The Florida Panthers could not put the Edmonton Oilers away in Game 4. Edmonton rocked Florida 8-1 in a game where their season was literally on the line. A scrum between Matthew Tkachuk and Connor McDavid has taken center stage following Game 4.
The Panthers forward recently spoke with the media about the rumble. According to NHL insider Pierre LeBrun, Matthew Tkachuk said it was a scrum and just “classic playoff hockey” when asked about getting a few punches in on McDavid.
The incident in question occurred during the second period, when tempers flared following a big hit on Zach Hyman by former Panther Sam Bennett. McDavid stepped in to defend his teammate, but Tkachuk got him into a headlock and delivered a few shots before the referees could break it up.
McDavid's teammate praised him for coming to his defense.
“I think it says a lot about him as a leader,” Hyman said. “I got hit in the head by Bennett and he might have been the first one in there. I can't see because I'm on the ice, but I look up and he's in there. He just sticks up for his teammates and he's not afraid to get in the scrum. They go and take two penalties and we score.”
Tkachuk also noted that the Panthers are in a very advantageous position heading into Game 5.
“We're in an unbelievable spot right now,” Tkachuck said. “We came here and after all that craziness got a split. Now we're going home to play in front of our unbelievable fans. They're so excited to see us and we're so excited to play in front of them again.”
Recapping Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final: Panthers get blown out 8-1 by Oilers
It almost felt like the Panthers never had a chance in Game 4. The Oilers were a cornered animal desperately fighting to keep their season alive in front of their home crowd.
Mattias Janmark was the first Oiler to score in the 8-1 blowout, getting the crowd pumped up within the first three minutes of the game.
Vladimir Tarasenko gave the Panthers their only goal of the night midway through the first, making the score 2-1. The Panthers would never come any closer, giving up six unanswered goals down the stretch.
Tkachuk admitted after the game that the Oilers were playing very well in Game 4.
“They were flying,” Tkachuk said. “They were making really good plays off the rush. Yeah, that's probably their best part of their game all year is their rush game and bunch of rush goals tonight. And we just didn't, uh, didn't defend too well with the rush.”
Tkachuck also stated the he believes the Oilers had success in Game 4 because the Panthers did not provide a unified front on defense.
“I think it was just more, you know, we weren't together as five as much as we were in previous games,” Tkachuk said. “And yeah, they were flying all over the ice. So, yeah, you got to give a ton of credit to them. They were making some crazy great plays. They looked awesome tonight and, you know, we didn't have an answer.”
The Florida Panthers will try to capture the Stanley Cup in Game 5. The puck drops at 8:00PM ET on Tuesday night in Florida.
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