Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against the reigning champion Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the National Hockey League’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, will now head to Florida for game one of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday.
Florida, who will be playing in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on Thursday with a breakaway goal and an assist as the Oilers staged an early onslaught in Dallas to set up victory. Corey Perry, Mattias Janmark, Jeff Skinner, Evander Kane, and Kasperi Kapanen also found the net for Edmonton.
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McDavid said Edmonton would relish the chance to face Florida again after last year’s agonising near-miss. “They’re a heck of a team. Obviously, it’s their third finals, they’re a special group and we’re a special group,” McDavid said. “It’s gonna be fun, couldn’t ask for a better opportunity than to come up against the team that beat us last year.”
Edmonton’s advance to the finals also raises the prospect of another politically charged sporting event between teams from Canada and the United States at a time of simmering tension between the North American neighbors. Although both clubs feature a mix of nationalities on their playing rosters, sporting contests between teams from Canada and the United States have carried political overtones since the election of US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to annex Canada and routinely refers to the country as the “51st state” of the United States.
In February, the national ice hockey teams of Canada and the United States met in two fiercely competitive games in the 4 Nations tournament. The opening encounter saw three fights in the first nine seconds. McDavid scored the winning goal for Canada in the final, with then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau writing on social media: “You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game.”
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