‘It’s a UFC fight’: Oilers must dial up discipline in Game 4
The more this Stanley Cup Final gets played on special teams, the more it hurts the Oilers. The Panthers provoke before they pounce, and while some of Edmonton’s players relish in the nonsense, that’s not the identity of this group.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The more this Stanley Cup Final gets played on special teams, the more it hurts the Edmonton Oilers.
Which is a touch surprising considering the Oilers have the benefit of rolling out three Hart Trophy winners and the hardest-shooting defenceman of the day at 5-on-4, and the only thing hotter than Edmonton’s penalty kill during its 2024 run was the long walk across Amerant Bank Arena’s asphalt parking lot.
But here we are, three games in, and the Panthers’ doubling up of the Oilers in wins (2-1) matches their doubling up of the Oilers in special-teams scoring (6-3).
The slick-passing Cats have gained leads and momentum on the strength of their aggressive kill and balanced power-play units.
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They are experts at the well-timed tumble, the exaggerated neck snap, and triggering retaliation. Forget the 140 penalty minutes engorged by the Royal Rumble of Game 3, Period 3. It was the stick penalties and bench minor that did the visitors in early.
The Panthers provoke before they pounce.
“That’s part of their DNA. That’s what they do. I think there’s spurts in the series where we’ve handled it really well,” Leon Draisaitl said Tuesday, following a spirited, full-length practice.
“Last night, I mean, the game is over with 11 minutes left, right? And then all hell breaks loose. It’s a UFC fight. But I think overall we can be a little bit more disciplined and stay away from that.”
Styles make fights, UFC, hockey, and otherwise.
Much of the talk around the Oilers in the sweaty, sober morning after Monday’s old-fashioned butt-kicking centred around getting back to their game. Which, at its best in this run, has been tight-checking and offensively thrilling.
Certainly, characters like Corey Perry and Evander Kane and the twice-fined Jake Walman relish in the nonsense, too. But that’s not the top-to-bottom identity of this group.
“Florida does a really good job that. That’s their game. They like that,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We got to play our game. That’s with the puck. Good defensive hockey.
“Some guys thrive on those extracurricular activities, things that happen after the whistle. But I think some of our guys got a little distracted with that. I think it’s most important for us to play in between the whistles.”
Within the whistles, though, the Oilers committed four minors in the first period of Game 3. That’s what forced them to play catchup for the third straight night against the best lead-holding team of the past three post-seasons.
“The biggest thing about our emotional thing there is, we gotta control our penalties in the first. We can’t take four. It’s just too much, right?” Mattias Ekholm said. “They’re having their best players on the ice way more than we have our top guys on there, because we’re killing too much.”
Perhaps angling for a kinder whistle in Game 4 — and definitely drawing attention to the Panthers’ knack for embellishment — Knoblauch questioned some of the stripes’ early calls.
“It’s important for us to be disciplined and not go in the penalty box. But, whew, it’s tough for us to say that we’re not going to do that — because one of the high sticks got pushed up into his face. Cross-check (by Evander Kane), guy (Gustav Forsling) falls. I really didn’t think that was much of a cross-check. Yeah, I don’t know. They’re all judgment calls. It’s difficult,” Knoblauch said.
“Ultimately, we just hope it works out.”
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The delicate balance lies in sticking up for your teammates — i.e., not letting Stuart Skinner get knocked around — but not overreaching and straying from the real mission.
Edmonton wouldn’t be the first team to miscalculate that mixture.
Whether it’s defence or discipline, offence or defence, the good news here for Oilers fans is that their squad is better at cracking the code the deeper a series goes.
How’s this for a stat?
Under Knoblauch, the Oilers are just 10-14 in games 1 through 3. But in games 4 through 7, they’re 18-2.
In other words, no need to panic.
Connor McDavid & Co. haven’t reached peak dig-the-bleep-in. Yet.
No reason to believe that some fumbled composure one night automatically means they can’t find it a couple of nights later.
“I’m not going crazy. I don’t know if anybody’s going crazy,” said Draisaitl, shunning the notion that the Panthers have them unglued. “It’s an emotional time. It’s two teams that want to win, two teams doing it their own way. But I don’t think anybody is going crazy here. They’re good at what they do. But, again, last night was the first night where it got out of hand a little bit.”
