EDMONTON — Four things happened when Sergei Bobrovsky took the skate of shame on the Florida Panthers bench in Game 4 Saturday night at a deafening Rogers Place.
The lid of Lord Stanley’s trunk slammed shut. Bobrovsky probably had his shot at the Conn Smythe Trophy. And that Stanley Cup Final could have been turned around — because the Edmonton Oilers broke through the aura of invincibility that levitated around Florida’s Hall of Fame-bound goaltender.
For three games, Bobrovsky was in the Oilers’ heads – and the demon under their bed. Channeling his inner Ivan Drago, relentlessly focused and emotionless, Bobrovsky was nearly perfect to start the series with a .953 save percentage.
“We felt like it was going to break,” Connor McDavid said. “It felt like we were going to find a way to score goals.”
It didn’t break. It exploded as Edmonton avoided a sweep: Oilers 8, Panthers 1, in the most lopsided Stanley Cup final victory by a team with a chance of elimination in league history. On a night 18 years in the making at Oil Country, it was a score as drunk as its delirious, happy, loyal fan base, whose party spilled into the midnight sun-drenched streets.
The Oilers, who appeared to be running out of gas, could have folded and no one would have blamed them for considering the high odds – they’ve been in survival mode since November. They did not do it.
Somehow, Stuart Skinner now has a better goals-against average (2.58) than Bobrovsky (2.63) in this series after Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 11 shots before being mercifully removed after 25 minutes.
“He had enough,” coach Paul Maurice said of his attraction to the goalie.
There’s no denying that it’s just different when Lord Stanley is being polished in the building. All preparations were in place for a Panthers victory, including a full charter flight of family members arriving in Edmonton on Friday.
“This is the first opportunity we have as a franchise to really feel the (last) two days – the excitement, the emotions,” Maurice said. “We will learn to channel it. It’s all part of this process.
Now what? As McDavid said: “It’s just one win. That’s all it is. It doesn’t matter if you score eight or one, it’s just a win.
And he’s right. That’s not a mountain the Oilers need to climb, it’s Mount Everest. This comeback would be the greatest in the history of sport, given the stakes.
“We are in an incredible situation right now,” recalled Matthew Tkachuk.
The Panthers have at least three more chances to earn a victory to hoist Lord Stanley for the first time in franchise history, starting with Tuesday night at home in South Florida. They effectively controlled the game in the first half despite trailing 3-1 at intermission.
How small is the margin in this series? The Panthers hit two posts during the same power play sequence, then Mattias Janmark scored a shorthanded goal.
Over the course of a seven-game series, it usually goes both ways – but that’s not always the case. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch preached the process, the same process that saw Edmonton rack up very dangerous chances and expected goals at the same rate as all season, only for their finishing to dry up at exactly the worst time.
Knoblauch was wrong about one thing. He said after Game 3 that the Oilers proved they could beat Florida — and it wasn’t proven until Saturday night.
The Oilers have been left for dead, and it’s not the first time this season. The previous three times Edmonton lost three in a row under Knoblauch, they responded with streaks of eight wins (November 24-December 12), 16 wins (December 21-January 7), and five wins (February 26-March). . 3).
“To be honest, just scoring,” Zach Hyman said, “was the difference in Game 4. There are no moral victories in hockey. You lost three (matches), even though you think you played pretty well. The key is to stick with it. People on the outside see the score, and see what the score of the series is, but in the locker room, it feels like you’re there. This fueled confidence in this group. With each victory, this conviction grows.
The math is clearly in Florida’s favor. Maurice mentioned resting Bobrovsky, who played every second of the playoffs for the Panthers until Game 4. And the Oilers know how well a goaltender can bounce back after being pulled, they’ve been through it before.
But if you’re looking for reasons why the Oilers can make this a series, you don’t really need to squint. McDavid broke one of Wayne Gretzky’s 58 records for most assists (32) in a single playoff series. He had more assists over that stretch than any other leading scorer with total points in 16 of 18 playoff series in the salary cap era.
And yes, 15 of 18 Edmonton skaters scored a point Saturday night. But Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins haven’t really clicked yet. Their lethal power play has yet to take over a game and sits at 1 for 16 in the finals. And, oh yes, the best playoff player of his generation, Leon Draisaitl, has been extraordinarily quiet.
“I still think I have a lot more to give,” Draisaitl said.
Draisaitl said during the Western Conference final that he believed “the best of the Oilers beats the best of anyone.” Maybe there’s something to that. Edmonton’s three best series games produced the first, second and third games of the most shots allowed by Florida in these postseasons.
Edmonton has the best offense Florida has had to date, but they just didn’t convert and didn’t show it until Saturday night. They made a statement. With so much at stake, Maurice spoke about the human nature involved when it comes to desperation versus desire. It’s amazing how quickly that can change in a playoff series. The Oilers sowed doubt and broke down the previously unbreakable goaltender. Welcome to the Stanley Cup Final.
“There’s nothing to panic about,” McDavid said. “We are still in a hole. There is no pressure on us. We have to go to Florida, do a job and bring them back to Alberta.
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