Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists and the Edmonton Oilers chased playoff MVP candidate Sergei Bobrovsky to extend their season and avoid a sweep with an 8-1 drubbing of the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.
Dylan Holloway scored twice with an assist and Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Ryan McLeod also had goals for the Oilers, who busted out in a big way after they were held to four goals in the first three games of the series.
McDavid scored his first goal of the series, and his three assists gave him 32 to move past Wayne Gretzky (1988) for the most in a single postseason.
Stuart Skinner had his best game of the Cup final with 32 saves.
Bobrovsky was replaced by Anthony Stolarz after Nurse’s goal at 4:59 of the second period made it 5-1. He allowed five goals on 16 shots after yielding four goals on 86 shots in Games 1, 2 and 3.
The Panthers can clinch the franchise’s first Stanley Cup at home in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Edmonton is bidding to become the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to erase a 3-0 series deficit at this stage of the playoffs.
Janmark got the Oilers going with a short-handed goal 3:11 into the game and Henrique’s tally 3 1/2 minutes later upped the advantage.
Vladimir Tarasenko’s goal put the Panthers on the board, but Holloway restored the two-goal lead with 5:12 left in the opening period.
McDavid scored 73 seconds into the second period and Nurse’s goal sent Bobrovsky to the bench.