Hockey fans are calling the 2024 Stanley Cup Final “rigged” after officials missed a game-changing call in the second period of Monday night’s contest between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers.
Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final took place in Sunrise, Florida on Monday evening. Florida won by a final score of 4-1 to go up 2-0 in the series, putting them just two games away from the franchise’s first championship.
But as usual with the Stanley Cup playoffs, Monday night’s clash did not come without officiating controversy. With the Oilers on the power play late in the second period, Florida center Kevin Stenlund appeared to have flipped the puck out of play inside his own zone.
This should have resulted in a delay of game penalty. But the officials met and determined that Stenlund cleared the puck in the neutral zone, and so no penalty was issued on the play.
And that meant yet another game-changing no-call in the Stanley Cup Final that led to plenty of angry reactions from fans on X/Twitter:
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So instead of a 5-on-3 with Connor McDavid and company on the ice, Edmonton had to continue wth a 5-on-4 advantage. Instead of a potential game-changing goal, the Oilers have shut out the rest of the way and coughed up three-period goals in the 4-1 loss.
Edmonton entered Game 2 with a ridiculous 35.2 power play percentage in the postseason. So it’s safe to guess that they would have scored at least once on that 5-on-3, especially with the world’s best player on the ice.
Game 3 is set for 8:00 p.m. EST on Thursday.
The Stanley Cup Final Could End Quickly
There was plenty of hype around this star-studded Stanley Cup Final, but the McDavid and Leon Draisaitl-led Oilers will be finished quickly if they don’t bounce back in Game 3.
Florida has been better in every phase of the game. Simply put, the Oilers stand no chance of beating the Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk-led Panthers unless McDavid and Edmonton’s other top stars get going.
