The 8-1 Edmonton Oilers thrashing of the Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final has done little to lessen the confidence in Florida of a Stanley Cup win in Game 5.
This isn’t surprising, given the excellence of Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and the fact Florida is up three games to one over Edmonton.
After the Game 4 loss, the hosts of the Cats ‘N Rats podcast, Kirby Lupul and Cody Stevens, agreed the Panthers would be back with a vengeance.
“I’m confident for Game 5,” said Stevens. “I have 100% confidence in this team. You know they are going to bounce back. Be real with me, name me a time this year or the last two years that hasn’t happened… Knowing the make up of this team and how they are coached and how they play, they are going to win Tuesday.”
Said Lupul of Edmonton’s optimism: “The Hope-ium has been very strong here north of the border. Only one team has ever come back from being down 3-0.”
Florida Panthers podcast commentator Jacob Winans added on Twitter X: “I still have plenty of confidence in this team. The past four periods have been alarming because it hasn’t looked like Panthers hockey. But I think they’ll be OK. Have to end this in (Game 5) or it gets really dicey. This is about as dejected as I can feel for having a 3-1 lead 🤷🏽♂️ … The mission in Edmonton was accomplished. They got the split. Selfishly I along with many MANY Panthers fans wanted it over last night because for many of us the watch party was our last chance to enjoy a game in the building with other Cats fans. But it’s a 3-1 series. Cats in 5.”
Reporter Alex Baumgartner of Florida’s 5 Reasons Sports: “This feels somewhat like Game 4 against Tampa where the Lightning came out the better and more desperate team. I think Edmonton has been better than Tampa was that game, I also think Florida has played worse tonight than they did against the Lightning…. And Florida won the next game (against Tampa).”
