On Saturday night, the Florida Panthers had a chance to win the Stanley Cup in a sweep. The Edmonton Oilers have played well in the series but they didn’t have any wins to show for it after the third game.
Now, with their backs against the wall, the Oilers have a chance to make some history. If they don’t, the Panthers will be the Stanley Cup champions for 2024.
Game four started very well for the Edmonton Oilers. They scored 3:11 into the game when Mattias Janmark scored a short-handed goal.
Getting that early lead in front of the hometown fans was a great idea for them as they needed that type of momentum swing early.
The Edmonton Oilers were off and running early on Saturday night
Adam Henrique eventually scored to make it 2-0 before the halfway point was even reached in the opening period. Things did get a bit interesting when Vladimir Tarasenko scored to get Florida on the board.
From there, it was all Oilers. They scored six unanswered goals to earn themselves an 8-1 victory. It was another dominating performance but this time they were able to beat the goalie.
Sergei Bobrovsky, the odds-on favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, was chased in this one. Paul Maurice made that decision based on the fact that the team in front of him was horrible.
The big story of the game was the play of Connor McDavid. He had his first breakout game of the final as he scored one goal and had three assists for four points. His great play also led to them getting off the power play slump.
The Oilers, although they are a very deep team, need Connor McDavid to step up like that if they are going to win. In game four, McDavid and the depth all showed up at the same time. You see what they can do when that happens.
Is it likely that the Oilers are going to come back in the series? No. It’s been a long time since a team won a series that they trailed 3-0. However, they believe that they can. They have faced adversity before this season and they aren’t about to give up now.
It is going to be a team that takes things one game at a time. If they play like they did on Saturday the rest of the way, they’ll have a chance. The next opportunity will come on Tuesday night when they are back in Florida.
The Panthers now have a chance to win the Stanley Cup on home ice which also changes things for them. They have to still love their chances but the seed of doubt has been planted by Connor McDavid and his teammates.