The Oilers finally started getting bounces, better looks, and some actual goals in a Game 4 blowout to keep their season alive.

A shorthanded goal by Janmark kickstarted some high pressure by the Oilers who started attacking in waves. It led to some high-quality pressure by everyone on the Oilers and resulted in Henrique making a fantastic power move to get some insurance. The Panthers would tie it up – they poured the pressure on after falling behind early – getting a goal by Tarasenko to make things close. Cue a big moment save from Stuart Skinner to keep the lead at one before Holloway kicked the route into gear. In the second period the Oilers employed a heavy offensive attack that saw them get three more goals and hit another 2 posts. They chased Bobrovsky, scored off the rush and in tight, and gave their fans some memories they will never forget.

Corsi King – It wasn’t like Edmonton spent a crazy amount of time on the attack, but they were extremely opportunistic all night long. That’s a nice way of saying the Panthers goaltending was terrible. Phillip Broberg (54.83 percent) went from a healthy scratch for three rounds to now being a focal point in the top four. He had a great game today after he and Nurse (45.55 percent) made some blunders the game prior. Up front, Derek Ryan (63.59 percent) had the highest percentage but only played 6:54 during 5v5 play. Mattias Janmark (54.71 percent) had people on the internet calling this the Janmark game early – he was tenacious and all over the puck 5v5 while being the catalyst to everything with the shorthanded goal. He and Connor Brown (45.69 percent) have formed one of the best-shorthanded duos this postseason and have come in clutch with a few postseason tallies.

Taken By Chance – A few guys helped in getting three high danger looks while seeing one against them. Adam Henrique (67.98 SCF% // 100 HDCF%) and Connor Brown (51.60 percent // 100 percent) were not taken advantage of and helped spark the crowd to life. Janmark (59.99 percent // 100 percent) was right there with them, but he found an extra high danger chance in his limited time away from them. The lines against McDavid (44.79 percent // 44.14 percent) may have got more in terms of chances in his time on ice, but he had the benefit of outscoring the 5v5 opposition three to one in his minutes. It will be more difficult with the Panthers having last change next game, but I wouldn’t be shy to match up 97 against anyone in the league on any given day.

xGF% – I’m not about to harp on Mattias Ekholm (39.40 percent) who has been so essential. Without him the Oilers probably don’t make it out of the Pacific division finals, he’s been the real secret anchor to everything they’ve done this postseason. I was interested to see Nugent-Hopkins (50.67%) finish with under ten minutes of 5v5 play, but his presence on both the powerplay and the penalty kill contribute to that. I was also looking for more of a reason to mention both Zach Hyman (61.60 percent) and Leon Draisaitl (54.68 percent) and they gave one today. Draisaitl is probably a little banged up – who isn’t this time of year – but he got some scoresheet action which could be a motivator going back to Florida. Neither of them were the star that Dylan Holloway (54.06%) who scored some very beautiful goals not a lot of guys would have the hands to score. After Evander Kane went out the Oilers needed someone to step up in their secondary scoring ranks – it was Janmark and Holloway.

Note: It was after Game 2 I wrote that somebody needed to get to the crease to get goals. The chances were coming from too far away and from an established possession after a forecheck. Tonight it was a combination of doorstep goals or ones off the rush pushing the goaltenders back on their heels. Well-executed shot map – better than anything the rest of this series and that’s before appyling the goals.

In The Crease – Everyone saw Stuart Skinner make the save of his career in this game and yet the offence will get all the recognition. The score is 2-1, Skinner makes a glove save you’d see on a poster and it’s followed minutes later by Holloway’s backhand tuck. Skinner doesn’t make that save and it’s a tie game with momentum back in the Panthers court. Instead, it sparks the Oilers to eight goals as they abused Bobrovsky’s weaknesses every chance they got. The Panthers still employed a dangerous attack for the majority of the match – even once the game felt out of reach – making Skinner stay sharp in stopping the most he’s had to face in the Cup Final so far. I’d be a little scared of what the Panthers are going to in response, but for right now the city of Edmonton needs to just enjoy the win.