Stanley Cup drama: Draisaitl and the Oilers are stuck in a nightmare

Once again, they face the Florida Panthers in the final, and once again the Edmonton Oilers are in danger of losing German superstar Leon Draisaitl. A nasty home defeat provides a déjà vu for last year's nightmare.

Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers are back to the wall in the fight for the Stanley Cup after a bitter home defeat. The team led by the German ice hockey star lost Game 5 of the NHL Finals against the Florida Panthers 5-2, and it could all be over next Tuesday: The defending champions can complete another triumph in Game 6 in front of their home crowd in Sunrise. The Panthers also won the final duel with the Oilers last year.

"Nightmare on Oilers Street," the Edmonton Journal headlined after the latest defeat, describing it as a recurring nightmare. Florida once again took the lead, having done so in four of the five games so far. The Oilers were down 0-2 after the first period, and even 0-3 at the start of the final period.

"Falling behind is tough, and you can't afford to do that too often against this team," said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. "We know we have to win our last two games now, but we're confident we can do it. We've overcome difficult situations before."

The Panthers are leading the series 3-2, and the fourth win will decide the series. Edmonton won both of its victories in Game 1 and Game 4 in overtime, while their opponents from Florida have now comfortably clinched two of their three victories: they had already won 6-1 in Game 3.

On Saturday, Draisaitl, who scored decisively in both overtime victories, helped his team with an assist to Corey Perry's goal to make it 4-2. But the focus was on Brad Marchand, who scored twice for Florida and now has six goals in the final series—a feat no one has achieved since 1988.