Oilers at Panthers, Stanley Cup Final Game 4 preview

Here is a breakdown of Game 4:

Oilers: All the changes could make a difference, but Edmonton obviously needs Draisaitl and McDavid to impact the game after each was held off the scoresheet in Game 3; McDavid had two shots on goal and Draisaitl did not have a shot attempt. It’s even bigger for the Oilers to keep their composure, which they didn’t Monday after doing a good job of that in Games 1 and 2 at home; it might have been an effect of the score, with the Panthers leading 5-1 early in the third period. The start in Game 4 is important for Edmonton to find its footing again in the series after two straight defeats.

Panthers: Marchand and center Sam Bennett each carries a goal-scoring streak into Game 4; each has four goals in the series, including at least one in each game. They are the second set of teammates in NHL history to open a Stanley Cup Final with a goal streak of at least three games, joining Steve Payne and Dino Ciccarelli, who did it with the Minnesota North Stars in 1981. Bennett has goals in four straight games dating to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, and leads all scorers with 14 goals this postseason. Marchand is second on the Panthers with eight goals and tied for third with 18 points. Florida is 4-1 at home against Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Final dating to last year, when they won three of four games. The Panthers have outscored the Oilers 18-8 in their five home games against Edmonton in the Cup Final, including 12-7 last year.

Number to know: Seven. The Panthers and Oilers have an opportunity to become the third set of teams in NHL history, and first since 1980, to combine to score at least seven goals in the first four games of a Stanley Cup Final. In 1980, the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers combined for at least seven goals in all six games they played. In 1918, the Toronto Arenas and Vancouver Millionaires combined for at least eight goals in the first four games before Toronto won Game 5, 2-1. Florida and Edmonton combined for seven goals in Game 1, nine in Game 2 and seven in Game 3.

What to look for: Discipline might be the biggest key for the Oilers to even the series and make it a best-of-3 before they return to Edmonton for Game 5 on Saturday. Before Game 3 got out of hand in the third period, each team was called for four penalties in the first period, but the Oilers were guilty of two stick infractions in the offensive zone (each by Kane), a too many men on the ice penalty and a goalie interference call on Arvidsson; those are all somewhat avoidable. Draisaitl said the Oilers should be striving to play more of a tight checking game and way more 5-on-5 unless the Panthers are guilty of penalties to put them on the power play. Florida will be content to play that game as long as its keep pressuring all over the ice.

What they are saying

“I don’t really see too much reason to panic quite, quite yet. I think it’s a good opportunity for me to come back. Obviously, we lost two in a row, and I’m good in these situations. I know how to bounce back. I know how to play well, so it’s just getting back to that.” – Stuart Skinner

“Just hit the reset. Reset again. It’s a new game, new opportunity for both teams. We’ll just need to stick with our game.” — Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola

Oilers projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Connor Brown

Evander Kane — Leon Draisaitl — Kasperi Kapanen

Jeff Skinner — Adam Henrique — Trent Frederic

Vasily Podkolzin — Mattias Janmark — Corey Perry

Brett Kulak — Evan Bouchard

Darnell Nurse — Troy Stetcher

Mattias Ekholm — Jake Walman

Stuart Skinner

Calvin Pickard

Scratched: Viktor Arvidsson, John Klingberg, Joshua Brown, Cam Dineen, Ty Emberson, Max Jones, Derek Ryan

Injured: Zach Hyman (dislocated wrist)

Panthers projected lineup

Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart

Evan Rodrigues — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand

A.J. Greer — Tomas Nosek — Jonah Gadjovich

Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones

Nate Schmidt — Dmitry Kulikov

Sergei Bobrovsky

Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Jesper Boqvist, Uvis Balinskis, Jaycob Megna, Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm, Evan Cormier

Injured: None

Status report

Stuart Skinner will make his fourth straight start in the Final after leaving in the third period of a 6-1 loss in Game 3 on Monday. … The Panthers will make no changes to their lineup.

NHL.com independent correspondent George Richards contributed to this report