As it happened: How the Oilers crushed the Panthers to force Game 5

Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) celebrates a goal against the Florida Panthers during second period Game 4 action of the NHL Stanley Cup final in Edmonton on Saturday June 15, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

The Edmonton Oilers' offence exploded in Game 4 to beat the Florida Panthers 8-1.

Dylan Holloway (two goals, one assist) and Connor McDavid (one goal, three assists) led the Oilers' offence.

Stuart Skinner made 32 saves and Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals on 16 shots.

The Panthers lead the series 3-1.

Game 5 is in Florida on Tuesday.

This is how the game unfolded:

Third period

3:19

Another one for Edmonton moments later.

Ryan McLeod scored the eighth of the night. Holloway got the assist.

5:49

Beautiful goal by the Oilers to make it 7-1.

Corey Perry led the rush, passed to McDavid to his right, who then found an open Holloway in front of the net for the finish.

17:22

Skinner made six saves during Florida's power play to keep the Oilers up 6-1.

Second period

6:57

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has the sixth goal of the game.

The Oilers had a 5-on-3 power play after roughing penalties to Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk, and after a number of good looks, Nugent-Hopkins scored.

McDavid and Draisaitl got the assists.

15:01

And that's it for Bobrovsky. After two great games in the Stanley Cup Final, the goalie has allowed five goals on 16 shots in Game 4.

McDavid led the rush for the fifth of the night and found Darnell Nurse behind him, who got a wrister past Bobrovsky.

18:47

Connor McDavid scores his first goal of the series at the start of the second period.

Zach Hyman found McDavid as he split two defenders and the captain finished past Bobrovsky.

First period

5:12

Leon Draisaitl has his first point of the series. The German forward assisted Dylan Holloway who just got the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky to give Edmonton the 3-1 lead.

8:34

The Panthers get one back. The Oilers struggled to get the puck out of the defensive zone and Florida made them pay when Vladimir Tarasenko redirected a shot from Gustav Forsling and got past Stuart Skinner for the 2-1.

Moments later, Skinner made a huge save on Carter Verhaeghe.

12:12

The third line is rolling for the Oilers. After scoring the first goal, Janmark assisted Adam Henrique for the 2-0 lead.

16:49

The Oilers lead 1-0 after Mattias Janmark scored a short-handed goal. Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse got two minutes for tripping Sam Bennett and the Panthers hit the post twice in one play before Connor Brown went the other way and assisted Janmark.

Pre-game

Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers is set to begin at Rogers Place.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch made some changes at the top of the lineup. Warren Foegele is in the top line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins moves to the second line with Leon Draisaitl and Dylan Holloway.

Game preview

The Edmonton Oilers aren't looking too far ahead.

Down 3-0 to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers are focused on winning Game 4 at home on Saturday night to live another day.

"If you look too far ahead it's a daunting task," veteran forward Corey Perry told reporters Saturday morning. "They're a great team, we know that. But you start with one period, one game and work your way from there. That's all we can do."

The Oilers have played well enough to win Games 1 and 3 but goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has been nearly impossible to get past.

"We found some puck luck [at the end of Game 3], not enough, but I think it's a start and that's what we have to build on," Perry said.

"In our mind we've thought we've played pretty well and we just need those bounces."

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch has also spoken about needing "puck luck" in Game 4.

But despite being down 3-0 and going up against a great goalie, he says the group remains confident and optimistic.

"If there's a team that can do it, if there's a group of men I want to do this with, it's the guys in that room," Knoblauch said.

"Hopefully Zach Hyman can write a storybook about this when it's all said and done. I think it's an excellent opportunity for us."

The sentiment among Oilers players is that they play their best hockey when they face the most adversity.

Whether it's a slow start to the season or being down in the series against Vancouver or Dallas, the players have talked about learning from those experiences and bringing their best when it matters most.

"I'm super confident in our group. I know we're down 3-0 in the series but I think it could very well be different than that," young forward Dylan Holloway said. "Our group's resilient, our group's been through a lot this year. I think we shine when the pressure's most on us."

Knoblauch did not reveal if there would be lineup changes for Game 4, but TSN's Ryan Rishaug tweeted that he expects "basically the same lineup tonight."