The Oilers look to even up the Stanley Cup Final in Game 4 against the Panthers on Thursday night
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The Edmonton Oilers aim to even up the Stanley Cup Final with a victory in Game 4 against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
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Kris speaks to the media virtually on Wednesday ahead of Game 4
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Plenty of time to recalibrate.
After a two-day break in the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers have had the opportunity to refocus and reset following their tough 6-1 defeat to the Florida Panthers on Monday as they look ahead to their chance on Thursday to even the series at two games apiece in Game 4 at Amerant Bank Arena.
Coming off their worst performance of the playoffs, the Oilers are staying composed and only making a few minor adjustments to their game in hopes of putting in a better effort on Thursday to turn this series into a best-of-three going back to Oil Country with home-ice advantage back on their side.
“As boring and cliché as it sounds, it’s one game at a time,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said on Wednesday. “And I think we will make some adjustments. Our mentality changes just a little bit with how the game went prior. Whether it’s a win or a loss or what we’re expecting from the other team, that’ll change our preparation, but it’s not really ground-shattering. They’re not huge adjustments.
“I think our guys have responded well, and we haven’t changed things dramatically in the past. I think we’ll be staying as standard as possible.”
The Oilers have now trailed for a total of 126:12 through the first three contests of the Stanley Cup Final after trailing for just 14:02 against the Stars in the previous round, having taken steps over the last few days to improve in all aspects of their game that were lacking in their lopsided defeat on Monday.
“I think it starts almost immediately after the game,” Knoblauch said of his team’s work to shake off bad losses. “The players are always looking for answers about why things happened the way they did and what adjustments we can make. Players today are always seeking answers, and we’re trying to determine what the most effective message is to convey to them.
“We’re in the Stanley Cup Final. It’s a little bit different than if it were a dog day game in December or January, where it’s midseason and it’s tough to get going when you’re on the road. Motivation isn’t quite at the same level.
“The most important thing is having focus and direction for the players to go out and play at their best.”
Leon & Corey speak following Oilers practice on Tuesday afternoon
The Oilers allowed three power-play goals on 11 opportunities in Game 3, including Carter Verhaeghe’s snipe that made it 2-0 for the Panthers with 2:15 remaining in an opening frame that saw Edmonton take four minor penalties after Brad Marchand opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the contest.
Corey Perry notched his ninth goal of the playoffs for the Oilers on the power play early in the middle frame, but it would serve as Edmonton’s lone goal on a disappointing night where their man advantage was limited to 1-for-6. Florida added two more goals at even strength in the second period from Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett to build themselves a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Things got scrappy in the third period, contributing to a combined 122 penalty minutes from the Oilers and Panthers in a final stanza that started getting out of hand past the midway mark with a line brawl that resulted in multiple minors, misconducts and a title fight between Darnell Nurse and Jonah Gadjovich.
Aaron Ekblad and Evan Rodrigues tacked on two more power-play goals to secure the 6-1 victory and a two-games-to-one series lead for the Panthers, who’ve outscored the Oilers by a 9-2 margin since the start of the second period of Game 2 of the series in Edmonton.
Coach Knoblauch said he’s likely to make a lineup change for Game 4 after the Oilers held a heavily attended optional skate at the Baptist Health IcePlex on Wednesday, despite having held a full-team skate the day prior for the first of two consecutive off days between games in Florida.
Knoblauch also said they’re expected to hold a full-team pre-game skate on Thursday morning.
Mattias talks after the team’s skate in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday
The potential change could see defenceman Troy Stecher return for the first time in the Stanley Cup Final in place of John Klingberg, who went minus-3 in 17:36 of ice time in Game 3, which was elevated after Nurse and Ekholm were given misconducts in the last half of the third period.
Stecher has been steady when called upon in these playoffs while showing chemistry with Darnell Nurse, and Klingberg has been instrumental to the Oilers making it back to the Stanley Cup Final with his performance so far this postseason, averaging 17:15 of ice time with a goal and three assists in 18 games.
“Troy’s been very valuable to our team through the regular season and the playoffs,” Knoblauch said. “I think probably one thing that we as a coaching staff appreciate a lot from Troy is just how dependable he is. Regardless of whether he’s playing big minutes or hasn’t played for an extended period, anytime we’ve needed him, he’s given us really good minutes and usually doesn’t make mistakes. As a defenceman, that’s really important.
“As for John, he’s been great through the playoffs. He’s got us through a lot of rounds. We wouldn’t have got through those rounds without the contributions that he made, and at this time of the year, you want depth. There’s going to be injuries and things that’ll make you change up your lineup. We’re blessed with having an abundance of good players.
“We’ve been very fortunate in not having many injuries on defence. But it’s nice to know that we’ve got Troy being available, and whether he gets in the next game or sometime in the series, we know what we’re going to get from him.”
Trent speaks with the media following the team’s practice on Tuesday
In goal, the Oilers have the option of going with the 6-0 Calvin Pickard if they’re debating a change from Stuart Skinner, though their 6-1 defeat on Monday was more the product of the team’s poor collective effort in front of him rather than the Edmonton-born shot-stopper having a difficult individual showing.
Over his career, Skinner is 6-0 in Game 4s with a 1.26 GAA and .955 SV% with two shutouts while holding a 17-3 record in Games 4-7 with a 2.03 GAA, .922 SV% and three shutouts. Like Stecher, the Oilers have confidence in knowing they have another capable option in Pickard to call upon if needed.
“Calvin was playing really well, but I think we’ve always felt confident in Calvin,” Knoblauch said. “Calvin’s always been a guy that’s been able to come in and give us good quality starts. He hasn’t gone back-to-back very much. Last year, I don’t think there were any back-to-back games until the playoffs that he played this year. He was getting into back-to-backs later in the year when Stu was hurt, and then obviously, the five or six games that he played in the playoffs, he did tremendously well. It’s nice to have that confidence in him.
“I think we’ve always had that confidence in him because some guys need a rhythm and flow, and you’re not sure what you’re going to get from them. Very similar to what we talked about with Stecher earlier, but it’s just nice having that confidence that a guy’s ready if we need them.”
Knoblauch added that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be a game-time decision.

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