Stanley Cup Final Game 4 live blog: Panthers vs. Oilers

EDMONTON -- Welcome to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Florida Panthers 8-1 to stay alive and send the series back to Florida for Game 5 on Tuesday. Bill Price was there to provide all the sights, sounds and highlights from Rogers Place.

10:55 p.m ET

"Play LaBamba, baby."

That’s it from Edmonton. The Oilers steamrolled the Panthers 8-1 to get their first win of the series and move the Final back to Florida for Game 5 on Tuesday.

It was a huge night for Connor McDavid, who had a goal and three assists. It ended with fans chanting “We Want the Cup.”

We’ll see. And we’ll see you in Florida on Tuesday. Thanks for following along.

And to bring this night full circle, they just played “Man, I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Twain, who started this night with a free concert outside.

10:51 p.m. ET

We are under five minutes to go, and this place is bonkers. The Oilers just made it 8-1 on two quick goals, the first from Dylan Holloway and then another from Ryan McLeod. The Hollway goal gave Connor McDavid 32 assists, setting the NHL record for most in a single postseason, passing Wayne Gretzky.

Right after the Holloway goal, they showed a fan in an Aaron Ekblad jersey leaving the arena, and the place went nuts again.

One unsung hero from this game is Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who has made 32 saves to this point, including a dazzling one a few seconds ago, reaching out his glove to prevent public enemy No. 1 Matthew Tkachuk from scoring.

Speaking of scoring, the 50/50 prize here tonight is a whopping $14 million and counting. That’s right, 14 million dollars. Someone at this game tonight who bought 50/50 tickets is going to walk out of here with their lives completely changed.

Crazy stuff. Of course, the other $14 million goes to the Oilers charity fund, which will be used for a good cause.

10:40 p.m. ET

We are under nine minutes to play, and we might as well start packing our sunscreen, sunglasses and bathing suits because we are going back to Florida for Game 5 on Tuesday.

The Panthers just had a power play but failed to score, and then the Oilers were on the power play after Aaron Ekblad took a slashing penalty and also failed to score.

It will be interesting to see what both teams say in the postgame scrums. The Oilers have to feel great about this game and how their big stars -- Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- stepped up.

Read all about it on NHL.com later tonight.

The Panthers are still playing hard and trying to hit everything that moves, maybe setting the tone for Game 5 on Tuesday. It resulted in Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse taking a cross-checking penalty at 6:51.

They just showed former Oiler Fernando Pisani in the crowd, and the fans are going nuts.

Honestly, I think they could show me right now on the board and the fans would go nuts.

Then they played “Shout” by the Isley Brothers, and, well, everyone shouted. I was waiting to see if Mike Zeisberger would get on the floor and do the gator like Belushi does in “Animal House,” but he stayed in his seat.

A trip back to Florida gives me a chance to get back to the world famous Elbo Room. I did not get there during the first leg of this trip. I was trying to behave, but that has sort of been shot to hell at this point.

The T-shirt guy is at it again. Maybe the Oilers should bring him to Florida for Game 5.

10:28 p.m. ET

The Panthers had a shot to sort of get back in the game when Mattias Janmark took a hooking penalty 36 seconds into the third period, but the Oilers held them off, and it’s still 6-1 with under 16 minutes left to play.

The crowd doesn’t seem to care that Sergei Bobrovsky has been pulled from the game as they are still mockingly chanting his name.

On the other end of the ice, Stuart Skinner is playing well, making 25 saves to this point.

Not to put too much emphasis on this one game, but the Oilers seem to be gaining confidence with every shift, every shot, every play, and the fans are absolutely loving it.

10:15 p.m. ET

The third period is a few minutes away, and the Oilers are in control, leading 6-1.

Now it will be interesting to see how each team handles things here. We all know the Panthers like to get under teams’ skin and hit hard, so we’ll see what happens.

We have a scoring change on the Oilers’ sixth goal, with NHL.com blogger Ryan Nugent-Hopkinsnow being credited with the goal after it intially was Zach Hyman's. I’m sure Nugent-Hopkins will have more to say about it in his blog later tonight.

I would expect a party atmosphere here in the third period, but somewhere in the back of Oilers’ fans minds they have to be wondering if this is the last time they will see this team at Rogers Place this year.

To avoid that, the Oilers will have to win Game 5 in what I’m sure will be a wild scene in Florida in Tuesday.

