Florida fans really wanted to believe that the Panthers lost Game 4 on the road so they could lift the Stanley Cup at home. However, Paul Maurice’s team then lost to Edmonton in Sunrise. And even after the unsuccessful stretch, the Panthers seemed to have everything under control – they also needed just one win. So Maurice is trying to convince journalists that two wins by the Oilers could not turn the series around.

“Absolutely nothing has changed since the last two games, except that we have learned a few things,” Maurice told reporters after Game 5.

Maurice isn’t just wishful thinking. Florida does face a lot of pressure after two missed opportunities to win the trophy, but the team is still the heavy favorite to eventually lift the Stanley Cup.

McDavid’s Time

The Panthers were mentally affected by the 8-1 rout in Game 4. After the blatant failure, the team played modestly and cautiously in the next game, which was not at all like them. Florida was clearly wary of their opponent’s attacking potential. Only after Edmonton gained a three-goal advantage did the Panthers start to show their hockey.

The Panthers also watched helplessly as Connor McDavid played. Maurice initially relied on Aleksander Barkov, who had a history of shutting down opposing leaders. For example, Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov and Rangers’ Artemi Panarin failed to produce any points when Barkov was on the ice.

Alexander Barkov / Photo: © Kalle Parkkinen / Newspix24 / Global Look Press

Chris Noblak was forced to hide McDavid from the Finnish center in other lines. But Noblak’s decision was read by Maurice before the series started, and the Edmonton captain began sharing the ice with Florida’s defense leader Gustav Forsling. As a result, the Panthers took three games in a row, and Connor scored only three points. But the last two games showed that the Panthers cannot forever contain the Canadian, who plays at a beginner level of difficulty in the playoffs.

McDavid has already scored an incredible 42 points in the Stanley Cup playoffs! He’s on pace to tie Wayne Gretzky’s record (47) for most points in a single playoff. And another impressive fact about McDavid’s statistics: in the salary cap era, only Evgeni Malkin (36) in 2009 scored more points than the Canadian (34) has made assists this postseason.

Connor McDavid / Photo: © IMAGO/Larry MacDougal / imago-images.de / Global Look Press

McDavid’s fantastic two games meant that Sergei Bobrovsky, who many have already awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy in absentia, allowed nine goals in less than five periods.

It’s time to end the season

Many experts also noted that tension appeared in the Florida locker room for the first time. Experts attribute this to the fact that the Panthers are now afraid of becoming the league’s biggest losers. The last and only time in the history of the NHL, only Toronto managed to win the final series with a 0-3 deficit in 1942. There have been 28 such situations in total.

“The Oilers are thinking about history, and that’s good, but if the Panthers start thinking about it, it’s going to end badly. I’m not a coach, but I would say, ‘Guys, whatever we hear, let’s not pay attention to it. Let’s not listen to anyone. Let’s not judge it. Let’s talk about what we need to fix,'” analyst Ray Ferraro, who played 1,258 games in the NHL, told ABC Color.

However, it is hard not to pay attention when even the Edmonton players themselves talk about it. After three games of the final, the Oilers players said that they can “resurrect from the dead.” And it did not look funny, because they have already demonstrated something similar during the season. For example, when they completely failed the start of the regular season, and then became the most dominant team in the league.

And now Florida looks confused and doesn’t understand what went wrong. The Panthers played three perfect games in the finals, and then stalled one step away from the trophy. However, it only seems at first glance that the team has problems. But after the last game, Maurice even said that he was happy with the Panthers’ play, although only at even strength.

Paul Morris / Photo: © Joel Auerbach / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

In the 5-on-5 format, Florida really looked better and beat the Oilers 3-1. Penalties let the Panthers down: Edmonton scored two goals on the power play and one on the penalty kill. Maurice generally reduces all the problems to the penalty box.

“We have to find a way to stay out of the penalty box. I don’t feel devastated. The hockey team doesn’t either. We’re just a little annoyed,” Maurice said after Game 5.

Plus, Bobrovsky is still in great shape. Sure, he’s a little tired of getting pucks out of the net over the last two games, but he’s also cool and reliable. Take the episode from the last game, when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found himself one-on-one with the goalie in the third period and could have killed Florida’s nascent comeback, but Bobrovsky stopped his opponent.

Now it is not even Edmonton, but McDavid who has taken control of the final, but if Florida reduces the play in unequal teams to a minimum, the situation will turn 180 degrees again. The Panthers have everything to finish the job in the sixth or seventh game. But still, the Panthers will not take risks and will try to win the Stanley Cup in the next game. Then everyone will forget about Bobrovsky’s unsuccessful stretch, about McDavid’s records and basketball statistics. All that will remain is the trophy for the Panthers.