Connor McDavid admired and looked up to Sidney Crosby as the kind of player he wanted to become one day.

But when McDavid was pretending as a kid to score the goal to win the Stanley Cup, he always imagined himself being in that position.

B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e not sure youB次元官网网址檙e ever going to get that opportunity,B次元官网网址� McDavid said. B次元官网网址淗ere we are with that opportunity.B次元官网网址�

That opportunity is only possible after McDavid led the Edmonton Oilers back from a 3-0 deficit in the final to set up Game 7 against the Florida Panthers on Monday night with hockeyB次元官网网址檚 hallowed trophy at stake. He and his teammates are now on the verge of completing one of the biggest comebacks in sports history, attempting to block out the ramifications to focus on accomplishing something not done in the NHL since 1942.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not your ordinary game, everybody understands that, but youB次元官网网址檝e got to make it as ordinary as possible in your head,B次元官网网址� McDavid said after practice Sunday, the OilersB次元官网网址� final one of the season. B次元官网网址淥ur room has done a great job of being at our best in these big moments, and I would expect no different.B次元官网网址�

McDavid has been at his best in the biggest moments of his first trip to the Cup final, recording four points apiece in Games 4 and 5 to keep Edmonton from getting swept and then dragging the Panthers back across North America to Alberta for a Game 6 the Oilers won on home ice without him getting on the scoresheet.

The reigning and three-time league MVP has not been held without a point in back-to-back games this entire playoff run, and McDavid is the biggest X-factor on the big stage. Veteran winger Corey Perry, a Cup champion in 2007 whoB次元官网网址檚 in his third final in four years, said McDavid B次元官网网址渃an do magical things at any point in the game.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淓very game we go into, we know we have the best player in the world on our side,B次元官网网址� said Leon Draisaitl, McDavidB次元官网网址檚 longtime running mate and an MVP in his own right who assisted on the opening goal in Game 6. B次元官网网址淏ut this league is really, really hard to just go through one player or two or three players. You need a whole team, and I think weB次元官网网址檝e shown that.B次元官网网址�

Forward Mattias Janmark called McDavid the catalyst and the face of this rally in the final, but with Selke Trophy winner as the best defensive forward Aleksander Barkov on the other side, along with elite goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, it will likely take more than just their captainB次元官网网址檚 magic to finish a job last done more than 80 years ago.

Draisaitl acknowledged being human comes with thoughts drifting to the big picture, the idea of joining the B次元官网网址�42 Maple Leafs in the record books. Teammate Connor Brown called it B次元官网网址渁 chance to finish the script that weB次元官网网址檝e been writing.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 a script the Panthers would love to flip after taking the first three games of the series and being one win away from sweeping their way to the first championship in franchise history. Not much has gone right since.

B次元官网网址淒oesnB次元官网网址檛 matter how itB次元官网网址檚 gone or how you draw it up,B次元官网网址� Florida winger Matthew Tkachuk said. B次元官网网址淭his is an absolutely incredible, incredible opportunity. So, yes, you want to recognize or remember some of the good things that helped you beat these guys earlier in the series, but IB次元官网网址檓 trying to forget all of it. Just go in there and win one game. This is what it comes down to.B次元官网网址�

Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch foreshadowed this the morning of Game 4, when he said he was B次元官网网址渞eally excited for the next 10 daysB次元官网网址� hours before his team faced elimination for the first time. What sounded delusional then has now become prescient: wins of 8-1, 5-3 and 5-1 to outscore the Panthers 18-5 and send the series back to South Florida, where few expected more hockey to be played this season.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think there was ever a moment in that dressing room that they didnB次元官网网址檛 think they had a chance,B次元官网网址� Knoblauch said.

Here is that chance, for McDavid to hoist the Cup in the same building he was drafted in nine years ago, to end CanadaB次元官网网址檚 title drought at 31 years and 30 seasons and to varnish a legacy as hockeyB次元官网网址檚 greatest player that is missing only being atop the NHL for the first time.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e excited about it,B次元官网网址� McDavid said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e worked hard to put ourself in this position, and itB次元官网网址檚 a great opportunity for our group and weB次元官网网址檙e looking forward to it.B次元官网网址�

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Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press