10:01 p.m. ET

We are through two periods here in loud, LOUD Rogers Place. This place is absolutely electric, and why not, the Oilers lead 6-1 and are 20 minutes away from forcing Game 5 in Florida on Tuesday.

And if they win that game, it’s back here for Game 6 on Friday, and well, who knows after that.

By the way, history was made here tonight, with Connor McDavid getting his 31st assist, which tied him for most in a single postseason with Wayne Gretzky.

How fired up are these fans? They just had two guys dressed as Ricky Bobby and Cal from that comedy classic “Talladega Nights.” I believe the guys were chanting Shake and Bake.

Then the DJ just played some “Mama Mia” from ABBA. Now it’s a party.

Talk about a party. They do a 50/50 here, and right now the prize is $9 million dollars. Holy cow. Yes, so they have raised $18 million just tonight.

9:57 p.m. ET

The fans here are getting greedy. They are chanting “We Want 7," with the Oilers up 6-1 late in the second period.

Things got chippy in the second period with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk each taking a penalty that gave Edmonton a 5-on-3 power play, and it converted to make it 6-1.

To this point, Connor McDavid has three points, and Leon Draisaitl has two for Edmonton, while Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad is minus-3.

The Oilers talked all week about how they were happy with their game and just needed pucks to go in. Well, they are going in tonight.

We have 23 minutes left to play here and barring a miracle, we will be heading back to South Florida for a Game 5 on Tuesday.

9:53 p.m. ET

The Oilers are now pouring it on with Zach Hyman scoring a 5-on-3 goal after Leon Draisaitl ripped one on net.

The Oilers' big boys have showed up tonight, and the Panthers have to hope this is just a one-game thing because if these guys get going, watch out.

As we speculated in the last entry, things got chippy here.

There was a scrum in front of the net, and Matthew Tkachuk not only grabbed Connor McDavid from behind, he started punching him. Sam Bennett then got involved, punching his childhood friend McDavid in the face while McDavid just laughed at him.

It resulted in a 5-on-3 for Edmonton with Bennett and Tkachuk each getting penalized.

Give the Oilers credit. They didn’t retaliate and got the 5-on-3, and then scored. It’s 6-1 Oilers with about six minutes left in the second.

Now the entire arena is singing along to Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life.” This is an absolute party here.

9:42 p.m. ET

We are halfway through Game 4, and it certainly feels right now like we are going back to Florida for a Game 5.

The Oilers nearly scored on a power play. In fact, when Connor McDavid’s shot hit the post, the steam cannons behind the net started to go off.

Speaking of going off, McDavid is certainly doing that tonight. He is all over the ice, making slick moves, firing shots.

It will be interesting to see how chippy things may get in the second half of this game.

On cue, the Panthers are called for a penalty with Oliver Ekman-Larsson whistled for slashing Connor Brown, delivering a two-handed whack to Brown’s skates. That led to the power play when McDavid hit the post.

9:34 p.m. ET

The Oilers and Rogers Place are absolutely buzzing right now.

The Oilers are now ahead 5-1 after Darnell Nurse, who has been taking a lot of heat for his defensive play, scored on a wrist shot at 4:59 of the second, beating Sergei Bobrovsky, who has just been pulled from the game, after allowing five goals on 16 shots. Anthony Stolarz is now in net for Florida.

What a stunning turn of events here. The Oilers are looking like the Oilers, and the Panthers are not looking like the Panthers.

Sure, Florida still leads the series 3-0, and this game isn’t over, but an offense that had been awfully quiet through three games has found something. The Oilers all talked about how confident they were and how they needed a break or two; well, they are breaking down the door tonight.

Now the scoreboard is taking shots of the Panthers fans in attendance, making "Florida man" jokes about them.

Now they are playing “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin, and then show Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney in the crowd. Bissonnette took his shirt off.

This place is bonkers right now.

9:27 p.m. ET

Connor McDavid has entered the chat.

The Oilers superstar gets his first goal of the Final 1:13 into the second period, and just like that it’s 4-1 Edmonton. Hey, maybe they read the blog between periods when I said they really should focus on getting a three-goal lead.

The play was set up with when Warren Foegele got smashed against the board by Aaron Ekblad. But Foegele got the puck away. It eventually found Zach Hyman in the offensive zone, who sprung McDavid.

The fans are really giving it to Sergei Bobrovsky, giving him a mock cheer when he made a simple save right after the McDavid goal.

Not to complain about being at a Stanley Cup Final game, but it’s absolutely freezing up here in the press box.

