The Edmonton Oilers are not done yet.
The Oilers emphatically fought off elimination from the Stanley Cup final with a high-powered 8-1 thumping of the Florida Panthers in Game 4 Saturday night.
Florida leads 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, which returns to the Sunshine State Tuesday for Game 5.
“We needed it,” said captain Connor McDavid. “It feels good to survive another day. We go down to Florida and we look to do the same.”
“It’s one win closer,” added Zach Hyman. “The mentality is the same, the belief is the same. But it’s nice to go and do it and get a win, and get a couple past the goalie, and show that we can do it, and put a little bit of doubt on the other side.”
The Oilers are looking to become only the second team after the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the final to hoist the Stanley Cup.
The convincing Game 4 win saw seven different Oilers players find the back of the net, chasing Sergei Bobrovsky – who came into the series having stifled Edmonton – in the process.
McDavid led the way with one goal and three assists, setting a new postseason record during the game. Dylan Holloway scored twice and added an assist.
Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique, Darnell Nurse, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ryan McLeod also scored for the home side. Hyman and Leon Draisaitl has two assists apiece.
The atmosphere was electric inside and outside Rogers Place, with a Shania Twain concert kicking off the festivities before the game. Superstitious fans are linking Canada’s Queen of Country, who cheered on Edmonton from the stands, to the Oilers’ success.
What can’t be questioned: the Oilers found their “giddy up” in Game 4. It was the first time they scored at least six goals since the opening round against the L.A. Kings.
And they set the tone early. After the Florida Panthers hit back-to-back posts, the Oilers took the puck the other way on a shorthanded odd-man rush. A patient Connor Brown fed Janmark in front of goal, knocking the puck off a Florida player and in to take a 1-0 lead at 3:11.
Janmark turned provider minutes later when he connected with Henrique, who managed to get the inside position in Bobrovsky’s crease for his third of the postseason at 7:48 – Edmonton’s first two-goal cushion of the final.
Vladimir Tarasenko got the visitors on the board at 11:26 when he deflected defenceman Gustav Forsling’s shot from the blue line after Cody Ceci turned the puck over.
The Panthers nearly equalized moments later but Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner came across to deny Carter Verhaeghe on a 2-on-1.
Holloway restored Edmonton’s two-goal lead when, in transition, he got the puck from Draisaitl and lifted it over Bobrovsky’s pad at 14:48.
Edmonton’s captain got in on the scoring early in the second period, silencing some critics with his first of the Stanley Cup final. McDavid raced down the ice, took a pass from Hyman before beating Bobrovsky short side at 1:13.
Bobrovsky’s night was over four minutes later when Nurse made it 5-1 for the Oilers, with McDavid and Hyman nabbing helpers. The Panthers netminder gave up five goals on 16 shots.
“Tonight we had the answer for him,” Brown said of Bobrovsky.
Florida got into some penalty trouble in the second period, with Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett taking roughing penalties on the same play. The Oilers made no mistake on the two-minute-long 5-on-3 power play, with Nugent-Hopkins knocking in his 15th of the playoffs after a tight-angle shot from Draisaitl landed on backup Anthony Stolarz’s back.
With an assist on that 6-1 goal, his 31st of the postseason, McDavid tied Wayne Gretzky for most assists during a single Stanley Cup playoff run.
McDavid took sole possession of that record with six minutes to play in the third period when Holloway scored his second of the night, completing a tic-tac-toe play for Edmonton’s seventh goal of the game.
“Connor probably won’t admit it but you have to feel proud about that,” Brown said of his teammate’s new record. “It’s not by accident. I’ve known Connor a long time and that’s not an accident. He is the player he is. He works harder than anyone I’ve ever met. Night in and night out he competes as hard as he can.”
McLeod rounded out the scoring with three minutes on the clock.
Edmonton lost three games in a row on three separate occasions during the regular season. They followed those skids with an eight-, 16- and five-game win streak. Oilers fans are hoping that trend continues in the playoffs.
“We’re most comfortable when our backs are against the wall,” said Brown. “That’s kind of what we showed at the beginning of the year. Dead last, backs against the wall, we came out and had some historic runs. We’re a unique club in that regard.”
