Win or Lose, Legacy of the Florida Panthers Defined in Game 7

FORT LAUDERDALE — Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final may end up being one of the most iconic games in NHL history.

There is so much on the line for both the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers — so much drama and build-up surrounding how that Game 7 came to be — that it almost can’t not be.

For the Panthers, the difference between winning and losing this game means everything to this franchise.

If they win, it would bring a championship and a lasting sense of credibility for a team that spent a better part of two decades as the laughing stock of the NHL.

Those years of the arena being half-empty and ownership needing to BOGO ticket deals or free burger and beer nights to get people to get in the building?

They will not be coming back any time soon, not after the hype a championship would bring to this team.

If they lose tonight?

That’s a whole different story.

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The Panthers would become just the second team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final and lose the series — joining the 1942 Detroit Red Wings who did so against the Toronto Maple Leafs — and you would be hard-pressed to find a more comparable collapse in modern memory.

Based off the conversation on Twitter, the casual fans are too fickle to stick around after such embarrassment.

And the Panthers would be hard-pressed to earn their trust back.

After a collapse like that, the Panthers would go back to being a laughing stock, even if it is in a slightly different fashion.

Years removed from their epic collapse in Super Bowl 51, the Atlanta Falcons are still laughed at for blowing a 28-3 second-half lead to the New England Patriots.

That loss still defines that franchise seven years later no matter how many times they switch up their jerseys, sign, trade for and draft new quarterbacks.

There is nothing the Falcons can do, aside from winning a Super Bowl, to remove the stink of that loss.

That is probably the closest 1-for-1 comparison you can get for blowing a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

And, yes, you still get mocked for doing so against the greatest player your sport has seen in a generation.

It certainly didn’t matter for the Falcons that it was Tom Brady who authored that comeback, and it won’t matter that it is Connor McDavid who is fronting this one for the Oilers.

What will matter, however, is how this game defines McDavid’s legacy for years to come — just as Super Bowl 51 did for Brady.

If the Oilers win tonight — whether McDavid records a point or even a shot in that Game 7 or not — his performance in this series will go down as one of the best in NHL history and will cement him as a bonafide, inner-circle Hall of Famer.

If McDavid does show out in Game 7?

This game is going to be on loop all over the world for years to come.

An instant classic that cemented the legacy of one of the few players to ever remotely rival the lasting impact of Wayne Gretzky.

It would also be hard-pressed to say that his 2024 playoff run is not the greatest in NHL history. He is already in the Top 4 in points in a single run and ranks No. 1 when the numbers are adjusted by era.

Even if Edmonton loses, McDavid’s performance this postseason has been nothing short of legendary, but a Stanley Cup to finish it off would be legacy defining.

When the puck drops tonight, history will be made.

It’s just a matter of who ends up on the right side of it.

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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