Panthers 1- Oilers 8 | The real Oilers, maybe

Before Saturday night, the Panthers had a 3-0 lead in this Stanley Cup Final, and that was, in part, because the Edmonton Oilers were sleeping on the gas and not doing anything good offensively.

Saturday night, we may have seen the real Oilers. Maybe.

These Oilers, who had only scored four goals in the first three games of the final, decided this time to play hockey, play their own hockey, and do what they are supposed to do, which is i.e. score goals.

The final score: Oilers 8, Panthers 1.

This time, on this evening of game four in Edmonton, the Oilers obtained a clear victory, and their fans will say that it was about time, they who are not used to offensive droughts.

Let’s get right to the important part: goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, to whom several experts already wanted to give the Conn-Smythe before the match even started on Saturday, was taken out of the match during the second period, after giving 5 goals on just 16 shots, by far his worst performance since the start of the final.

Another important end, this time in the category of “best who must be the best”: Connor McDavid scored, for the first time since the start of this final, and he added three assists, to thus offer himself a very nice four-point night. The Oilers can’t dream of anything without their captain and without this kind of evening.

Now, the big question for the Oilers: will it be possible to do the same thing again, or at least something similar, for three more games?

We know, and we have repeated it at least 150 times, that only one club has managed to recover from a 0-3 deficit in the Stanley Cup final, namely the Toronto Maple Leafs, who managed to do so. …in 1942. It’s probably not an example to follow because it’s been over 80 years, but the Oilers are here, hoping, because this Saturday night gives them at least that: the opportunity to hope .

The Panthers now have the luxury of returning home, if the rain doesn’t submerge all of Florida, and that’s not a simple detail, because the Oilers haven’t won once in Florida. since the start of this final. We assume that Paul Maurice, with his legendary calm, will remind his guys that they are still in a very good position.

While Bobrovsky is thinking about all that, Stuart Skinner, the $2.6 million goaltender, will no doubt feel a little more confident, having had a solid Saturday night stopping 32 shots, in what was his best performance since the start of this final.

So this is it.

For the Oilers, if this Saturday night served any purpose, other than the victory of course, it served to prove that it is possible to force the Panthers to play a style of play that they do not want to play . For the first time since the start of this final, it was the Oilers, and not the Panthers, who set the pace.

Now the Oilers’ challenge is to do the same thing for three more nights, at least. It won’t be that simple.