Despite being on the verge of getting swept in their first Stanley Cup Final in 18 years, the Edmonton Oilers have faith they can make a comeback that hasn't been since in the National Hockey League since 1942. Head coach Kris Knoblauch is especially adamant that the squad can overcome a seemingly insurmountable deficit against the Florida Panthers, and he doubled down on comments in the same vein after the Oilers were sent to the brink in Game 3.
“I’m really excited for the next 10 days,” Knoblauch said on Saturday, per The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, when asked if he believes his team can come all the way back.
The comments come just a day after the bench boss was criticized on social media for interesting remarks he made after the Panthers beat the Oilers 4-3 at Rogers Place on Thursday night.
“I think we've showed that we can beat this team,” said Knoblauch, despite the fact that Florida is a perfect 5-0 against Edmonton in 2023-24.
Knoblauch added: “I think there's a lot of belief in that. It's not like we're getting outplayed and we're just [saying], ‘That team's better than us.' We can string together a lot of wins. We've shown it. I don't think there's any doubt in our room. There's frustration that we're down, but there's a difference between frustration and quitting. There's absolutely no quit. There's a belief that we can do this, so we just need to keep pushing.”
The last team to come back from 3-0 down in the Stanley Cup Final was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who turned a sure defeat into victory after completing the only reverse sweep in the history of the championship series against the Detroit Red Wings in 1942.
It's going to take nothing short of a miracle for that to happen again — and the Oilers know that — but the squad's primary focus is getting a win in front of the home crowd on Saturday night.
Oilers' Stanley Cup hopes hanging by a thread, but the team has faith
Of the 28 Stanley Cup Final series that have begun 3-0, 20 of them ended in a sweep, reported ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. There hasn't been a four-game championship since the Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals in such fashion in 1998.
But the 2023-24 Oilers aren't ready to throw in the towel.
“I feel like through three games, have we deserved to win a game? I think so. I think we've played two at least pretty good games,” said defenseman Mattias Ekholm after Game 3. “It hasn't happened for us, but it is four games. We had stretches of eight games and 16 games throughout the regular season. We won three straight against Dallas. So we can do it. It's a matter of just finding that first win and go from there.”
“The odds said that we weren't going to make the playoffs at American Thanksgiving and multiple times in these playoffs we were down, too,” echoed Zach Hyman, who hasn't scored in the series. “I think we play our best when our backs are against the wall and facing elimination.”
That's exactly the situation the Oilers are in on Saturday night, and it'll be all hands on deck against a terrific Panthers club as they look to force a Game 5 back in Sunrise next week.
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