*Photo from City News Edmonton*
Florida leads series 3-1
How's that for a statement? Dylan Holloway had two goals and an assist, Connor McDavid had a goal and 3 assists, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Florida Panthers with a 8-1 victory Saturday night in Edmonton.
It was a showcase day for the Oilers offense as they avoided being swept by the Panthers and forced a game 5 back in Florida to keep the series going for at least another game. As part of his 4 point night, McDavid broke Wayne Gretzky's record for assists in a single postseason by getting his 32nd of the playoffs.
McDavid said of the win that "It's just one win, that's all it is. It doesn't matter if you score eight or you score one, it's just one win. We've got to go to Florida, do a job and drag them back to Alberta."
How much did the Oilers light up the scoreboard? 5 Edmonton skaters had multi point games and 15 skaters registered at least one point. They scored enough to get one of the best goalies out of the game. Only Derek Ryan, Cody Ceci, and Philip Broberg didn't record a point.
Mattias Janmark gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead when he scored 3:11 into the game with the Oilers shorthanded. Adam Henrique made it a 2-0 game with his goal 7:48 into the game. Vladimir Tarasenko got the Panthers on the board to make it 2-1 before Holloway's goal at the 14:48 mark of the period made it 3-1 Oilers.
Just 1:13 into the second period, McDavid found the back of the net to make it 4-1 with assists from Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman. At the 4:59 mark of the period, McDavid and Hyman assisted on Darnell Nurse's goal to make it 5-1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it a 6-1 game when he scored a power play goal.
Holloway scored his second goal of the game 14:11 into the 3rd period, extending the lead to 7-1 as McDavid and Corey Perry got assists. Holloway and Warren Foegele got assists on Ryan McLeod's goal at the 16:41 mark of the 3rd that made the score 8-1 in favor of the Oilers.
Asked about the offensive output, Hyman said "It's amazing what can happen when you don't beat yourself. They're one of the best teams we've played against in terms of not beating themselves, not giving you anything from their mistakes. I think that's what comes from going to the Final last year and all that experience is just how fine the margins are. I think we pushed, and if we're able to push and limit our mistakes and we're able to take care of the puck, we're going to have a good chance."
In goal for the Oilers and turning in his best game of the series was Stuart Skinner, who did so when it was most needed for the team. Skinner stopped all but one of the 33 shots he was tested with by the Panthers, posting a .970 save percentage.
The Oilers appeared to find the hole in Sergei Bobrovsky's armor, as Bobrovsky was pelted by goals in this one. The Russian netminder allowed 5 goals on 16 shots before being pulled in the second period with the game getting out of hand. Anthony Stolarz made his playoff and Stanley Cup Final debut in relief, making 16 saves on 19 shots.
Florida head coach Paul Maurice said of the decision to pull Bobrovsky that "He'd had enough. If you think you're mounting a comeback it won't be because the goalie is making a difference for you, it'll be something that happens at the other end of the ice."
Game 5 of the series is set for Tuesday night back in Florida. The Panthers will look to win to secure the franchise's first Stanley Cup title and do it on home ice. The Oilers need to win again to keep the series going and force the series back to Canada for game 6.
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