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United States The Florida Panthers can win the Stanley Cup at home. The ...
It used to be a running joke in Florida: If you wanted tickets to a Panthers game, just ask. Freebies weren't hard to find.
Those days are long gone. Especially now.
The Panthers, for the first time in their history, are set to play a home game with a chance to win the Stanley Cup.
They take a 3-1 lead over the Edmonton Oilers into Game 5 of the Cup final on Tuesday night with many tickets on the secondary market going for more than $1,000 apiece.
A historic night may await a franchise seeking its first NHL championship since its inaugural season 30 years ago.
"This is why we play," Panthers forward Vladimir Tarasenko said.
The Panthers took a 3-0 series lead into Game 4 at Edmonton on Saturday night and got rolled, the Oilers staying alive with an 8-1 win after Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky got the hook in the second period.
A good sign for the Oilers: No team has lost a playoff game by seven or more goals and gone on to win the Cup since Toronto in 1947.
Oilers hoping to avoid elimination again tonight in Florida
Duration 3:54
"Momentum just lasts short periods of time, pretty much shift to shift," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Maybe we've got the momentum for the first shift, but I think that's about it. Yeah, that's about it."
The Panthers are 4-1 after losses in these playoffs, outscoring their opponents by a combined 21-10. But the last four periods of this series — going back to Game 3 — have been all Edmonton.
The score over the last 80 minutes of hockey entering Tuesday night: Oilers 10, Panthers 1. Edmonton nearly pulled off a rally in the third period of Game 3, cutting a 4-1 Florida lead to 4-3 but getting no closer, and then had the rout in Game 4 behind four points from Connor McDavid.
"We're taking it one day at a time, one game at a time. It's all we can do," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. "If you look at the top of the mountain right now, it's pretty steep, but taking one day at a time doesn't sound so bad. That's our goal, that's our focus."
Florida's focus is different: It's Cup time.
Stayin' alive: Edmonton Oilers extend series to Game 5 after 8-1 win at home
Duration 1:38
It's taken 30 seasons, 457 different players, 18 different coaches, about two decades of irrelevance wedged in there along the way, rumours of contraction, rumours of relocation and who knows how many bad nights to get to this moment.
The Cup is in the Panthers' building. Win on Tuesday night, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will hand it to them for the first time.
"It's going to be an awesome atmosphere," Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said, "and I'm looking forward to it."
Oilers aim to prevent Cup party tonight
A couple of questions are making the rounds as the Oilers prepare to play another elimination game Tuesday night.
Are the Panthers showing signs of fatigue or cracking?
Or, did the Florida team simply have a bad night in an otherwise brilliant post-season run?
The Oilers, who scored four goals in the first three games of the championship series, scored eight goals in Game 4. The Panthers, who only allowed one goal in the first two games at home, coughed up 11 in the two games in Edmonton.
Captain Connor McDavid, who enjoyed a four-point outing for the Oilers in Game 4, insisted his squad still has a huge hole to climb out of to get the series back to Alberta for Game 6, but acknowledged the confidence and momentum are in his team's favour.
Oilers win keeps Stanley Cup dreams alive
Panthers coach Paul Maurice, one win away from hoisting the franchise's first Stanley Cup, still likes his club's chances to win it all.
"I don't believe in momentum carrying over from game to game because I would have been wrong at 3-0," said Maurice. "We went to Edmonton to get at least a split, and we got what we needed.
"We weren't sitting in Edmonton at 3-0 getting the engravers out. We're focused on getting one more win. I like our position."
Edmonton will try to become the first team in Stanley Cup final history to win Game 5 on the road after falling behind 3-0 in the series.
