Edmonton Oilers stay alive in Stanley Cup Final with a win 8-1 in game 4
With their backs against the wall, the Edmonton Oilers staved off elimination for a night with an 8-1 over the Florida. The Panthers still lead the series 3-1. The teams will meet on Tuesday where the Panthers vie again to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
The Oilers found themselves on the penalty kill early in the first period, when Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark broke out on a breakaway for Edmonton. It was Janmark that tapped in the opening goal to send Edmonton into a frenzy at 3:11 of the first period.
Janmark was at it again, this time forwarding pass into traffic where veteran Adam Henrique tipped the puck past Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead with 7:48 of the first period.
At 11:26 of the first period, the Panthers responded with Gustav Forsling’s shot tipped by Vladmir Tarasenko to cut the deficit to one.
Nearly three minutes later, Edmonton answered the call again when Leon Draisaitl led a rush with Dylan Holloway, and it was Holloway who stashed a backhand past Bobrovsky to put the Oilers up 3-1 heading to the intermission.
The second period saw an Oiler barrage.
It was only a manner of time before Connor McDavid found the back of the net in the Stanley Cup Final, but at the 1:13 mark of the second period, the three-time MVP found the back of the net. It started off a passing play that initiated with Evan Bouchard before Zach Hyman found the tape of McDavid’s stick who he did the rest.
Edmonton led 4-1.
For the Oilers backline, there was not a blueliner that could use a big play than Darnell Nurse. McDavid on an Oiler attack dropped a pass to the trailing Nurse to hand the Oilers a 5-1 lead at the 4:59 mark of the second period.
Facing a 5-1 deficit, the Panthers decided to pull Sergei Bobrovsky who gave up five goals on sixteen shots and was replaced by Anthony Stolarz.
Edmonton continued to pour it on with Stolarz in net.
At 13:03 of the 2nd period, the Oilers scored their first power play goal of the Stanley Cup Final on a goal scored by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
The third period saw the Oilers tack on two more goals in the game’s closing minutes.
Dylan Holloway scored his second of the game and Ryan McLeod scored two and a half minutes later to make it eight goals on the night for the Oil machine.
This was the breakout game the Oilers were searching for.
The depth of the Oilers was on full display with Dylan Holloway accounting for two goals and an assist. Connor Brown, Adam Henrique, and Mattias Janmark, all scored goals for Edmonton.
On a night where Edmonton shined on the scoreboard, it wouldn’t be without a display from Edmonton’s finest.
Connor McDavid was his typical self with a goal and three assists. McDavid surpassed Wayne Gretzky for most assists in a single postseason with 32.
McDavid about the win, emphasized that there is still plenty of work to be done.
It’s just one win, that’s all it is…It doesn’t matter if you score eight or you score one, it’s just one win. We’ve got to go to Florida, do a job and drag them back to Alberta. – Connor McDavid
The Oilers have every reason to be confident heading back down to Florida, but the Panthers are still one win away from raising the Cup.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice expressed how after being routed in Game 4, it is still only one game.
I don’t believe momentum at all because I would have been wrong at 3-0…So you just reestablish your game and you come back in the fight. I’ll fire at least one cliché for you so you have something there: We came into Edmonton to get a split and we got what we needed. But there’s also reason for that…general things will be far more extreme outside your room than inside. So, at 3-0 we’re not sitting there getting the engravers out. We lost a game tonight. There’s going to be a Game 5. – Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice
Game 5 of the series will take place Tuesday night at 5p.
The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team to comeback down three games to none in the Stanley Cup Final, downing the Detroit Red Wings in the first of five Stanley Cup Championships for the Maple Leafs in the 40s.
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