SUNRISE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Edmonton Oilers could have returned home a loss away from falling to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight year.
Instead, they have a chance to put themselves one win away from a championship when they host the Panthers for Game 5 on Saturday.
It didn’t look like they would be in this position after Florida staked a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 4 on Thursday. But the Oilers rallied to take a 4-3 advantage and, after the Panthers tied it in the dying seconds, Leon Draisaitl clinched it in overtime to give the visitors the 5-4 win.
The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2.
“I mean, everybody knows what the crowd’s going to be like, Saturday night in Alberta, it’s going to be exciting,” veteran Edmonton winger Corey Perry said. “But I think I’ve talked about this a lot: We’re mature and I think after that first period last night it showed we’re a mature hockey team. I don’t expect anything else.”
The 40-year-old helped spark the Oilers with some words of wisdom after the first period. He’s also been delivering on the ice with nine goals in the playoffs, second only to Draisaitl. Perry, who is playing in the Stanley Cup Final for the fifth time in the past six seasons, has 140 points (63 goals, 77 assists) in 235 career playoff games.
“He’s been so valuable for us,” Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm said of Perry. “He’s a leader and he knows exactly when to step in there. He doesn’t do it all the time but when he does, it’s always great and gets everybody’s attention.
“I mean, it was good from him last night again, both on the ice and in the locker room. It’s what we expect out of him. He’s getting up there, but he’s still got it.”
The Panthers, meanwhile, are turning the page after the loss. They’ve been here before: Last year, Edmonton erased Florida’s 3-0 series lead to ultimately force a Game 7.
“We’re calm and confident,” Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling said. “If we play our game, we know we’re going to win most games. … The good thing is, we have a game tomorrow, so we’re ready to bounce right back. We’re very excited to get back.”
It’s been an incredibly tight series thus far, with three of the four games going to overtime. Florida’s power play has helped fuel the defending Cup champions, going 7-for-21 with the man advantage.
It could be the edge the Panthers need to regain the series lead; the Oilers have scored just four times on 20 power-play opportunities.
“A lot of the success in postseason is how you handle your losses,” Florida forward Sam Reinhart said. “They’re going to happen, especially when you get down to the last two teams. You’ve got two of the best teams going at it. So you’ve got to expect to lose at some point. There’s a lot we can learn from and come back strong in Game 5.”
Edmonton has not announced a starting goalie for Game 5. Stuart Skinner was pulled after allowing three goals on 17 shots in the first period in Game 4. He was also pulled early in the third period of the 6-1 loss in Game 3.
–Field Level Media