The Panthers and Oilers go head-to-head in a momentous Game 4 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN+, Sportsnet, TVA Sports and CBC as Florida attempts to capture its first Stanley Cup while Edmonton look to extend the series to at least five games.

* The Oilers look to become the ninth team in NHL history to force Game 5 after facing a 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final. Connor McDavid enters the contest with 19 points in eight games following a loss in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* The Panthers are within one win of the Stanley Cup due to multiple keys to success including balanced scoring, clutch goaltending, a perfect penalty kill in the Final and the ability to win tight games and close out leads.

STANLEY CUP WILL BE IN THE BUILDING FOR GAME 4 IN EDMONTON

The Panthers enter Game 4 with the opportunity to hoist their first Stanley Cup just 30 years and one day after they first entered the NHL, while the Oilers hope to extend the series to five games and ignite a comeback for the ages. Florida owns a 10-6 all-time record in potential series-clinching contests (3-2 in 2024); Edmonton is 20-20 all-time when facing elimination (2-0 in 2024).

* Aleksander Barkov, who scored the game winner in Game 3 to put Florida up 4-1, can become the 13th player in NHL history to score five winning tallies in a single playoff year and just the third active player following Nazem Kadri (5 w/ COL in 2020) and Jake Guentzel (5 w/ PIT in 2017). Should he do so, the Panthers captain would also become just the third Finnish-born player to score a Stanley Cup-clinching goal in League history – he would join Artturi Lehkonen, who netted the decisive goal with the Avalanche in 2022, and Jari Kurri who did so with the Oilers in 1987.

* Connor McDavid has 0-3—3 through the first three games of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final and 5-29—34 in 21 contests this postseason – one point shy of tying Doug Gilmour (1993 w/ TOR), Wayne Gretzky (1984 w/ EDM) and Mike Bossy (1981 w/ NYI) for the eighth-most points in a single playoff year in NHL history. The Oilers captain has collected 19 of his 34 points this postseason in games following a loss.

OILERS AIM TO FORCE GAME 5 IN FRONT OF HOME FANS

Despite trailing 3-0, the Oilers will look to force a Game 5 with their first home win in the Stanley Cup Final since 2006 and extend the current streak of 24 consecutive Final series without a sweep (1999-2023). Eight teams have forced a Game 5 after facing a 3-0 deficit in the Final, including two in the last decade: Montreal in 2021 and the NY Rangers in 2014.

* The last time the Oilers lost three straight contests was from Feb. 21-24, which they subsequently followed up with a five-game win streak from Feb. 26 to March 5. The last time Edmonton dropped three consecutive games in regulation was from Dec. 14-19 (including a 5-1 loss to FLA), which they bounced back from with a 16-game win streak – tied for the second longest in NHL history.

* The Oilers, who overcame a deficit to win each of their past two series, will look to become the second team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win the Stanley Cup Final – they would join the 1942 Maple Leafs who did so against the Red Wings.

KEYS TO SUCCESS: HOW PANTHERS HAVE COME THIS FAR
The Panthers sit one win away from their first-ever Stanley Cup championship and serve as the most recent reminder of how quickly the fate of a franchise can change in today’s NHL. Just one season removed from entering the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the 16th seed, upsetting the record-setting Bruins and riding that momentum to the Final before falling to Vegas, the Panthers’ “Redemption Tour” had them entering the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Atlantic Division’s top seed, returning to the Final and within a victory of hoisting the Stanley Cup.

A closer look at how the Panthers have come within one win of the 2024 Stanley Cup:

Balanced Scoring
The Panthers have a League-leading nine skaters with 10-plus points in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, led by captain Aleksander Barkov (7-14—21 in 20 GP) – no other team this postseason has more than five. A balanced attack has been a key to success for recent Stanley Cup winners with each of the previous five Cup champions finishing with at least eight skaters with 10 or more points.

Strong Between the Pipes:

Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has already won the Vezina Trophy twice and looks to add a Stanley Cup and possibly even a Conn Smythe Trophy to his resume. Bobrovsky has allowed two goals or fewer in 15 of 20 appearances this postseason with a 2.07 goals-against average, .916 save percentage and two shutouts. Bobrovsky has upped his game even further in the Final with a .953 save percentage – only six different goaltenders have completed a Final of four or more games with as high a save percentage.

