The Stanley Cup will be in the building tonight as the Florida Panthers hope to lock in their back-to-back championships.
The Panthers' best players, like Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov, typically step up in the biggest moments. And while the Oilers' big guns in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl haven't been shy about getting on the scoresheet, they might need some help from an unsung hero to force a Game 7.
Let's seek out some goalscorers in Game 6 with my June 17 NHL picks.
NHL anytime goalscorer picks for Oilers vs Panthers Game 6
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Barkov (+230) - Verhaeghe (+220)
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Brown (+550)
Oilers vs Panthers anytime goalscorer props for tonight
Aleksander Barkov (+230 at BET99)
As good as the Florida Panthers' captain has been in this series, if you look at the stats, it might appear that he's been relatively quiet. Aleksander Barkov has zero goals and three assists through five games, but his impact on the ice cannot be measured by any statistics.
That said, it's hard to imagine Barkov finishing a series, especially one with this magnitude, without any goals. Barkov only had one shot attempt in Game 5, but he did pick up a huge assist on Sam Reinhart's goal to pretty much close out the game.
Prior to Game 5, Barkov had been averaging about five shot attempts per game in the Stanley Cup Final, but about two shots on goal in each contest.
Barkov has scored six goals in 22 games this postseason, but hasn't scored in his last seven overall. If the Panthers are going to close this thing out tonight, they could use a big-time play from their captain.
Carter Verhaeghe (+220 at BET99)
When it comes to coming up clutch, Carter Verhaeghe's name is always in that conversation. Verhaeghe has scored nine goals in 21 career series-clinching playoff games.
That said, Verhaghe only has one goal in this series, which is very uncharacteristic of him, especially with how good his line has been. Verhaeghe, Matthew Tkachuk, and Sam Bennett have combined for eight goals through five games in the Final, and they're skating to a 3.03 expected goals per 60.
As most people remember, it was Verhaeghe who opened the scoring in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last year, and he'd be the guy to look at for a big goal in a big game for Florida.
Connor Brown (+550 at BET99)
Connor Brown is certainly a bit of a longshot in tonight's game, but he's gotten some really strong scoring chances in this series. Brown had the best opportunity of Game 5 in the opening minutes, but was robbed by the glove of Sergei Bobrovsky.
Brown hasn't recorded a single point yet in this series, but he came up big in the Oilers' comeback in last year's Final.
In a game like this, there always seems to be an unsung hero. Brown has had some looks on the top line with Connor McDavid, and is a scoring threat at times when he's out on the penalty kill.
He hasn't scored in his last six games, but he has five goals in these playoffs. So maybe, just maybe, he has some magic in him tonight at a square price.
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