NHL: Stanley Cup Final-Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers

"Doesn’t feel like a 3-0 series": Zach Hyman & Oilers aim to minimize errors to avoid sweep in Game 4

Modified Jun 15, 2024 03:00 GMT

After a devastating 4-3 loss in Game 3, the Edmonton Oilers are down 3-0 to the Florida Panthers in the 2023-24 Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers know that they must win Game 4 on home ice to avoid being swept by the Panthers.

Despite the lopsided series score, Oilers forward Zach Hyman doesn't feel totally outmatched by the Panthers.

"The encouraging part is that the series is 3-0, but it doesn't feel like a 3-0 series," Hyman said on Friday. "For a lot of it, we're controlling the game and there are moments where we're giving up freebies, and they're not doing that."

The Oilers realize that eliminating costly mistakes and defensive lapses is the key to extending the series.

"You clean those things up and every one of those games, we felt like we've had a chance to win," Hyman noted. "If there's any team that can do this, it's this team, I strongly believe that. There's something about this team that we don't give up."

With no margin for error, the Oilers hope to draw from past experiences when facing elimination.

"We've done it the entire year," Hyman said. "We were down 3-2 to Vancouver, and there was no more room for error, and we probably played two of our better games of the year, so we're going to respond."

To keep their Stanley Cup dreams alive, Edmonton know that they must win Game 4 on home ice Saturday night. If they can find a way to extend the series, the next battle will come on the road in Florida in Game 5.

Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch on team mistakes

Kris Knoblauch spoke about his team's tendency to make mistakes during a press conference on Friday.

"It's tough. You're never going to play a perfect game," he said. "There are always going to be mistakes, and mistakes are always more noticeable when the puck goes in the net."

The coach also pointed out Game 6 against the Dallas Stars as an example.

"You just try to limit the mistakes you have, and if you're always being safe, and I think we saw that in Dallas in Game 6, where I don't think we made many mistakes, but we were defending all the time, we were afraid to make a play."