Perfect Penalty Kill

The Panthers rank second in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 90.2% penalty kill percentage (EDM: 93.1%) and have ramped it up to a perfect 100% in the Stanley Cup Final (10 times shorthanded). They can join the Golden Knights (2023) and Maple Leafs (1948) as the third team in the modern era (since 1943-44) to complete the Final without allowing a power-play goal against in the series. Florida’s aggressive penalty kill has seen the team spend only 54.8% of shorthanded playing time in the defensive zone this postseason according to NHL Edge, third best among all 16 playoff teams and well below the League average (59.3%).

Thriving in Close Games

The margins are slim in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Florida has excelled in one-goal games. The Panthers (8-3) lead the League in one-goal wins during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs after finishing tied for fifth in the regular season with a 19-7-6 mark. Their 27 combined one-goal victories (regular season & playoffs) trail only the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers (29) for the most this season.

Closing Out Leads

One key to success for the Panthers has been to get the lead and hold on to it. Florida is 7-0 when leading after the first period in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs and 9-0 when leading through the second period. Including the regular season, the Panthers are 44-0-3 when leading through two periods this season (35-0-3 in regular season). Recent teams to win the Stanley Cup with a perfect record when leading after the first period in a playoff year include Vegas (9-0 in 2023), Tampa Bay (10-0 in 2020; includes SCQ & RR), Chicago (7-0 in 2015 & 6-0 in 2010) and Anaheim (8-0 in 2007).

Streaking Towards Stanley

The Panthers have picked an ideal time to match their franchise record for longest winning streak in a single postseason, rattling off six consecutive victories since Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Rangers, a series they trailed 2-1 prior to the win streak. Florida can become the seventh team to close out a Stanley Cup championship on a win streak of seven or more games and first since the Mario Lemieux-led 1992 Penguins (11-0 to close out postseason).

CLOSER LOOK AT BOBROVSKY, RODRIGUES USING NHL EDGE

Two players who have had a hand in Florida’s 3-0 series lead are goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and forward Evan Rodrigues. A few notes on the two impact players with help from NHL Edge.
* The Panthers and Bobrovsky have limited the long-range success of the Oilers in the Final. Entering the series, Edmonton had scored seven goals from long-range – tied for the most among all teams this postseason – but have been scoreless from the zone since the start of the Final. Scoring closer to the net has been no easy feat for Edmonton though as Bobrovsky has shone in all areas of the ice as his .872 save percentage in the high-danger area ranks second among all goaltenders this postseason.

* Rodrigues (3-1—4 in 3 GP) is one of two players with a point in each of the first three games of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final (also Sam Bennett: 1-2—3 in 3 GP). Each of the last three Final series have seen at least one player record a point streak of four or more games from the start of the series: Mark Stone (5 GP) and Jonathan Marchessault (5 GP) in 2023 with Vegas, Mikko Rantanen (4 GP) in 2022 with Colorado as well as Blake Coleman (4 GP) and Barclay Goodrow (5 GP) in 2021 with Tampa Bay.

* Rodrigues, who is among a group of recent “unsung heroes” to step up in the Stanley Cup Final, was the focus of a recent NHL Edge feature by Pete Jensen on NHL.com.

‘NHL IN ASL’ SET FOR GAME 4, ‘STANLEY CUP LIVE’ RETURNS PRE-GAME

The “NHL in ASL” broadcast – a first-of-its-kind telecast dedicated to the Deaf community – will continue in Game 4 (ESPN+, Sportsnet+). NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is slated to visit during the first intermission, followed by Renca Dunn in the second intermission. Dunn is a Deaf influencer and content creator with a dedicated following on Instagram and YouTube.

* Before the action begins, catch the “Stanley Cup Live presented by New Amsterdam Vodka” pre-game show on the NHL’s YouTube channel starting at 6:30 p.m. ET. Before Game 3, hosts Jason Demers and Alexa Landestoy were joined by three-time Stanley Cup champion and former Oilers defenseman Duncan Keith.

NHL PODCASTS: WEEKLY ROUNDUP

* NHL @TheRink (6/12): Stanley Cup Final; Panthers lead, Barkov’s importance
* La Tasse de Café LNH (6/12): Les Panthers dans le siège du conducteur
* NHL Draft Class (6/13): Nick Smith, NHL Central Scouting; Top OHL prospects
* The Chirp (6/14): Rick Tocchet joins; Cup Final reaction, Panther’s experience matters

QUICK CLICKS

* Panthers not changing approach ahead of Game 4

* Stanley Cup Final blog: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
* Vladimir Tarasenko’s quiet leadership powering Panthers in Stanley Cup Final

* Oilers have strong belief despite 3-0 series deficit

GET READY FOR GAME 4 SATURDAY