Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch looks on during Game 3 against the Florida Panthers, in Edmonton, on June 13.Harry How/Getty Images
The Oilers are in no man’s land now, one game away from being eliminated from the Stanley Cup final. The Panthers hammered the next-to-last nail in their coffin on Thursday with a 4-3 victory at Rogers Place.
Florida holds a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and on Saturday can win its first Stanley Cup since it joined the NHL in 1993.
The Panthers blew open a close game with three goals in a little more than six minutes in the second period. Sergei Bobrovsky was terrific again in the visitors’ net with 32 saves. Edmonton fought back from a 4-1 deficit with two late goals of its own, but it had dug itself too deep of a hole.
A Canadian team has not won the Stanley Cup since 1993 and the drought is on the verge of being extended for another year. Only one team – the Maple Leafs in 1942 – has ever come back to win the cup after falling into an 0-3 hole.
Game 3 was the Oilers’ first home game in the Stanley Cup final in 18 years, where they lost in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes. They have won five Stanley Cups, but none since 1990.
Approximately 7,500 fans attended a free pre-game concert by the rock band Our Lady Peace at a makeshift venue beside the area. On Saturday, country music icon Shania Twain will do the same.
Across the street, another 4,500 people crammed into the Ice District Plaza for a tailgate party. The space is commonly known as the Moss Pit, named after Joey Moss, Edmonton’s late locker room attendant.
On their way into the arena, Junior and Zena Nickerson of Cape Sable Island, N.S., stopped to take pictures in front of a statue of Wayne Gretzky.
They recently travelled to Edmonton for their son’s birthday and decided to come back if the Oilers reached the final. They are Maple Leafs fans but were ready to root for the home team. “We’re Canadian fans tonight,” Zena said.
A lobsterman, it was Junior’s first live NHL game. He is usually on the water in winter and unable to take enough time off to see a game.
“I am an Oilers fan tonight,” he said. He was five years old in 1967 when Toronto won its last Stanley Cup. “I won’t live long enough to see the Maple Leafs win another.”
Before the game, the streets were crowded with fans dressed in Oilers regalia. Inside there was nothing unusual: a woman painted silver with a cup on her head, one Santa Claus, a pair of Ninja Turtles and many people draped in orange tinsel.
Canadian soccer star Alphonso Davies, from Edmonton, was in the crowd. So was former Oilers player Georges Laraque, an old fan favourite.
The Panthers arrived less than 24 hours before puck drop due to weather delays that affected their departure from Fort Lauderdale, but it didn’t seem to bother them a whit.
Florida won the first two games of the series at home by a cumulative score of 7-1. Bobrovsky stopped 49 of the 50 shots he faced on home ice. The Panthers also shut down Edmonton’s power play. The Oilers, best in the league with a man advantage, came in 0-for-6 and misfired on three this time out.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have just three points between them – all assists.
“They are making plays but the puck hasn’t gone in,” Kris Knoblauch, the Edmonton coach, said. “There is only a certain amount of time you can keep those guys off the scoresheet.”
Edmonton hoped that its ebullient followers would provide an energy boost. The Oilers were 28-9-4 at home during the regular season and entered Thursday with a 6-3 mark during the postseason.
“It’s going to be unbelievable,” Dylan Holloway, a forward, said. “I can’t even imagine what it is going to be like tonight. I am super excited for it.”
Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers forward, drew wrath from the crowd over the years when he played for rival Calgary Flames.
“It is going to be us against everybody,” he said during a morning availability with journalists. “I don’t care. It’s the Stanley Cup final. The fans can do whatever they want.”
Edmonton carried play during parts of the first period but failed to score on two power plays. Bobrovsky was as tough as ever, stopping McDavid in close and denying a hard shot by Draisaitl.
A fight broke out late in the first period around Florida’s net. Tkachuk took exception to a couple late hacks at Bobrovsky’s mitt. He squared off with Warren Foegele, who landed several punches to Tkachuk’s face.
Shortly after that, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead when Sam Reinhart tipped in a shot by Gustav Forsling only 62 seconds before the first intermission.
Edmonton tied the game at 1-1 less than two minutes into the second period on a breakaway by Foegele. It was only his second goal in 18 playoff games.
The Panthers went up 2-1 midway through the second when Vladimir Tarasenko netted a short wrist shot with Stuart Skinner, the Oilers’ goalie, out of position.
Sam Bennett, who grew up as one of McDavid’s teammates in their youth, converted a sloppy turnover deep in the Oilers end with 6:03 to go to make it 3-1. Then Aleksander Barkov beat Skinner on a breakaway with 93 seconds left in the second. The lead was suddenly 4-1 and, with Bobrovsky playing well, the game looked pretty much out of reach.
The Oilers crept closer on a goal by defenceman Philip Broberg with 13:58 remaining and cut the lead to 4-3 with 5:17 left on a score by Ryan McLeod. They did not beat Bobrovsky again and are now one loss from season’s end.
“We definitely cut it close,” Skinner said as he stood in front of his dressing stall. He stopped 19 of 23 shots. “We battled all the way to the end and I know we can find a way to beat this team.
“We’re disappointed to be down 3-0, and I’m not too sure what the stats are when it comes to coming back, but if anybody can do it, it’s the Oil. We have nothing but hope in this room.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article stated that the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup was in 2004. It has now been changed to its correct year, 1993.