See You Tuesday: Oilers Force Game 5, Rout Panthers in Cup Final

The Edmonton Oilers showed they were not going to be the first team to be swept in the Stanley Cup Final in 26 years on Saturday night as they played their best game of the series against the Florida Panthers.

Edmonton avoided elimination with an exclamation mark, running the Panthers 8-1 — and chasing Sergei Bobrovsky from the game 25 minutes in.

Florida, which had won six straight playoff games dating to Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final, can win the Cup on home ice Tuesday night in Sunrise.

Burn the tape on this one: the eight goals were the most allowed by the Panthers since Vegas scored nine in Game 5 of last year’s Final.

At the end of the day, the Panthers got the split in Edmonton and come home up 3-1 in this best-of-7 series — and that is really all that matters.

But, the Panthers, will have to tighten up defensively if they want to win this thing in Game 5 and avoid another 6-hour flight to Alberta.

Edmonton, which scored four goals in the first three games, got four of its first five goals off the rush as the Panthers looked out of sorts defensively for the first time in a long time.

Bobrovsky was unable to bail them out.

Darnell Nurse’s goal at 4:59 of the second came on Edmonton’s 16th shot of the game — and made it 5-1.

Anthony Stolarz came on in relief, making his first appearance of the postseason.

Edmonton, which briefly had a 1-0 lead in Game 2, took a 2-0 lead at 7:48 of the first on a goal from Adam Henrique.

Florida got back into it on a deflection from Vladimir Tarasenko off a point shot from Gus Forsling, but that was about all the Panthers had.

Edmonton scored the next three — Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid finally got in on the offensive action for the Oilers — and put the Panthers away fairly early.

The Oilers scored three in the first and three in the second to leave their fans feeling pretty good about things.

The Panthers will fly back to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday’s off day and likely return to practice on Monday in preparation for Game 5.

GOALS OF GAME 4

• Oilers 1, Panthers 0 (3:11, 1st SH): The Panthers hit the post twice on the power play chance but Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark come down on the 2-on-1 with only Brandon Montour in between. Sergei Bobrovsky came out of his net, Brown slid the pass to a wide-open Janmark who beat Sasha Barkov trying to cover.
• Oilers 2, Panthers 0 (7:48, 1st): Adam Henrique gets in front of Anton Lundell in the slot and gives Edmonton its first 2-goal lead of the series.
• Oilers 2, Panthers 1 (11:26, 1st): Vladimir Tarasenko gets his second in as many games by deflecting a point shot from Gus Forsling.
• Oilers 3, Panthers 1 (14:48, 1st): Leon Draisaitl gets his first point of the series, sending the puck across to a charging Dylan Holloway who beats Bobrovsky with a backhanded shot.
• Oilers 4, Panthers 1 (1:13, 2nd): Connor McDavid gets his first of the series, breaking free on a Matthew Tkachuk turnover at the blueline and walking in on Bobrovsky.
• Oilers 5, Panthers 1 (4:59, 2nd): Darnell Nurse scores on a drop pass from McDavid — and that’s it for Bobrovsky.
• Oilers 6, Panthers 1 (13:03, 2nd 5/3): Ryan Nugent-Hopkins bangs a loose puck past Anthony Stolarz with Tkachuk and Sam Bennett in the box. First power play goal of the series for the Oilers.
• Oilers 7, Panthers 1 (14:11, 3rd): Holloway gets his second of the game as he charges in and knocks in a feed from McDavid.
• Oilers 8, Panthers 1 (16:41, 3rd): Ryan McLeod gets in on the fun as the Panthers start packing for home.

GR’S 3 STARS OF GAME 4

1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton

2. Stuart Skinner, Edmonton

3. Dylan Holloway, Edmonton

2024 STANLEY CUP FINAL

EDMONTON OILERS VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS 

GAME 5

Panthers Lead Best of 7 Series 3-1

• When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV: ABC
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Series Schedule, All Games 8 p.m. on ABC — Game 1: @Florida 3, Edmonton 0; Game 2: @Florida 4, Edmonton 1; Game 3: Florida 4, @Edmonton 3; Game 4: Florida @ Edmonton, Saturday; Game 5: Edmonton at Florida, Tuesday; Game 6*: Florida at Edmonton, Friday; Game 7*:Edmonton at Florida, Monday June 24. (*) – If Necessary
• How They Got Here — Florida: d. Tampa Bay 4-1, Boston 4-2, New York Rangers 4-2; Edmonton: d. Los Angeles 4-1, Vancouver 4-3, Dallas 4-2.
• This Season (Florida Won 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 5, Oilers 3 (Nov. 20). At Edmonton: Panthers 5, Oilers 2 (Dec. 17).
• Last Season: Edmonton Won 2-0
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-16-0, 3 ties
• Postseason History: First Meeting