Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final is a pivotal one.
After a double overtime victory in Game 2 got the Panthers out of Edmonton with a split, Florida hammered the Oilers by a score of 6-1 at home in Game 3. It was the worst loss of the playoffs for the Oilers, and it was the first time since the first round that they dropped back-to-back games.
Can the Oilers bounce back in Game 4 to regain control of the series? If they don’t, they’ll be right back where they were last year, with zero room for error.

Oilers vs. Panthers Game 4 Information

  • Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025
  • Start Time: 6:00 PM MT
  • Location: Sunrise, Florida
  • Venue: Amerant Bank Arena
  • Watch: CBC/SN (Canada), TNT (USA), Fubo (Stream)

Projected Line Combinations

  • Oilers: Jeff Skinner and Troy Stecher are coming into the lineup for the Oilers in Game 4 in place of Viktor Arvidsson and John Klingberg. Skinner skated with Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic at Edmonton’s practice on Thursday morning, while Stecher was paired alongside Darnell Nurse. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who was a game-time decision ahead of Game 3 earlier this week, skated with Connor McDavid and Connor Brown on the top forward line. Brett Kulak was with Evan Bouchard on the top defensive pairing and Mattias Ekholm was with Jake Walman.
  • Panthers: There won’t be any lineup changes for Florida in Game 4 after their commanding victory in Game 3. The Panthers got six goals from six different players in the win: Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Carter Verhaeghe, and Aaron Ekblad found the back of the net. The game was littered with penalties, but the Panthers mostly rolled their four forward lines and three defensive pairings when they were at even strength.

Projected Starting Goaltenders

  • Oilers: Stuart Skinner will get the start again for the Oilers after being pulled in Game 3. Skinner allowed five goals on 23 shots over 43 minutes, and then Calvin Pickard came in and allowed one goal on eight shots in the third period. Through three games in the Stanley Cup Final, Skinner has a .866 save percentage, but he generally tends to improve as a series goes along. Last year, he struggled to a .868 save percentage in Games 1 to 3 before posting a .935 save percentage across Games 4 to 7. Skinner is also 6-0 with a .955 save percentage in Game 4s in his NHL career.
  • Panthers: Sergei Bobrovsky has played every minute of the playoffs for the Panthers thus far and it seems he’s saved his best for the Cup Final. Through Florida’s first three games against Edmonton, Bobrovsky has a .928 save percentage. He stopped 42 shots in back-to-back starts in Games 1 and 2 and made 32 saves on 33 shots in Game 3. Last year, Bobrovsky was unbeatable in Games 1-3, with a .953 save percentage. He then allowed 12 goals on 58 shots between Games 4 and 6 before locking in with a Cup-winning performance in Game 7.

Thoughts and Notes Going into Game 4

  • The Oilers haven’t lost three consecutive games since late February when they came out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break with a disastrous road trip through Philadelphia, Washington, Florida, and Carolina. After losing to the Flyers, Capitals, Lightning, and Panthers, the Oilers ended their skid with a 3-1 victory over the Hurricanes. Calvin Pickard turned aside 35 of 36 shots in the win. Other than that, the only time Edmonton dropped three games in a row during the regular season was right out of the gate. They opened their season with losses to the Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, and Calgary Flames before beating the Flyers in overtime for their first victory. With Edmonton down 3-2 in the third period, Troy Stecher dropped the gloves with Sean Couturier after the Philly captain knocked over Stuart Skinner. The fight helped the Oilers rally with a late goal before winning the game in overtime.
  • Those two losing-streak-snapping wins both featured some game-changing individual performances. Pickard was excellent in the win over Carolina during a stretch when the Oilers were struggling in all facets of their game; Stecher getting into a fight with somebody sporting a half-foot height advantage sparked a team that had been asleep to start the season. It’ll take more than individual performances for Edmonton to beat the Panthers three more times, but the Oilers badly need some players to step up in Game 4 so the team can steal a win in Florida. After dropping Game 1 in overtime, the Panthers outscored the Oilers 11-5 over wins in Games 2 and 3.
  • While Game 4 isn’t technically a must-win game, it feels like one. Teams that go up 3-1 in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win that series 91 percent of the time in NHL history. The Panthers are the most recent team to do so. They came back to beat the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2023 playoffs. The Oilers last did so in 1998 against the Colorado Avalanche. They nearly came back from 3-0 down against the Panthers in last year’s Stanley Cup Final, but we all remember what happened in Game 7. A win in Game 4 for the Oilers means home-ice advantage in a three-game series. A loss for the Oilers in Game 4 means they’re right back where they were last year, with zero room for error.

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