Oilers hope to solve Bobrovsky again, extend Cup Final by winning Game 5

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Edmonton Oilers are keeping the picture small when it comes to overcoming a massive hurdle against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.

An 8-1 win at Rogers Place in Game 4 on Saturday was good for the Oilers' confidence, keeping them alive in the best-of-7 series, but they know the lopsided score will have little bearing in Game 5 here at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Florida leads the series 3-1 and will win the Stanley Cup for the first time with a victory on home ice.

"We can probably take the positives out of that (Game 4) and try to apply that again into our game plan," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said Monday. "But certainly, we know that they're going to be a little bit better, and we can be better in certain areas as well."

The Oilers finally broke through against the Panthers in Game 4 after previously outshooting them in Games 1 and 3. They chased goalie Sergei Bobrovsky 4:59 into the second period after Darnell Nurse scored Edmonton's fifth goal on its 16th shot. Bobrovsky was replaced by Anthony Stolarz, who gave up three goals on 19 shots in relief.

Bobrovsky will start for Florida in Game 5.

"It's always nice to be able to put some in, and when you feel like you're getting chances and you're putting a lot of pucks on net and they're not going in, it's always nice to break through a little bit," Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "That doesn't mean it's going to happen tomorrow night. We're going to have to work for it, but if anything, we can take some confidence from it."

Bobrovsky was the main reason the Panthers took a 3-0 lead in the series, making 32 saves in Game 1 in Sunrise, Florida, (3-0) and another 32 in Game 3 in Edmonton (4-3). The Oilers outshot the Panthers 32-18 in Game 1 and 35-23 in Game 3.

They did not have anything to show for it.

"He's a good goalie, he's [going to] make some good stops tomorrow, too," Draisaitl said. "But it's certainly nice to sneak a couple past and get our confidence going a little bit."

If Edmonton is going to keep the series going, it has to get to Bobrovsky again. The Oilers felt the breakthrough began in the third period of Game 3, scoring twice to cut into 4-1 deficit, although they were unable to complete the comeback.

Throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Oilers have been able to eventually figure out goalies. They broke through on Arturs Silovs of the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference Second Round and got to Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final.

"He's an elite goaltender," said Nurse, who snapped a shot past Bobrovsky from the slot to give Edmonton a 5-1 lead in Game 4. "Obviously, the first three games he was a really big difference-maker, and you expect that again tomorrow night that he's going to come out and play hard and he's someone that he's going to have to solve.

"We're going to have to come out and play our game. We're not going to decide how he plays tomorrow night. We're not going to decide how the other teams plays tomorrow night. We're not going to decide what calls are called. We can only control what we can control and that's how we approach the game. Stick to our process and the rest will take care of itself."

The Oilers have played from the edge of a cliff before, falling behind 3-2 against the Canucks before winning Games 6 and 7 to advance.

In the regular season, Edmonton was tied for last in the NHL after a 2-9-1 start, which prompted a coaching change a game later with Kris Knoblauch replacing Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12. The Oilers climbed out of the hole to finish second in the Pacific Division.

"There's been little work to keep the confidence high for this team, they feel good," Knoblauch said. "Their backs have been against the wall. They've been counted out by others, who've said, 'They're done, they're not that good, it's over,' whether that was in November or throughout the playoffs, whenever it is.

"And then they just go and play. They've been told, it's over and they're not that good, and it doesn't mean anything to them. We have a bunch of guys who have seen hard times and persevered and come up through those struggles and are having a lot of fun with it right now. Hopefully we can continue this on for another eight days."

If Edmonton wins Tuesday, it will force Game 6 at home Friday. A win there, and Game 7 will be back here June 24. Of the 28 teams who have fallen behind 3-0 in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final, only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs were able to come back and win, defeating the Detroit Red Wings.

"We're taking it one day at a time, one game at a time, it's all we can do," Draisaitl said. "If you look at the top of the mountain right now, it's pretty steep, but taking one day at a time doesn't sound so bad. That's our goal, that's our focus."