"Can the Oilers Make a Comeback in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final?"

Connor McDavid failed to register a point, prompting Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the Edmonton Oilers' star players to rise to the occasion and bring them within one victory of the Stanley Cup. Draisaitl showcased his prowess in the Final by assisting Warren Foegele's early goal, while Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman found the back of the net in the second period. With a resounding 5-1 triumph over the Florida Panthers in Game 6 on Friday night, the Oilers successfully forced a Game 7.

"At the end of the day, we play to win and this is going to be the hardest game for us," Draisaitl said. "We have to bring our game again."

The Oilers are the third team to even the Final series after trailing 3-0, and the first since the Detroit Red Wings in 1945. They will have the opportunity on Monday night in Sunrise, Florida, to emulate the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs as the sole NHL teams to overcome such a deficit and win the Stanley Cup.

"There was an unshakable belief," Hyman said. "No matter what happened throughout the year, we always believed we could pull through. No matter how dire the circumstances, we think we have a chance. It was a long season facing adversity, which prepared us. The next one will be the hardest. It feels unbelievable to do it in front of this crowd. To have a chance to win now, this is our first opportunity to win."

The Oilers have made a remarkable comeback after being down 3-0 in the series, scoring five or more goals in three consecutive games. This achievement marks the longest streak in a Stanley Cup Final since the Pittsburgh Penguins accomplished it in 1991, as reported by ESPN Stats & Information.

The chance to create history in hockey and put an end to Canada's thirty-year Cup drought is now within reach, thanks to McDavid's outstanding performance with four points in Games 4 and 5, leading the Oilers from the brink of defeat to a renewed sense of belief. For the first time in his nine-year career, Edmonton won a game without McDavid contributing a point or taking a shot on net.

Draisaitl, McDavid's longtime teammate from Germany and a former league MVP, who is widely regarded as one of the top players in the world, ignited the team in Game 5 after struggling against the Panthers.

"He's a horse," defenseman Darnell Nurse said. "He's always showing up at the biggest moments. You look at all his playoff performances, he's one of the best to ever do it."

Draisaitl got the puck at center ice, skated around and through Florida defenders and put the puck on the tape of Foegele's stick for a tap-in that Sergei Bobrovsky had nearly no chance of stopping. That, of course, did not stop the fired-up sellout crowd of 18,000-plus from mockingly chanting, "Ser-gei! Ser-gei!"

The goalie everyone calls "Bob" was hardly to blame, though, with mistakes in front of him also contributing to the 2-on-1 rush that ended with Henrique beating Bobrovsky off a perfect pass from Mattias Janmark. The Panthers in front of their goaltender looked tight and timid and unlike the juggernaut that reached the Final for a second consecutive year and won the first three games to move to the verge of the first title in franchise history.

"We have one game to go," Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov said. "We were ready right from the start to play a seven-game series, and nothing changes now. We got up three, and they played three good games. Now it's up to us to win at home."

Florida had just six shots on net midway through the game and finished with 21. Continuing a trend of being there when the Oilers need him the most, goaltender Stuart Skinner made timely saves to stymie the Panthers, allowing just a goal to Aleksander Barkov less than 90 seconds into the third period.

"He's been lights-out when we've needed him," Janmark said of Skinner.

The first time Barkov got the puck past him, 10 seconds after Henrique scored, the goal came off the board when Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch successfully challenged for offside. A lengthy review found Sam Reinhart entered the offensive zone perhaps an inch or less before the puck, the announcement of which was followed by a roar from fans.

"I actually didn't think it was that close," Knoblauch said. "In my mind, it was definitely offside."

That was not the loudest Rogers Place got, and there were plenty of candidates for that distinction. The decibel meter shown on video screens reached 113.8 when the Oilers stepped on to the ice to the tune of Metallica's

"Enter Sandman."

It might have approached that noise level when Ryan McLeod and Nurse scored empty-netters in the final minutes, setting off chants of "We want the Cup!" "We want the Cup!" and a wild celebration at the viewing party outside.

That was the fever pitch of a city that was awash in a sea of blue and orange downtown in the hours before puck drop. Friday might as well have been a holiday in Edmonton, the home of nearly a million people now fully able to let themselves dream of the Oilers adding another white championship banner to the rafters -- and do so in the most improbable way possible.