Panthers Expect the Best Version of the Oilers in Cup Final Game 4

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers are not resting on their laurels, nor do they think what happened in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final will have anything to do with what happens in Game 4 tonight.

“Every game starts at zero, so it’s a reset,’’ Paul Maurice said a day after the Panthers beat the Oilers 6-1 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead.

“It’s a mental reset. It doesn’t matter.”

The Panthers know a series can change from one game to another.

Last year, Florida took a 3-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final after beating the Oilers 4-3 on June 13.

Two days later, Edmonton beat the Panthers like a pregame drum, rolling to an 8-1 win.

Edmonton ended up winning three straight in the series to force a Game 7.

The Panthers, certainly, remember all of that.

What may be forgotten is not how the Oilers bounced back being down 3-0, but how well the Panthers played after an embarrassing loss.

Florida did not win Game 5 last year, but they turned the page pretty quickly — and the Panthers expect Edmonton to do the same tonight.

“We were beat 8-1 in Edmonton, and then came back and played Game 5 here. For me, that was the best game we played the entire playoffs,’’ Maurice said.

“We lost the game, but … our 5-on-5 game was as good as it had been all year. So if you don’t participate in the idea that, ‘Hey, maybe there’s an advantage to be had,’ then you also don’t participate in the idea of ‘Hey, maybe you’ve got a disadvantage now that you can’t overcome.’ So you just leave it completely and then start at zeros.”

Said Aaron Ekblad: “We played a really good game last year after that. Any resilient team, especially a team with such dynamic players as the Edmonton Oilers, they’re going to come out with a good game. They’re going to have a great start. They’re going to be intense and excited to have another chance. So, it’s important for us to just match that energy early and bring our own.”

The Panthers do seem to hold a mental edge on the Oilers.

Yes, Edmonton rallied from a 3-0 hole to force Game 7, but it was the Panthers who won that Game 7 and the Stanley Cup.

The Panthers are the defending champions for a reason.

But Edmonton, if it can shake off the cobwebs of Game 3 after two days off, knows it is here for a reason as well.

After losing the first two games of Round 1 in Los Angeles, the Oilers have been an absolute machine.

They won the final four games against the Kings, then quickly dispatched both the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars to reach the Final for the second straight year.

This Edmonton team is good.

They know it, and so do the Panthers.

And either team could have come to Sunrise up 2-0 in the series after both games in Edmonton went to overtime.

The Oilers won Game 1 on a Corey Perry power-play goal; Florida took Game 2 in double-OT on Brad Marchand’s second of the night.

“Usually you get a teams’ best after that,” Marchand said of Edmonton’s mindset going into Game 4.

“I think especially with the players they have in the room, how competitive they are, they’re going to look to bounce back. When you have that kind of leadership, they normally lead the way, those top guys. That’s a dangerous combination. We have to make sure that we bring our best.”

Maurice said Game 4 is likely going to look a lot like those overtime games in Edmonton.

“I think the first two games are indicative of what Game 4 is going to look like,’’ Maurice said.

“We’re not going to look at [Game 3] and say, ‘That’s the way it should look if we play our game.’ … I think we get back to Games 1 and 2, you’re thinking about short shifts, use your whole bench, because you’re probably going overtime.’’

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 4

EDMONTON OILERS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS

Florida Leads Best-of-7 Series 2-1

• When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV: TNT/truTV 
• National Streaming: Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys), SiriusXM
• Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
• Series Schedule (all games at 8 p.m., TNT) — Game 1: @Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT); Game 2: Florida 5, @Edmonton 4 (2OT); Game 3: @Florida 6, Edmonton 1; Game 4: @Florida, Thursday; Game 5: @Edmonton Saturday; Game 6*: @Florida, Tuesday June 17; Game 7*: @Edmonton, Friday June 20.
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5), Dallas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• Regular Season: Panthers won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties