Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic <\/p>\n
SUNRISE, Fla. \u2014 The End is here.<\/p>\n
But as the Panthers and Oilers get ready to decide the 2023-24 NHL champion once and for all on Monday night in sweltering south Florida, the past is just as interested in the result as the present.<\/p>\n
Will a Canadian team win the Stanley Cup for the first time since the Canadiens in 1993?<\/p>\n
Will the Cup finals see their first successful comeback from a 3-0 deficit since the Maple Leafs pulled the feat against the Red Wings in 1942?<\/p>\n
Or will the Panthers survive having lost the past three games by an aggregate score of 18-5 and hoist the franchise\u2019s first Stanley Cup since its inception in the 1993-94 season?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the stuff of dreams \u2026 or nightmares. But on Sunday, both teams were thinking about the dreams.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes this whole thing awesome is the context of it,\u201d Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. \u201cNobody has ever, ever played on a back[yard] rink in Canada and scored the Game 3 overtime winner in the qualifying round. It\u2019s one game, always, that excites you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not just Canada, or the U.S., but Cologne, Germany (Leon Draisaitl) and Tampere, Finland (Aleksander Barkov), too. This fantasy knows no boundaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was one of those kids for sure,\u201d Barkov, the Panthers\u2019 captain, said. \u201cPlaying by yourself, whenever you\u2019re outdoors or at home \u2026 \u2018This is Game 7, Stanley Cup Playoffs, maybe overtime.\u2019 So yeah, I\u2019ve had many of those memories and now it\u2019s becoming the truth. [It\u2019s] the most exciting time to be a hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Panthers got here by defeating the Lightning in five games, the Bruins in six and the Rangers in six. They had a six-game winning streak after taking the first three games of the finals.<\/p>\n
The Oilers topped the Kings in five games, won a Game 7 in Vancouver in the second round, then took out the Stars in six in the Western Conference final.<\/p>\n
Edmonton\u2019s 3-0 deficit in this series, however, has thus far proven to be a mere detail in what has been a magical season. They started 3-9-1 under former coach Jay Woodcroft, who was fired on Nov. 12 and replaced by Kris Knoblauch. He had been serving as the coach of the Rangers\u2019 AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack.<\/p>\n
The Oilers quickly perked up and ran off a 16-game winning streak, the second-longest in NHL history. They possess the top four point scorers in this postseason, paced by 42 (eight goals and 34 assists) from superstar Connor McDavid.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely an added bonus, having the best player,\u201d Knoblauch said. \u201cNot only having the best player, but [he\u2019s] playing extremely well right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think not only do you have the advantage with him on the ice, but I think it just breeds confidence throughout the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Draisaitl, No. 3 in playoff scoring with 10 goals and 21 assists for 31 points, added: \u201cEvery game we go into knowing we have the best player in the world on our side. But this league is really hard to go through just one player or two or three players. You need a whole team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Draisaitl pointed to the Oilers\u2019 other-worldly penalty killing. They have given up just four goals in 68 times shorthanded. Against the Panthers they have killed 19 of 20 penalties.<\/p>\n
The Panthers conducted a spirited workout at their practice facility but it did not include goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who was given a day to rest up for the most important night of his or any of these players\u2019 or coaches\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
And so now it comes down to one game, 60 minutes or maybe more, to decide it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited,\u201d McDavid said. \u201cObviously we\u2019ve worked hard to put ourselves in this position.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to stay even-keeled. You can\u2019t ride the wave or roller coaster. We really haven\u2019t done anything yet. We\u2019ve won three big games to get ourselves back in the series. It comes down to one game here and we\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic SUNRISE, Fla. \u2014 The End is here. But as the Panthers and Oilers get ready to decide the 2023-24 NHL champion once and for all on Monday night in sweltering south Florida, the past is just as interested in the result as the present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-139181","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139183,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139181\/revisions\/139183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}