Oilers, Panthers playing for Stanley Cup in Game 7: What it would mean for each team

The 2023-24 NHL championship will come down to a Game 7 that once seemed improbable.

After the Edmonton Oilers fell behind 3-0 to the Florida Panthers in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said he was looking forward to the next 10 days.

Edmonton has made the most of that time by winning Games 4 through 6 to become the third NHL team (1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1945 Detroit Red Wings) to force a Game 7 after losing the first three games of the championship round.

Regardless of who wins Game 7 on Monday night (8 ET, ABC) in Sunrise, Florida, history will be made. Here's a look at what is at stake:

If the Edmonton Oilers win

• They would become the fifth NHL team to win a series it once trailed 3-0. They would join the 1942 Maple Leafs as the only ones to do it during the Stanley Cup Final. It would be the Oilers' sixth title and first since 1990.

• Canada's decades-long Stanley Cup drought would come to an end. The last Canadian team to win a Cup was the 1993 Montreal Canadiens. A Canadian team came up short in the final six times since then.

• Knoblauch would join the list of coaches to win a Stanley Cup as a midseason replacement. In the past 15 years, it has been done by Dan Bylsma (2009 Pittsburgh Penguins), Darryl Sutter (2012 Los Angeles Kings), Mike Sullivan (2016 Penguins) and Craig Berube (2019 St. Louis Blues).

• Connor McDavid, the No. 1 overall pick of 2015 and considered the league's best player, would win a Stanley Cup in his ninth season to go along with his three Hart trophies.

• McDavid would walk off with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

If the Florida Panthers win

• They would win the franchise's first Stanley Cup title. It would mark the second year in a row that a first-time championship has been awarded after the Vegas Golden Knights won last year.

• They would be the third NHL team to win a Cup the year after losing in the Final, joining the 2009 Penguins and 1984 Oilers. They would also join the 1945 Maple Leafs in winning Game 7 after seeing a 3-0 lead evaporate in the final.

• Coach Paul Maurice would win his first championship. He has the most NHL regular-season coaching wins (869) without a Stanley Cup.

• Aleksander Barkov would become the first Finnish-born captain to win the Stanley Cup.

• Barring a big performance by Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky or Barkov, McDavid could win the Conn Smythe.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanley Cup Finals Game 7: What's at stake for Oilers, Panthers?