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Game 4: Oilers vs Panthers - Just One Game |
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Are these lengthy breaks messing with anyone else?
A year ago the Edmonton Oilers won 8-1 against the Florida Panthers in a dominant fashion. They followed that up with a 5-3 and a 5-1 victory. It looked like the Edmonton Oilers were absolutely rolling and unstoppable.
They lost that series.
The point is one game, however brutal the loss remains just a single game in this series. The Panthers find themselves up 2-1 in the series; those are the only numbers that matter and what happened in one game does not matter much in the next.
The Oilers were fully drawn into Panthers hockey in Game 3. Chippy plays, post scrum involvement and a flurry of trips to the penalty box. The Oilers need to be far more disciplined and avoid the extracurriculars and focus on their game and their game alone. They tried to play Florida's game... the Panthers beat them into the ground with experience.
Stuart Skinner had an ugly game but it is always tough on how to dole out the blame when the team was an absolute dumpster fire in front of him. Skinner has bailed out his team throughout these playoffs including early on in Game 1 and 2 against the Panthers when Florida was firing everything at him. Skinner has been lights out in Game 4's in his career - the Oilers need that Skinner tonight and to do everything in their power to make his job easier.
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We have some new lines tonight as well. Stecher draws back in for Klingberg. Klingberg was a phenomenal warrior for this team once he was brought in during the Kings series and played some excellent hockey alongside Walman but whether it's age, his injury history, or just too many games he has slowed down and gotten exposed against Florida. Stecher is back in and expected to play next to Darnell Nurse. I do not understand why but the only time Darnell Nurse looks half good on the ice is when he is playing with Troy Stecher. We also will see Kulak back with Bouchard, a pair that was dependable against the Stars and Ekholm with Walman on his off side.
Up front it looks like Brown will draw in on the top line with RNH and McDavid, while Kapanen, Draisaitl and Kane stay the same. Arvidsson is out of the lineup with Skinner in his spot which will mean a third line of Skinner-Henrique-Frederic. Lastly the fourth line will be Podkolzin-Janmark-Perry.
The Oilers have shown throughout these playoffs to be a resilient team when faced with hardship and all the players have talked at length about how they have learned from their experiences last Stanley Cup Final. Tonight we will find out if they can walk the walk.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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