According to Scouting the Refs on X, the Florida Panthers are undefeated in regulation in 14 games with O'Rourke, while the Edmonton Oilers have yet to win a game.
O'Rourke's record clearly skews heavily in favour of the Florida Panthers, both over time and during this postseason. It may not be a direct show of bias against the Oilers, but more so shows how the Florida Panthers fool the referees with their style of play. Still, Oilers fans are livid with the announcement that O'Rourke will be in the game tonight.
It's probably just a statistical anomaly that O'Rourke has such a greatly skewed record in favour of the Panthers, but regardless, his record alone will make for a storyline tonight. The Panthers will likely stick to their physical game and try to muck it up with the Oilers again, and the Oilers need to weather the storm and get back to their elite offence.
Tonight is a near must-win game for the Oilers, if they want a real chance to come back and win this series. Plenty of teams have come back from down two games to win, and tonight needs to be the first step for the Edmonton Oilers doing just that.
