The Oilers, who kept their season alive with a commanding 8-1 win in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, will look to stave off elimination in a tougher spot as underdogs on Tuesday night in Florida. Meanwhile, the Panthers have the opportunity to secure the franchise’s first Stanley Cup on home ice, but they will need to shore up their defensive game after an ugly loss. Can the Oilers’ offense carry momentum from Game 4 into Tuesday night’s matchup, and have they shaken the confidence of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in any fashion? Let’s take a look at Game 5 and offer a best bet.
Edmonton had been generating chances at a high rate in the series before Game 4 but had not scored many when it counted due to a combination of elite goaltending by Bobrovsky and a lack of finishing. The Oilers own a 51.96% expected goal share in the first four games of the series, and have generated 29.
85 shots per 60. Expected goals data tracks the location of a shot but misses other intricacies that help to fully encapsulate the true danger. Many of the Oilers’ shots in Games 1-3 were pressured and not necessarily complete breakdowns.
That wasn’t the case in Game 4, as it was clear Bobrovsky was completely left out to dry. So while it could be argued the Oilers are unlucky to be down 3-1, Game 1 was the only game where the Panthers played even close to as bad defensively as Game 4. It’s not as if the Oilers found some book on how to score on Bobrovsky in Game 4.
Florida played it’s w.