EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor McDavid scored, “La Bamba” played in the Edmonton Oilers’ locker room, and the Stanley Cup Final is heading back to Florida after a statement win for the Canadian club.
McDavid scored his first goal of the best-of-seven series as part of a four-point performance, Stuart Skinner was spectacular in making 32 saves, and the Oilers routed the Florida Panthers 8-1 in Game 4 on Saturday night, chasing opposing goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and avoiding a sweep.
Game 5 is Tuesday night, when the Oilers must win again to extend their season and send the series back to Edmonton.
“It’s just one win,” McDavid said. “That’s all it is, whether you score eight or you score one. It’s just one win. We’ve got to go to Florida and do a job and drag them back to Alberta.”
The Panthers’ party will have to wait after a complete meltdown from a team with many players who have never been this close to hoisting the NHL’s legendary trophy. Bobrovsky was part of that, getting pulled five minutes into the second period after allowing five goals on 16 shots, which are more than he gave up in the first three games of the series combined.
“It had nothing to do with Bob,” Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “It was more of a wake-up call to everybody. We know he’s going to come back better than ever.”
Whether it was a last-gasp effort in front of a jacked-up home crowd hoping to see the start of a historic comeback or the breakthrough that coach Kris Knoblauch has been foreshadowing, the Oilers from Skinner in net on out were dominant in every facet of a game they needed to win to keep the NHL’s 2023-24 season going.
It started with Mattias Janmark scoring 3:11 in via a 2-on-1 rush with Connor Brown. Janmark staked Edmonton to a two-goal lead less than five minutes later, setting up Adam Henrique for his second career goal in the Stanley Cup Final 12 years after he had the winner for the New Jersey Devils that also prevented a sweep in the title round.
The odds remain long for the Oilers, given that the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team to erase a 3-0 deficit at this stage of the NHL playoffs and only four teams total have ever done it.
“Obviously that was a massive win, but we still know what the circumstances are,” said Dylan Holloway who had two goals after not scoring since the second round. “We’re still down 3-1. The biggest thing for us is kind of just to forget that and use it, bottle it kind of, keep notice that we can do it but just move forward.”
The belief will certainly be tangible after breaking out offensively and building a lead rather than holding on to protect it, a quality the Oilers had in spades through the first three rounds of the playoffs to win the Western Conference. Florida cutting its deficit to one on Vladimir Tarasenko’s goal midway through the first period did not cause Edmonton to fold, with Skinner making the most important save of the night on Carter Verhaeghe on a 2-on-1 chance, and Holloway answering before intermission.
“He was great,” McDavid said of Skinner. “You talk about goaltending and needing timely saves. He made some really timely saves. That was as big a save as you’re going to get.”
The Canadian Press photo by Jason Franson via AP / Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid celebrates a goal against the Florida Panthers during Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.The offense just kept coming. McDavid, who last season was named NHL MVP for the third time in his career, beat Bobrovsky early in the second period and minutes later set up Darnell Nurse for the defenseman’s first goal of the playoffs. That sent the goalie known as “Bob” to the bench amid derisive chants of “Sergei! Sergei!” as Anthony Stolarz came in for his postseason debut.
The Panthers, hours after family members arrived for a potential celebration more than 2,500 miles from home, took their frustrations out in a handful of scrums after the whistle. One of them gave Edmonton’s power play more target practice, and the unit that came into the series looking nearly automatic but started 0-for-12 made them pay with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scoring on the 5-on-3 advantage.
“I’m not counting 5-on-3,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.
McDavid with three assists now has 32 on this run, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record from 1988 for the most in a single postseason. He had more points Saturday night than in the first three games of the series combined, and he was the Oilers’ leading scorer while other top players were quiet.
“He just continues to impress everyone,” Knoblauch said. “It was a great performance.”
At even strength and on the power play, another adjustment by Knoblauch paid off as the playoffs of Edmonton’s rookie coach pushing all the right buttons continued. He moved Nugent-Hopkins down to play with Leon Draisaitl, and each of the first two lines scored a big goal.
The outburst and a comfortable lead got fans going with everything from a singalong of Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” to “We want seven!” They got it.
Holloway scored with less than six minutes left to make it 7-1, and Ryan McLeod added the exclamation point with the eighth goal with 3:19 on the clock.
Skinner also heard “STUUUU!” plenty as he had his best game of the final, denying the Panthers on several high-quality scoring chances as they tried to get back into it.
Confidence in the possibility of extending the series was evident inside the home locker room already, but it extended around downtown Edmonton on Saturday. A fresh sign reading “BELIEVE” was added to a window around the corner from Rogers Place.
Inside the venue, one fan held up a sign saying, “So you’re saying there’s a chance?” And now the Oilers have another chance to put pressure on the Panthers with the series returning to South Florida.