3 Keys: Panthers at Oilers, Sport 4 of Stanley Cup Remaining – NHL.com

Florida can win 1st title in its historical past; Edmonton wants extra strain on Bobrovsky to increase collection
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Florida leads best-of-7 collection 3-0
EDMONTON — The Stanley Cup will likely be within the constructing, and the Florida Panthers can win it for the primary time of their historical past with a victory towards the Edmonton Oilers in Sport 4 of the Cup Remaining at Rogers Place on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, CBC).
The Panthers, who’ve gained the primary three video games of the collection by a mixed rating of 11-4, can full the primary sweep in a Cup Remaining for the reason that Detroit Crimson Wings defeated the Washington Capitals in 4 straight in 1998.
Florida’s strategy has gotten the Panthers up to now, they usually really feel there is no purpose to alter now.
“Simply attempt to play the identical manner we have been enjoying,” Florida middle Anton Lundell mentioned. “We all know tips on how to play, and it is all about going out and simply attempt to have enjoyable and benefit from the second as properly, however know that it may be a tough recreation. They’ll give the whole lot they’ve, and we’d like to have the ability to give the whole lot we now have and it may be an ideal recreation.”
The Oilers hope to increase the collection, following a comeback try that fell brief in a 4-3 loss in Sport 3 on Thursday, once they scored twice within the third interval however failed in a bid for the equalizer.
“They’re optimistic, centered, energized, excited for the problem and it’s going to be a problem,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch mentioned. “But when there’s a workforce that may do it, if there’s a bunch of males I need to do that with, it’s the blokes in that room.
“From what I’ve seen by the season, how resilient they’re, perseverance, their focus, their perspective, I’m actually excited for the subsequent 10 days.”
Since 2015, groups with a possibility to clinch the Cup on the highway are 6-1, together with 5-0 from 2016-20.
Myers, Van Diest, Zeisberger preview Sport 4 of Stanley Cup Remaining
Listed below are 3 keys for Sport 4:
The Panthers have finished an ideal job of this up to now, be it on the penalty kill, the place they’re 10-for-10, or throughout 5-on-5 play. Facilities Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and ahead Zach Hyman every has been held with no aim within the first three video games. A troublesome job shutting these guys down? Completely, however Florida will push to do it yet one more time.
“As many offensive guys we now have on the workforce, we’re a defense-first workforce and that’s towards whoever is on the ice,” ahead Matthew Tkachuk mentioned. “I simply assume it’s a giant factor for our workforce to do it collectively and as 5 guys, particularly when you might have proficient guys on the market. So, simply need to do it once more.”
The Oilers undoubtedly have been extra profitable on this space in Sport 3, once they scored three objectives towards the Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky after solely getting one previous him within the first two video games. They know they need to proceed to get in his method to maintain this collection going.
“I feel you have a look at the primary couple of video games, when he sees the puck, he’s most likely going to cease it,” Edmonton ahead Corey Perry mentioned, “and he has been stopping it and he’s made some nice saves. As that third interval wore on (in Sport 3), we obtained to the entrance of the online, we discovered some puck luck, not sufficient however I feel it’s a begin. That’s what we now have to construct on.”
The Panthers are on the verge of historical past and feelings are going to be working excessive. However they’ve additionally gone 6-2 in elimination video games over the previous two years. So can they wrap issues up Saturday? So long as they don’t attempt to do an excessive amount of too quickly, they consider they will.
“Two issues that come to thoughts — how we regarded within the two video games we didn’t win,” Florida coach Paul Maurice mentioned. “There’s a little bit of a theme in these video games and that’s that concept, you need one thing so badly, that you simply attempt to do one thing to make it occur earlier than it ought to occur. Simply don’t attempt to break the sport open.
“And the opposite (factor) is, I might say this may be true, even of Sport 3, we’ve performed the most effective hockey of the 12 months in third durations underneath strain. That’s once we’ve been at our greatest, and we’ll attempt to faucet into that tonight.”
Panthers projected lineup
Evan Rodrigues — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Vladimir Tarasenko
Steven Lorentz — Kevin Stenlund — Kyle Okposo
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched: Ryan Lomberg, Nick Cousins, Tobias Bjornfot, Uvis Balinskis, Josh Mahura, Jonah Gadjovich
Injured: None
Oilers projected lineup
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Zach Hyman
Ryan McLeod — Leon Draisaitl — Corey Perry
Mattias Janmark — Adam Henrique — Connor Brown
Warren Foegele — Derek Ryan — Dylan Holloway
Mattias Ekholm — Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse — Philip Broberg
Brett Kulak — Cody Ceci
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Vincent Desharnais, Sam Gagner, Sam Carrick
Injured: Evander Kane (sports activities hernia), Troy Stecher (ankle)
Standing report
Knoblauch mentioned “I’m going to need to make you wait” when requested about potential lineup adjustments, however Kane, a ahead, is anticipated to overlook his second consecutive recreation. … No adjustments are anticipated for the Panthers lineup.
🔹 Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers

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