Oilers Stave Off Elimination vs. Panthers in Game 4 – Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Florida Panthers 8-1 to claim Game 4 of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Final and stay alive after losing the first three games of the series.
Mattias Janmark opened the scoring for the Oilers in the first half with a shorthanded goal. He scored the fastest shorthanded opening goal in a Stanley Cup Final game in more than 40 years. It was the third-fastest time in the finals as the shortest goals were officially set in 1933-34, behind Marcel Pronovost (2:15 in 1955) and Lorne Henning (2:38 in 1980).
Janmark had some impressive moments when his team faced annihilation up front; hit a hat trick in Game 7 of the 2021 first round. At the time, he became the eighth player in Stanley Cup Playoff history to record a hat trick in Game 7. Up until that point, he had yet to get one in the regular season.
The Oilers also got goals from Adam Henrique, Dylan Holloway, Darnell Nurse, Connor McDavid, and a power play goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Also, McDavid recorded his 32nd assist of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, breaking the all-time record for most assists in a single playoff year. Wayne Gretzky previously held the record for assists with 31, which he set in the 1987-88 season.
Holloway scored again in the third period, and the Oilers got a goal from Ryan McLeod to complete the scoring.
For Henrique, it was his first goal in the Stanley Cup Final since 2012 (Game 6 against the New Jersey Devils) – 12 years and three days ago. He is the seventh player in NHL history to go at least twelve years between goals in the Stanley Cup Final, following Eric Staal (16 years, 354 days; 2006-2023), Mark Recchi (15 years, 15 days ; 1991-2006) ), Dino Ciccarelli (14 years, 31 days; 1981-1995), Corey Perry (13 years, 111 days; 2007-2020), Darren Helm (13 years , 14 days; 2009-2022) and Marcel Pronovost (12 years, 24 days; 1955-1967).
Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled after allowing five goals on 16 shots. He was pulled after Nesi scored his first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at 4:59 of the second period. The Oilers were leading 5-1 at the time.
Bobrovsky was replaced by Anthony Stolarz, who was making his first NHL playoff appearance and his first game action since making 26 saves in a 5-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 16.
Bobrovsky entered Game 4 with a 15-5 record, a 2.07 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage, and two shutouts in 20 postseason games. He allowed four goals in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final, and Game 1 was a 32-game shutout.
News and notes
Edmonton entered the game on a three-game losing streak for the first time since playing a three-game stretch from February 21-24. The Oilers followed that losing skid by stringing together five straight wins since Feb. 26 to March 5. The last time Edmonton dropped three straight games in regulation was from December 14-19 (including a 5-1 loss at Florida), since which they went on a 16-game winning streak, tied for second-longest in NHL history.
Edmonton's eight goals were the second most in a Finals game against an Overtime elimination behind only the Chicago Black Hawks in Game 5 of the 1973 Finals (8-7 W).
Game 5 will be at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday (8pm ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, CBC).
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