The Oilers haven’t said their last word in the Stanley Cup final, but they don’t expect the Panthers to give them a victory.
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The resounding 8-1 victory at home to make it 3-1 in the series certainly re-energized the Oilers, but head coach Kris Knoblauch believes the Panthers may not have had their minds entirely on hockey Saturday night.
“They are going to be much better prepared for game number five than for game four,” he said during a video conference on Sunday. “Sometimes there are distractions like family and friends who are there for the celebrations. There they will be at home.”
Indeed, the fifth game will be presented Tuesday at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise and for a second time in a row, the Stanley Cup will be in the bowels of the enclosure in case the Panthers achieve the fourth victory which would give them the first Stanley Cup in their history.
Momentum
The two coaches involved in this final have something in common: pragmatism. Paul Maurice has already said that he does not believe in momentumand Knoblauch tends to agree with him.
“I believe in it, but it only lasts from one presence to the next. On a match, I don’t know if it applies from one period to another. Even though we were down 3-0, our team felt like they had what it took to play with them. But things are changing very quickly.”
So far, the Oilers have been involved in two number five road games. Against the Vancouver Canucks, they lost, but won the next two games. Against the Dallas Stars, they won and took the series at home in the next game.
“We played two Game 5s on the road, in Vancouver and Dallas, which were a turning point in the series. We are capable of winning in multiple ways, whether with our big players who delivered the goods, or with our support players who took over,” mentioned Knoblauch, who knows that this time his team did not than victory as a possible outcome.
Benefit
Relaxed during the video conference, Knoblauch mentioned twice that his men wanted to enjoy the series as much as possible.
“We are at 271e day of the season, the guys have been working a long time and they are where they want to be. They like each other, they want to win for each other and they want to enjoy the moment as long as possible.”
And even if coming back from 0-3 to win is an almost impossible mission, achieved only once by the 1942 Maple Leafs.
“We had our backs against the wall several times during the season and people thought we were beaten, but we got back up. We didn’t have the little luck we needed at the start of the series, but things are starting to turn around.”
