“I think they’re playing really well,” McDavid said. “They’re playing aggressively and in your face. With that being said, there are mistakes. There are chances. I feel like a team as aggressive as they are, they do a great job of limiting your chances and then there’s one mistake and you can find yourself in a grade A really fast. You have to be ready for that, and you have to be prepared.
“It goes from not much going on to suddenly, there’s a good chance. And as I said, you have to be ready for that. You’ve got to bury it. Bobrovsky is also playing well. It’s about being ready for your opportunity and making the most of it.”
Panthers’ captain Aleksander Barkov, who left Game 2 in the third period after a hit from Leon Draisaitl along the boards, practiced in full on Wednesday morning before his team’s lengthy travel day that included an 8:00 pm MT arrival in Edmonton due to monsoon -like weather around Fort Lauderdale causing over a three-hour delay to their departure.
The Oilers can’t bank on tired legs from the Panthers, but what they can control is their own work rate and the type of effort they bring to Thursday’s amazing opportunity to respond on home ice in the Stanley Cup Final.
“I think just win puck battles. I think that’s the key,” Hyman added. “There are many different areas of the ice where it doesn’t seem like you’d create offense, but those little puck battles on the wall – in your own zone, in the neutral zone and in the corners – those leads to offense. We just have to get back to skating and working.
“We like playing in Edmonton. We’ve had a great record at home and in the series, we’re down two but both games could have gone either way. So we’re excited about the opportunity to defend home ice here and play in front of this crowd. It’s going to be great.”
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