Panthers ready to take second chance at Cup, while Oilers look to force Game 6

Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov attempts to recover the puck as he is checked by Oilers’ Evan Bouchard while goaltender Stuart Skinner guards the net during the third period on June 15. (Jeff McIntosh – The Canadian Press via AP)

By TIM REYNOLDS

SUNRISE, Fla. — Paul Maurice made the short trip from his home to the Florida Panthers’ practice facility on June 17 in a rather good mood, and rightly so. The sun was bright, the temperature was warm and his team was one win away from winning the Stanley Cup.

This is the glass-half-full view. The glass-half-empty perspective would be his Panthers’ way of coming out of a seven-goal loss — tying any team’s second-worst loss in a playoff game since 2001 and tying the second-worst loss in a Finals game Cup of all time.

So when asked if he was comfortable with a 3-1 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in this title series, Maurice was quick to explain that it simply didn’t exist in this period of the year.

“Oh no, there’s no comfort in the playoffs,” the Panthers coach said. “We are never in a comfortable position in the playoffs. You deserved your victories. You deserved your losses. It’s the same feeling. Every playoff loss is the same. Maybe other people will feel comfortable. I haven’t had this in 30 years. You are never comfortable. Which is good, right? I just have to exploit it.

That’s exactly what the Panthers will attempt to do on June 18 when, for the first time in their history, they take home a Cup victory. Game 5 of the title series will take place at Sunrise, where the Oilers are trying to extend their season again and Florida is trying to close out the series, the season and a 30-year quest for the franchise’s first championship.

Edmonton won Game 4 on June 15, 8–1, the seventh time a Cup final game had been decided by seven or more goals. The record differential was Pittsburgh’s 8-0 win over Minnesota in 1991.

“We have the Stanley Cup on the line,” Florida forward Evan Rodrigues said. “A sort of ‘How bad do you want it?’ There was a lot of energy in this match. I think we will be better prepared for Game 5.

The Oilers would expect no less.

It’s not fair to compare Edmonton’s horrible start to the season — it was at the bottom of the NHL a few weeks into the year — with a 3-0 loss in the Cup final, but it There is a parallel there in the sense that the Oilers know what. it’s like playing with no room for error. They did their best during the regular season, with a 16-game winning streak highlighting their turnaround, and did their best in Game 4.

“For us to be able to get to where we are shows everyone, no matter what they say, that we are united as a brotherhood,” Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner said. “So there’s nothing but love in the room for the guys. A very special group of guys who have shown great character through everything we have been through. Here we are again facing elimination and we will fight together, as we always do.

Trailing 3-0 in the title series, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch told his players he wanted them to enjoy their final 10 days together. The meaning was clear: he fully believes his club can push this series to the end and see what happens in a Game 7.

One win, two to go before those Game 7 hopes become a reality.

“I think there was never any doubt that they weren’t a good team and that they could be here today,” Knoblauch said. “I think belief has always been a part of this piece.”

The Panthers have it too.

They are 4-1 after losses in these playoffs, outscoring their opponents by a combined count of 21-10 in the five games immediately following a loss. Certainly, none of those five previous losses in this postseason resembled anything close to the 8-1 rout on June 15.

“I can’t dwell on the past,” defenseman Brandon Montour said. “I think the boys were obviously quite (angry) about the result, the result that we had proposed. But we pushed on pretty quickly after leaving the arena and we’re going to focus on the next one.

For Maurice, June 15 must be a learning experience.

Edmonton was desperate, Florida wasn’t ready and that was it. The Cup will be in the building again on June 18, ready for Florida to claim it, just as it was on June 15.

“It’s different,” Maurice said of playing a game with the Cup just one win away. “We have the feeling that the goal is in front of the match that is being played. So in Game 3, the goal is behind the play. I can’t win it tonight. The game becomes a priority. But when you can, then he gets in front of the play and you have to get past him or find a way to get him back behind the play. I don’t know if that makes much sense, but it’s all in your head that you come to the rink. You know it’s there.

OILERS AT PANTHERS

What: Stanley Cup, Game 5; Florida leads the series, 3-1

When: 8 p.m., June 18

Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Florida.

Television: WEWS