I’m sitting next to NHL.com writer Mike Zeisberger, who, like me, is directly under an air vent.

Of course, if the Oilers win this game, we will be back in the 90-degree humid weather in Florida tomorrow.

Oh, the life of a sportswriter.

9:18 p.m. ET

Things are getting serious here with the DJ playing some Twisted Sister before the teams come out for the second period.

It’s so funny how this game works. After Game 2 of the series, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch lamented shots his team took hitting the post. Well, tonight, with the Panthers on the power play in what was then a 0-0 game, two shots hit the post, and then the Oilers come down and score a short-handed goal.

Just crazy.

The Oilers seem to have puck luck on their side tonight and lead 3-1 after the first period, but we have plenty of time to go and we know these Panthers don’t give up.

That being said, the atmosphere in here is nuts. So loud. Like I said earlier, you would not know the Oilers were down 3-0 in this series.

9:02 p.m. ET

Twenty minutes are in the books here in Edmonton, and the Oilers have a 3-1 lead. The Panthers are outshooting the Oilers 14-10.

It’s been a wild game, with the fans alternating between “Let’s Go Oilers” chants and chants about the refs that aren’t very nice.

This is exactly the start the Oilers needed tonight as they try to win a game and keep this series going for at least another game.

But again, Florida is a feisty bunch and it can score quick. The Oilers may want to think about making it a three-goal lead before the Panthers make it a one-goal game.

Enjoy the intermission. I’ll be back to start the second.

8:57 p.m. ET

The Oilers have scored again, with Dylan Holloway taking a feed from Leon Draisaitl and lifting the puck under the glove of Sergei Bobrovsky, who had to lunge to try to make the save.

The assist was Draisaitl’s first point of this Final.

It’s a big boost for the Oilers who seemed to have lost some momentum after Florida cut their lead to 2-1.

They just introduced former Oilers player Zack Kassian, who is here tonight and this place is going nuts.

But again, don’t count these Panthers out. They never quit, and we still have 44 minutes left here.

The T-shirt guy is really committed to this gig. NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen saw him stretching at the practice rink about an hour before puck drop.

I mean, the guy is a maniac, so good thing he warms up.

They just showed a video of the band Los Lobos on the big board. They were telling the fans they want to play “LaBamba” after the game. “LaBamba” is the Oilers victory song thanks for the late, great locker room attendant Joey Moss and made even more famous by young Ben Stelter, who would yell “Play LaBamba, baby,” after wins. Ben died in August 2022 at the age of 6.

It’s incredible how the Oilers help keep the legacy of Moss and Stelter alive.

8:46 p.m. ET

The decibel level in this place had reached a fever pitch with the Oilers up 2-0, but Vladimir Tarasenko has cut the lead in half with 8:34 left in the first, and suddenly this place is a bit nervous again.

It was almost 2-2, but Stuart Skinner made perhaps his best save of the Final, stopping Carter Verhaeghe on a one timer.

But the T-shirt guy just did his act, and this place is alive again.

Before Tarasenko’s goal, they showed another New York Rangers legend -- Mark Messier -- on the video board. I’m kidding, he’s an Oilers legend too. He’s here for ESPN doing the game -- or were they cheering for P.K. Subban, who is in the booth with Mess?

The Oilers Drum and Brass Crew just played a stirring rendition of “The Hockey Song,” originally done by Stompin’ Tom Connors.

8:36 p.m. ET

It’s now 2-0 Oilers just 7:48 into the game after Adam Henrique scores a beautiful deflection in front on a pass from Mattias Janmark, who is having quite a night for himself.

The Oilers had a chance to build on their 1-0 lead when the Panthers took a too many men penalty, but Sergei Bobrovsky was able to hold them off. But he couldn’t stop them a few minutes later.

NHL.com writer Dan Rosen is having some flashbacks here in the press box as the PA system just blared the song that Dancing Larry dances to at New York Rangers games.

They have a guy here who does a similar routine, but he takes it to another level, at times taking off layers and layers of T-shirts and throwing them to the fans. Who needs a T-shirt gun?

They just showed a fan with a sign saying “So You’re Saying There’s a Chance.”

The fans here are really creative. Four guys showed up dressed as rat exterminators.

8:28 p.m. ET

The Oilers are on the board, scoring -- wait for it -- a short-handed goal.

After the Panthers hit the post twice down the other end, Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark came down on a 2-on-1. Brown carried the puck toward the net, got goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to commit, and then put the puck in the crease for Janmark to knock it into an open net.

