I would expect a party atmosphere here in the third period, but somewhere in the back of Oilers’ fans minds they have to be wondering if this is the last time they will see this team at Rogers Place this year.
To avoid that, the Oilers will have to win Game 5 in what I’m sure will be a wild scene in Florida in Tuesday.
10:01 p.m. ET
We are through two periods here in loud, LOUD Rogers Place. This place is absolutely electric, and why not, the Oilers lead 6-1 and are 20 minutes away from forcing Game 5 in Florida on Tuesday.
And if they win that game, it’s back here for Game 6 on Friday, and well, who knows after that.
By the way, history was made here tonight, with Connor McDavid getting his 31st assist, which tied him for most in a single postseason with Wayne Gretzky.
How fired up are these fans? They just had two guys dressed as Ricky Bobby and Cal from that comedy classic “Talladega Nights.” I believe the guys were chanting Shake and Bake.
Then the DJ just played some “Mama Mia” from ABBA. Now it’s a party.
Talk about a party. They do a 50/50 here, and right now the prize is $9 million dollars. Holy cow. Yes, so they have raised $18 million just tonight.
9:57 p.m. ET
The fans here are getting greedy. They are chanting “We Want 7,” with the Oilers up 6-1 late in the second period.
Things got chippy in the second period with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk each taking a penalty that gave Edmonton a 5-on-3 power play, and it converted to make it 6-1.
To this point, Connor McDavid has three points, and Leon Draisaitl has two for Edmonton, while Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad is minus-3.
The Oilers talked all week about how they were happy with their game and just needed pucks to go in. Well, they are going in tonight.
We have 23 minutes left to play here and barring a miracle, we will be heading back to South Florida for a Game 5 on Tuesday.
9:53 p.m. ET
The Oilers are now pouring it on with Zach Hyman scoring a 5-on-3 goal after Leon Draisaitl ripped one on net.
The Oilers’ big boys have showed up tonight, and the Panthers have to hope this is just a one-game thing because if these guys get going, watch out.
As we speculated in the last entry, things got chippy here.
There was a scrum in front of the net, and Matthew Tkachuk not only grabbed Connor McDavid from behind, he started punching him. Sam Bennett then got involved, punching his childhood friend McDavid in the face while McDavid just laughed at him.
It resulted in a 5-on-3 for Edmonton with Bennett and Tkachuk each getting penalized.
Give the Oilers credit. They didn’t retaliate and got the 5-on-3, and then scored. It’s 6-1 Oilers with about six minutes left in the second.
Now the entire arena is singing along to Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life.” This is an absolute party here.
9:42 p.m. ET
We are halfway through Game 4, and it certainly feels right now like we are going back to Florida for a Game 5.
The Oilers nearly scored on a power play. In fact, when Connor McDavid’s shot hit the post, the steam cannons behind the net started to go off.
Speaking of going off, McDavid is certainly doing that tonight. He is all over the ice, making slick moves, firing shots.
It will be interesting to see how chippy things may get in the second half of this game.
On cue, the Panthers are called for a penalty with Oliver Ekman-Larsson whistled for slashing Connor Brown, delivering a two-handed whack to Brown’s skates. That led to the power play when McDavid hit the post.
9:34 p.m. ET
The Oilers and Rogers Place are absolutely buzzing right now.
The Oilers are now ahead 5-1 after Darnell Nurse, who has been taking a lot of heat for his defensive play, scored on a wrist shot at 4:59 of the second, beating Sergei Bobrovsky, who has just been pulled from the game, after allowing five goals on 16 shots. Anthony Stolarz is now in net for Florida.
