Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk speaks after Florida's 8-1 defeat in Edmonton on June 15. Moving on is the name of the game. The Florida Panthers will fly back to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, ready to leave what happened in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton. Florida was beaten down and embarrassed by the Oilers in Edmonton’s home barn, suffering a brutal 8-1 defeat. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] Fortunately for the Panthers, they’re still heading back home with a 3-1 lead in the Cup Final. Earning a road split in the championship series is nothing to sneeze at, it just stings a little when there was an opportunity to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup that was not taken advantage of. Still, the Panthers will get three more bites at the apple, starting on Tuesday night when they host the Oilers in Game 5 at Amerant Bank Arena. Before we move on, lets tackle a few takeaways from Game 4: Managing the emotion of the opportunity Make no mistake, there is a lot of weight that comes with being on the brink of achieving your ultimate dream. Aside from two guys – Carter Verhaeghe and Vladimir Tarasenko – the Panthers are a group that has yet to experience the joy of winning the Stanley Cup. After winning Game 3 on Thursday night, Florida had a couple of days to feel the gravity of what they were seemingly about to accomplish. Well, that didn’t happen in Game 4. Now we’ll wait and see how the Panthers respond to carrying the weight and failing on their first attempt to remove it. “That’s the first opportunity we’ve had, as a franchise really, to feel the two days, the excitement of it, the emotions of it,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said after Game 4. “We’ll learn how to channel it. That’s all part of this process.” Oilers rush game came alive Boy oh boy did Edmonton get back to doing what they love on Saturday. The rush game was alive and well for the Oilers, and Florida just could not come up with any answers. The question moving forward will be which team can make the proper adjustments to continue playing their brand of hockey. We know how Florida wants to play, and we’ve seen it through much of the playoffs and a decent amount of the final. We also know how Edmonton wants to play, as was the case in a big way in Game 4. Both teams have two days and the 2,541 miles between cities to stew on how they’re going to look in Game 5 on Tuesday. “The rush game is a real dangerous game, especially stretch rush game. It’s usually either really good for you or It's really bad for you, one of the two, and it was really good for them tonight. We're a pretty good rush defense team. I think you’ve seen that actually in our games, but we just were disconnected, to say the least, on those plays. You're not going to look quite as connected against a stretch rush game, but that is the obvious piece to the game that we didn't control and they did.” Big names, power play break through Two of the bigger topics of discussion during the Stanley Cup Final have been the lack of production from Edmonton’s top players and from their top-ranked power play. That all changed in Game 4. Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the series while adding three assists on Saturday, and he’s now logged seven points between Games 2 and 4. Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman each picked up a pair of assists, their first points of the series, and the Oilers power play snapped an 0-for-13 start to the Cup Final when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored during Edmonton’s second period two-man advantage. Maurice didn’t seem overly concerned when asked about it after the game. “They will have no part of my day tomorrow,” Maurice said. “I'm not counting the 5-on-3, so yeah, they're good players and they scored, and they will get confidence from that and feel good. And then the puck’s going to drop (on Game 5). I'm not saying they aren’t going to feel good the next game, just (when) the puck drops, everything changes then. We're going to rally, we'll recoup, recover, move forward, get ready, take 3-1 (series lead) going home.” LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA The Hockey Show: Breaking down Panthers Game 4 beatdown by the Oilers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/the-hockey-show-breaking-down-panthers-game-4-beatdown-by-the-oilers] Conn Smythe candidate Sergei Bobrovsky struggles in Game 4 of Stanley Cup Final [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/conn-smythe-candidate-sergei-bobrovsky-struggles-in-game-4-of-stanley-cup-final] Panthers crushed by Oilers in Game 4, Stanley Cup Final heading back to Florida [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-crushed-by-oilers-in-game-4-stanley-cup-final-heading-back-to-florida] Full circle moment for Florida Panthers ahead of potential Stanley Cup Final sweep [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/full-circle-moment-for-florida-panthers-ahead-of-potential-stanley-cup-final-sweep] Panthers aim to complete sweep of Edmonton, win franchise's first Stanley Cup [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-aim-to-complete-sweep-of-edmonton-win-franchises-first-stanley-cup] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
