PROCTOR – Many analysts and fans alike felt that the Stanley Cup tournament would come to an end in this evening’s elimination game, but the Edmonton Oilers had other plans as they pasted the Florida Panthers in an epic 8-1 smackdown. 

The Cats came into this tilt with a 3-0 series lead and a chance to hoist the most famous trophy on the planet, the Stanley Cup. But a strange thing happened on the way to the coronation. The Oilers finally began to play more like the team we had observed during the course of the regular season and dominated this contest. 

A little past the three-minute mark of the first frame the Oilers notched a shorthanded goal and four and a half minutes later they would add another for a 2-0 lead. 

About five minutes in I noticed that the Cats did not appear to be finding their normal game flow that I have been accustomed to seeing in this year’s playoffs. Perhaps it was because the Oil had made some adjustments or the Cats were finally having an off night. Whatever the reason that didn’t change throughout this tilt. 

Even Conn Smythe MVP playoff candidate Sergei Bobrovsky did not look like himself. After the Oilers made it 5-1 in the second period, the Bob was yanked in favor of backup netminder Anthony Stolarz.  

On this night the Bob would surrender 5 goals on 16 shots and Stolarz would yield 3 on 19 shots. The shot totals at the end of this tilt seem a bit misleading compared to how the on-ice action felt, (EDM 35-FLA 33) and the Cats were 0-4 on the power play with the Oilers going 1-6.

The Oilers have a playoff-leading penalty kill at 93.6% but the Cats are right behind them at 89.6%. The Oilers two world-class players, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisait, would finally dent the scoresheet. 

Three Panther forwards would post -3 stats in this contest and one D-man put up a -4. Panthers pest Matthew Tkachuk is still without a goal in this series but remains tied for fifth in overall playoff scoring. 

Were the Cats due to have a game like this? You could make that argument. 

They came into tonight’s tilt with a 15-5 playoff record. When you consider that, it is remarkable. This is their 4th round of the playoffs and they had only lost 5 times before tonight. 

By contrast, the Oilers were at 12-9 before this game. Based on the teams both clubs had to oust from the tournament, I feel that collectively the Cats may have had a tougher road. But I also feel that could be up for debate. It is more than a tough path to get to the Final in this league. 

A couple of things of note in tonight’s game were that the swarming defense the Cats have employed at various times in the playoffs was absent tonight. Perhaps that was because the Oil appeared to be making more use of the defensive zone stretch pass to the Cat’s defensive blueline. It gave them easier zone entries and left the Cats in numbers inferior situations in their D zone while waiting for their teammates to catch up to the play. 

With the Oilers already being the faster team it will be interesting to see if Panthers Coach Paul Maurice adjusts to that. 

I also have to give respect to Oiler netminder Stuart Skinner here. Throughout the season many scribes and fans alike looked at “Skinny”  as the possible weak link to any Cup dreams the Oilers may have had. His numbers aren’t Ken Dryden-like, (12-8, 2.52 GAA, .898Sv%) but he has played exceptionally when the Oil needed him the most. 

I was one of those people who had some reservations about him, but he has acquitted himself well. If the Oilers don’t win the Cup it will be because of the way the team played, not solely because Skinner didn’t do his job. 

Speaking of team play, if you didn’t have access to stats and advanced stats, you could easily say that it looks like the Oilers have outplayed the Cats to an extent. 

In Game 3, though, they had a six-minute stretch in the second frame that doomed their opportunity at a victory. There have been several other instances of mistakes made by the club, and by Skinner, that was responsible for putting them into the 0-3 hole they began tonight’s game with. 

To be honest, they made some gaffes tonight too. However, they did cut down on their mistakes substantially and that helped them get the outcome they wanted. 

For the many people who had been impatiently waiting for the Oilers to have this type of a “breakout” game, tonight was it. I don’t believe they have three more games like this that will take them to a Cup win, but at least it looks like they are trying to make a series of it and have avoided an embarrassing sweep in the series. 

The Final will resume on Tuesday night back in Sunrise and I feel the two-day gap between games will benefit the Cats and the Bob, and they will regroup with some rest, some review of what went wrong in Game 3, and will be ready to go for Game 5. 

As I don’t have a dog in this fight they can keep playing until September for all I care. 

So, will the Oil survive Game 5 or will the Cats be doing the “Stray Cat Strut” at games end on Tuesday eve? We shall see!

During the existence of the Minnesota Wild in the State of Hockey, the team has gone out of its way to acknowledge our former club, the Minnesota NorthStars. Since I was basically a “NorthStars kid” growing up in the Metro, that was okay with me. 

I was a giddy hockey-playing teenager when the team played its first game in October 1967, and like many, was devastated when they pulled the carpet out from under us in 1993 and departed for Dallas. 

I still smile when I hear a “Norm Green sucks” reference here and there. 

Somewhere along the line some of the Wild faithful morphed their feelings of nostalgia into the thought that the Wild should be rebranded back to the NorthStars team name. 

Legally that isn’t even possible. Everything about our old team, (name, NHL player and team records, etc) left town with the franchise and remains property of the Dallas entity. 

If the Wild have an identity crisis, it hasn’t helped that they have fed that through the years by hanging on to the NorthStars legacy. The latest example is the recent third jerseys prominently featuring the old NorthStar colors. 

If the Wild have a confusing identity it hasn’t helped that they are mostly known at this time for their playoff futility. Multiple articles have appeared lately saying the team is seriously considering a rebranding campaign. 

I’m OK with the team name. The uni’s need to be ditched for something bolder and more prominent. And for Pete’s sake, stop confusing the fan base with the continual NorthStars references. 

Put a winning team on the ice and leave them behind where they belong. PEACE