‘We’re going to try to drag them back to Alberta’: The Oilers look to play spoiler again on the Panthers Cup dream

SUNRISE —  The Edmonton Oilers were successful in keeping their season alive after winning Game 4 on Saturday.

Still down 3-1 in the series, they have a new goal entering Game 5 in Sunrise — get the Panthers back to Alberta — or drag them there. 

The Oilers fed off the home crowd at Rogers Place on Saturday night, thrashing the Panthers 8-1 as they won their first game of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. 

“Everytime you’re back in Edmonton it seems to get louder and louder when you didn’t expect it could get any louder,” Oilers forward Connor Brown said on Tuesday. “That’s the goal. We’re going to try to drag them back to Alberta.”

Still facing elimination the rest of the way out, the Oilers have to take it one game at a time as the Panthers will have two opportunities to win the Cup at home if this series does drag out to a Game 7. 

Oilers captain Connor McDavid said the same phrase on Saturday as Connor Brown did, they want to drag the Panthers back to Alberta. 

While Edmonton has looked into their mindset for Tuesday’s elimination game, the Panthers are going to do everything they can to make sure the next bus they take is to a Cup celebration on Las Olas, not to the airport for a flight back to Edmonton. 

The Stanley Cup will be in Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday night as the Panthers will try again to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history — this time in front of their home crowd. 

“It’s another opportunity right?” Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said going into Game 5. “Another brilliant chance, an opportunity to realize our dream. We’re excited and anxious to get it going.”

Florida will need to be better than they were in their last game, but the team has been successful this postseason and controlling their emotions after losses — including blowouts. 

The Panthers are undefeated this playoff run after losing an elimination game (2-0), they are also 4-1 after a loss. 

“Worrying is more important than forgetting,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said when asked about the last game. “We had two other games I think that were very similar to that and both in similar situations. So we have to learn from it. The gift of Game 4 is a brand new experience that really maybe one or two other players have had and coaches… Once that is learned, then the entire ideas come back to form that our team — this is what we’re good at, this is what we do.”

As for what is expected in terms of lineups going into Game 5, the Panthers will be making a change on the fourth line with the reinsertion of Ryan Lomberg.

Lomberg has appeared in five games this postseason but has not seen the ice so far in the Stanley Cup Final. Who he is replacing has not been confirmed, but it is expected that Steven Lorentz will come out of the lineup.

Edmonton’s room was once again more secretive on who they will ice in Game 5.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said “you’ll have to wait” when asked about his lineup for Tuesday night’s matchup.

Puck drop for Game 5 will be just after 8 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. MT from Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL.