If the Edmonton Oilers have any hope of becoming just the second team to win a Stanley Cup Final after trailing 3-0 in the series, their big win over Florida on Saturday was a good start.
The Oilers avoided a sweep with a commanding 8-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
Early in the first period, the Panthers had a shot on a power play that hit the post, but after a turnover the Oilers found themselves in a 2-on-1 situation when Matian Janmark took a patient pass from Connor Brown and smashed the ball into the back of the net. A few minutes later, Adam Henrique scored to put the boys from up north up 2-0, but Florida quickly answered back with a goal from Vladimir Tarasenko to cut the lead in half.
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Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse (25) celebrates a goal with teammates during the second period against the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Sergei Belski – USA Today Sports)
But Edmonton quickly answered back, this time with a deft pass from Leon Draiseitel to Dylan Holloway to put the Oilers up 3-1. It was Draiseitel’s first point of the series and the first time the Oilers had a two-goal lead all series.
The scoring spree continued in the second period when Connor McDavid finally scored his first goal in a Cup final, but the victory wasn’t over.
Darnell Nurse entered the game at 4:59 of the first period, forcing the Panthers to replace Sergei Bobrovsky with Anthony Stolarz. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on a two-man advantage late in the first period and Holloway and Ryan McLeod added one apiece as a precaution in the third.
Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid (97) celebrates after scoring a goal in the second period against the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Sergei Belski – USA Today Sports)
The Oilers are trying to become just the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0 and the first since the Los Angeles Kings did so in the first round in 2014. That year, the Kings won two more Game 7s to win the Cup.
The only other come-from-behind victory in a Cup final was by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942, the first 3-0 come-from-behind victory in a Big Four league.
The other five teams fought to the seventh game but lost.
Edmonton Oilers centre Adam Henrique (19) celebrates again with Edmonton Oilers centre Mattias Janmark (13) during the first period against the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Sergei Belski – USA Today Sports)
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Game 5 will be played Tuesday night in Florida at 8pm ET.
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