The odds were stacked against the Edmonton Oilers going into Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. Of the 28 teams to trail 3-0 in previous championship series, just eight had forced a Game 5, and only one went on to win the Cup. Despite being one game away from elimination, head coach Kris Knoblauch wasn’t ready to panic.
“I think we’ve shown that we can beat this team,” Knoblauch said after Game 3. “I think there’s a lot of belief in that.”
That belief paid off Saturday night: the Oilers staved off elimination and dominated the Florida Panthers with an 8-1 victory. While there’s still an uphill battle ahead, their performance in Game 4 proved Edmonton isn’t going down without a fight.
“It’s one win,” Zach Hyman said postgame. “It’s one win closer. The mentality is the same. I think the belief is the same. But it’s nice to go and do it and get a win and be able to get a couple past the goalie and show that we can do it and put a little bit of a doubt on the other side. So it’s a good win.”
The Oilers are no stranger to adversity. Just a month into the regular season, they were tied for last place in the NHL with a record of 2-9-1 and seemed unlikely to make the playoffs. They instead bounced back with a record of 47-18-5 — including a 16-game win streak — and defeated the LA Kings, Vancouver Canucks, and Dallas Stars to make it to their first Cup Final since 2006.
“We’re a unique club,” Connor Brown said after the win. “I feel we’re most comfortable when our back’s against the wall. That’s kind of what we showed at the beginning of the year, when we were dead last, our back’s against the wall. We came out and had some historic runs. So I think we’re a unique club in that regard.
“When we get in a rhythm and we get playing our brand of hockey, we know what it feels like. Tonight it was exactly what it feels like. We’re a scary club.”
Even with the lopsided score, Knoblauch compared the Oilers’ performance in Game 4 to their play earlier in the series, reiterating his belief that his team had performed better than their series record showed.
“I don’t know if we had more chances than Game 1 Game 3 — definitely more than Game 2, but I thought Game 1, 3, and 4 were very similar in the chances,” he said. “Tonight, just more confidence, a little more luck, pucks went in the net, but overall I thought three of our four games have been very similar.”
Still, after losing three straight games, such a dominant win could offer the Oilers a much-needed reset.
“I think it certainly can [shake something loose],” Connor McDavid said. “You just have to make sure that you put in the work next game to create those looks again, right? You know that they’re going to be a little bit tighter and be focused on that part of the game. But over the years, we’ve always come through, even with teams playing us tight. So obviously it feels good to put a couple goals on the board, but just have to make sure we stay on it.”
McDavid and the Oilers’ other top players played a large role in the victory after struggling to start the series. Besides McDavid’s four-point night (1g, 3a), Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman each earned two assists, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a goal for his first point of the series. Contributions came from up and down the lineup, however: fifteen players got on the score sheet, including both Dylan Holloway (2g, 1a) and Mattias Janmark (1g, 1a), who both recorded multi-point nights.
“To win you need everybody,” Brown said. “It obviously can’t always be the big boys. To get us going there with a couple goals, it’s important. That’s what you need.”
The city of Edmonton had plenty to celebrate on Saturday night, watching from inside and outside Rogers Place as the Oilers earned their first Cup Final win since 2006. They’ll now head back to Florida to see if they can extend the series in another elimination game.
“It’s just one win,” McDavid said. “That’s all it is. Doesn’t matter if you score eight or you score one. It’s just one win and we’ve got to go to Florida and do a job and drag them back to Alberta.”
