First Meeting