Oilers still believe, despite Panthers poised to sweep Stanley Cup Final

Despite facing a 3-0 series deficit to the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said his team isn’t getting outplayed.

Edmonton fell 4-3 to Florida at home Thursday to put itself on the verge of being swept. Although the final stat sheet shows a one-goal margin, the Oilers were outplayed in the loss. Florida held a commanding 4-1 lead before two goals found the back of the net for Edmonton off deflections in the final period. Still, Knoblauch said his team has a lot of belief.

“I think we’ve shown that we can beat this team,” he said after the game. “There’s a lot of belief in that.”

If the Oilers have shown they can beat Florida, it hasn’t been reflected in the record books. Edmonton is 0-5 against the Panthers, including two regular season losses. In the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers have gone 0-12 on power-play opportunities and have been outscored by Florida 11-4.

The Oilers are, as Knoblauch pointed out, capable of stringing wins together. Edmonton put together a 16-game winning streak  this season. That figure is second all-time to the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins with 17.

“We can string together a lot of wins; we’ve shown it,” he said.

However, only four of the 15 teams faced on that run (Nashville, Los Angeles, Toronto, New York) made the postseason. Three of those four were first-round exits. New York went as far as the Eastern Conference Final before dropping the series to the Panthers 4-2.

“Obviously the stakes are higher,” Knoblauch said.

Oilers star Connor McDavid said his group is still trying to figure the Panthers out. McDavid logged two assists in Game 3 to bring his series points total to three. He’s still yet to score a goal himself in the Cup final.

“We’ve had stretches of good, stretches of bad,” he said. “We’re trying to figure them out.”

Fellow Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has struggled this series as well. The seventh-best points scorer in the regular season (107) and second-best in the postseason (28) has logged zero points in the Cup final.

“It’s very frustrating,” Draisatil said. “I pride myself on being good in the playoffs and playing well, and I just can’t seem to get anything going.”

Still, he said that his team could just as well be up 2-1 in the series as they are down 3-0.

“That’s not the case, and that’s not how this league or this sport works, unfortunately,” Draisaitl said.

The Oilers will play what could be the final game of the series at home again Saturday. Without a return to form from key players such as Draisatil, Edmonton could watch the first cup to be won on its home ice since 1990 be lifted by another team.