Stanley Cup Final all square at 2-2
SUNRISE, Fla. – It’s down to a best-of-three series.
After racing out to an early lead, the Florida Panthers fell short in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.
With the series tied 2-2, the action will shift to Edmonton for Game 5 on Saturday.
“We had a good start; they came back,” said goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. “It was a tight game, good chances. The series comes down to best-of-three. We’re excited about that.”
Not letting the Oilers get comfortable, the Panthers came out hot.
Pressing the attack, the defending champs racked up scoring chances before their aggression led to the Oilers taking a pair of penalties within a short period of time.
Just four seconds into a 5-on-3 power play, Matthew Tkachuk gathered the puck after a faceoff win from Aleksander Barkov, made a little pump and then fired a shot past Stuart Skinner’s blocker and into the back of the cage to make it 1-0 at 11:40 of the first period.
Back on the power play after yet another high-sticking penalty from the Oilers, Tkachuk struck again, this time sending a rebound past Skinner to double the lead to 2-0 at 16:56.
Tkachuk makes it 2-0 in the first period against Edmonton.
Feasting on the forecheck, Carter Verhaeghe teed up Anton Lundell for a goal to make it 3-0 at 19:18.
A dominant start, Florida led 21-5 in scoring chances after 20 minutes.
While Edmonton’s poor start could hardly be blamed on its goaltender, Skinner was still relieved of his duties at the outset of the second period and replaced by Calvin Pickard.
Entering tonight’s matchup, Skinner had been literally unbeatable in Game 4’s in his playoff career, going 6-0 with a 1.26 goals-against average, .955 save percentage and two shutouts.
Cutting into their deficit early in the second period, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who’s been dealing with an undisclosed ailment all series, got the Oilers on the board when he ripped a shot straight past Bobrovsky from the left circle on the power play to make it 3-1 at 3:33.
Back on the penalty kill soon after as the calls started to even out, the Panthers held their ground against Edmonton’s power play this time, with Bobrovsky making several big saves.
Pulling the Oilers within just one goal, Darnell Nurse roofed a shot from the bottom of the left circle to make it 3-2 at 12:47. After the goal, the groans rained in from the home crowd as officials let Edmonton’s Jeff Skinner get away with a long hold of Dmitry Kulikov’s stick.
Briefly keeping their lead intact, the Panthers once again had a strong penalty kill, which ended with Bobrovsky stoning Connor McDavid on a breakaway. But short after the action got back to even strength, Vasily Podkolzin found the equalizer to make it 3-3 at 15:05.
“It was just a mirror of the first period,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “They got in a little penalty trouble there [in the first period], and we took advantage of it. The second period was just the opposite. I think we were plus-3 on the power play side early, and minus-3 on the power play side in the second half. Then we came out with an even, tight game.”
With each team winning a period, the third was as tight as could be.
On the penalty kill, Bobrovsky kept the tie intact when he kicked out his left pad to rob Perry on a wrap-around shot off a rebound with a stunning toe save that sent jaws to the floor.
Putting the Oilers up late in regulation, Jake Walman blasted a blistering slap shot into the back of the cage after some relentless pressure from Edmonton to make it 4-3 at 13:36.
After pulling Bobrovsky for the extra attacker, the Panthers showed their own fight and tied the game to force overtime when Sam Reinhart scored with 19.5 seconds left to make it 4-4.
Sam Reinhart makes it 4-4 in the third period against Edmonton.
“Just trying to create with the man advantage,” said Reinhart, whose goal was the second-latest tying goal in the history of the Cup Final. “Trying to find a loose puck around the net.”
In the extra frame, the Panthers looked to be carrying play right out the gate, but still needed a big play from Bobrovsky and Gustav Forsling to keep the puck out of the net early.
Nearly finding the game-winning goal, Sam Bennett, Florida’s leading goal scorer this postseason, fired a shot that caught a piece of Pickard’s glove before going off the crossbar.
Making the most out of an opportunity up the ice, Draisaitl secured a split for the Oilers in Sunrise when he sent a cross-ice pass into the slot that went off a defender and in for the 5-4 win.
In a game of bounces, anything can happen.
As for what the Panthers will pack with them for Edmonton, there were building blocks in defeat.
“Take our first, take our third period and the beginning of overtime,” Tkachuk said. “I thought we did a lot of good things. Yeah, it’s a best-of-three. With losing this one, we’ve got to go in there (Edmonton) and win one eventually, so hopefully we can do it in Game 5.”
THEY SAID IT
“They kept coming. We probably got a little too stretched out and weren’t as connected as five on the ice when we were in the first.” – Matthew Tkachuk on the second period
“They’re a good team. We respect them. It is what it is. We put that behind us and get ready for the next one.” – Sergei Bobrovsky on Game 4
“A lot of success in the postseason is how you handle your losses. 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.” – Sam Reinhart on bouncing back for Game 5
“If you plan for seven games, that means you’re losing three of them. You have to take that pain, use it and come back.” – Paul Maurice on regrouping after Game 4
CATS STATS
– Anton Lundell became just the fourth player in NHL history to appear in 75 playoff games before their 24th birthday.
– Matthew Tkachuk is the eighth-fastest U.S.-born player in NHL history to 80 career playoff points.
– This was the 100th overtime game in the history of the Stanley Cup Final.
– The Panthers led 28-21 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.
– Sergei Bobrovsky made 13 high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
– Aleksander Barkov went 14-for-20 (70%) in the faceoff circle.
– Dmitry Kulikov registered a team-high five hits.
– Seth Jones saw a team-high 28:26 of ice time.
WHAT’S NEXT?
One team will push the other to the brink.
With the series tied 2-2, the Panthers will face-off against the Oilers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
The official watch party will be at Amerant Bank Arena.
For tickets, click HERE.