The Panthers got the power play at 1:53 of the first when Darnell Nurse was called for tripping Sam Bennett. The refs reviewed it for a major penalty, but it stayed at two minutes.

The fans are saying some awful things about the refs here, and we’re just four minutes into the game.

It appeared as if Bennett was injured on the play, but he’s back.

8:19 p.m. ET

The anthems are over and it’s time to play hockey.

The fans are ready, the players are ready. Are you ready?

The decibel level in here hit 112 when the Oilers took the ice with “Enter Sandman” by Metallica blaring in here.

And the “Let’s Go Oilers” chants continue, getting louder and louder.

Holy heck, it’s loud. You would never tell the Oilers are down 3-0 in this series.

As I said in my earlier post, this city absolutely loves this team and franchise. It’s really pretty cool.

8:11 p.m. ET

The “Let’s Go Oilers” chant have begun, and the players aren’t even on the ice yet.

They just posted a quote on the video board from Connor McDavid that said, “Just keep cheering. It’s not over until it’s over.”

Here is how the teams will start the game:

For the Panthers -- it’s Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Aleksander Barkov, Brandon Montour, Niko Mikkola and Sergei Bobrovsky.

For the Oilers – it’s Mattias Janmark, Connor Brown, Adam Henrique, Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm with Stuart Skinner in goal.

It’s just about anthem time. Does the season end tonight, or do we go back to Florida for Game 5 on Sunday? We’ll find out in the next three hours.

Buckle up.

8 p.m. ET

One really cool thing they do here in Edmonton is when the players leave the ice after warmups, they walk down a hallway that goes past a bar, and on the other side are little kids, possibly family members, there to give the players high-fives, fist bumps, whatever you want. It’s really neat.

The last Oilers player on the ice for warmups was Corey Perry, who is playing in his fifth Stanley Cup Final with his fifth team. He’s 1-3 in the Final.

He talked yesterday about how much his teammates need to appreciate this moment because you never know if or when they will get back. He got a big cheer from the fans as he left the ice.

The organ player here is trying to keep everyone in good spirts, playing the theme from “The Patridge Family,” which is, of course, “C’mon Get Happy.”

We are about 15 minutes from the anthems, which is always one of the highlights of the night here in Edmonton.

7:45 p.m. ET

The teams are on the ice for warmups, and it seems as if Evander Kane will not play for the second straight game. He’s been dealing with an injury. Corey Perry is on the ice for the Oilers, so he should be in. Sam Carrick is on the ice as well.

It’s hard to believe this NHL season could end tonight with a Panthers win. It’s been an incredible season that started with games in Australia, had games in Sweden, four outdoor games, a new-look All-Star Game and, of course, an incredible postseason.

But the Oilers and their fans, despite being down 3-0, believe this isn’t over. Believe is a big word around here -- thanks Ted Lasso -- with the players saying they believe they can still win the Cup and the fans believing this isn’t over.

I do love how the fans in this town rally around this team. Everywhere you went today, people were wearing Oilers jerseys. I even saw a bus driver wearing one.

They really are the only show in town, especially with the Elks of the Canadian Football League being so bad. They are something like 2-18 in their past 20 home games. A couple of us NHL.com staffers thought about going to the game last night, but we passed. Our Edmonton-based writer Derek Van Diest took his nephew. Said he had a good time, but his poor nephew has not seen a win in person. (Insert New York Jets jokes here).

7:15 p.m. ET

Up, up, up, can only go up from here.

That is the rallying cry of the Oilers and their fans, who believe they are still the one to win the Stanley Cup. To help them get ready for Game 4, Canadian and country music legend Shania Twain played a free outdoor concert as part of the Festival at the Final.

If that doesn’t impress you much, what can I tell you?

From this moment on, the Oilers need a win or everyone goes home tomorrow.

But honey, they are home, and I’m sure this place will be rocking once the fans come on over to the arena from concert.

In addition to Twain, the Oilers brought out another big star, with retired defenseman and three-time Stanley Cup champion Duncan Keith talking to the team today.

Nick Cotsonika has the story on that here.

What the Oilers do need, however, is for their big stars like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard to score goals, a goal.

Of course, getting one past Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is proving to be difficult.

We expect some more lineup changes for the Oilers tonight, so once we have those, I will pass them along.

We are about an hour away from puck drop. Should be fun.

Here are our 3 keys for Game 4 from Tracey Myers.