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Panthers' Paul Maurice hints at line change for Game 5 after their 8-1 drubbing against Oilers
Following a crushing 8-1 defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice is contemplating changes to his lineup. NHL insider Jameson Olive reported on X that Maurice is "certainly considering" making adjustments for Game 5, although no official decisions have been made yet.
Olive wrote:
"Maurice said “he’s certainly considering” making a lineup change for Game 5, but nothing official yet. Lomberg was taking rushes on the 4th line this morning,"
Maurice was happy before Florida suffered the Game 4 defeat by a seven-goal difference. But he later had a pretty simple response.
“You just reestablish your game and you come back into the fight,” Maurice said (via NHL.com). "... We lost the game tonight. I’m pretty sure — I’ve got to check, possibly — but there’s going to be a Game 5.”
Maurice was clearly not happy with what happened in Game 4. He said:
“This is our first one of these. We either win or we learn. If we’re really lucky, we win and we learn. Didn’t happen tonight.”
Maurice’s consideration of a lineup change is a quick attempt to fix things following the Game 4 blowout. The Panthers struggled defensively and could not contain Edmonton’s key players, including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled after allowing five goals on 16 shots. His performance fell in comparison to the first three games of the series.
Florida Panthers will play Game 5 at home as they aim to close out the series
The Stanley Cup Final series now shifts back to Amerant Bank Arena for Game 5. The Panthers will be aiming to capitalize on home-ice advantage and close out the series. Maurice’s potential lineup changes will be critical as Florida seeks to rebound from its Game 4 setback and capture the Stanley Cup.
“We didn’t play as well as we wanted to,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov admitted (via NHL.com). “We’ve got to figure out now what we can do better and what we did well.”
Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final is set for Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, with the Panthers holding a 3-1 series lead, they still have the advantage over the Oilers.
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