Facing elimination, the Edmonton Oilers survived in the Stanley Cup Final with a victory in Game 4 against the Florida Panthers. The Stanley Cup will be in the Panthers’ Amerant Bank Arena for Game 5 as they try to win their first championship in franchise history—they lead the best-of-seven series 3-1. Before the contest begins, let’s take a look at some interesting stats, facts, and notes.
Related: Projected Lineups for Oilers vs Panthers – Game 5 Stanley Cup Final
Of the 84 best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final series throughout history, 43 of them (51.2 percent) have lasted at least six games. In the last 10 Final series since 2014, six of them have required a Game 6.
In Game 4 of this series, the Panthers lost by a whopping 8-1 score. Only three other teams have sacrificed that many goals with a Stanley Cup championship on the line—two of them have gone on to win it all in the next game. The clubs to do so were the 1918 Toronto Arenas and the 1973 Montreal Canadiens.
In history, just 11 teams have scored more than eight total goals in games where they were facing elimination in a Stanley Cup Final series. Since 1995, only two clubs have scored more than eight goals in contests where they were facing elimination—the 2006 Oilers and 2011 Boston Bruins both totaled nine in such games.
The pulling of Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 4 by the Panthers marked just the third time in NHL history that two netminders were used in a Stanley Cup-clinching scenario. This occurred in the 2003 Stanley Cup Final when Martin Brodeur was yanked by the New Jersey Devils, and it happened again in 2011 when Roberto Luongo was pulled by the Vancouver Canucks within the first period—both of these were in Game 6.
In his postseason career to this point, Connor McDavid has more contests with three or more points (17) than zero-point showings (16). Of his 71 playoff games, he has recorded at least two points in 36 of them—that’s a 50.7 percent multi-point rate. In his 645-game career in the regular season, he has had 300 such contests (46.5 percent multi-point rate).
In the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, Aleksander Barkov of the Panthers has two multi-point games. With 11 combined points between him and McDavid in the series, it is tied for the most that captains have totaled in a single Final in the last 29 years. The most ever recorded between two captains was in 1985 by Wayne Gretzky of the Oilers and Dave Poulin of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Corey Perry has faced elimination in the Stanley Cup Final seven times during his NHL career, totaling five points. The only active player with more points in elimination contests in the Final is Brad Marchand with six, while Brian Propp and Jean Beliveau hold the record with nine points apiece.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Final Hub
Vladimir Tarasenko of the Panthers and Perry of the Oilers are the only two players in this series who have a point in a Stanley Cup-clinching victory. Tarasenko notched an assist in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final with the St. Louis Blues, while Perry scored a goal and an assist with the Anaheim Ducks in Game 5 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Final. Both of those victories were the first—and only—championships in those respective teams’ history.
Leon Draisaitl is still searching for his first-ever goal in the Stanley Cup Final. The only German-born and trained player in NHL history who has accomplished this was Uwe Krupp with the Colorado Avalanche against the Panthers in 1996. He scored two goals in that series, and one of them was the Stanley Cup-clinching dagger.
