Zach Hyman waited as the halo of reporters and cameras moved into position.
Surrounded on all sides in the media-filled locker room of the Edmonton Oilers, the winger toeed the company line.
Despite trailing 3-0 in the Stanley Cup final against the suffocating and well-coached Florida Panthers, his club has done a lot of good things in this series.
They are there. Badly timed mistakes cost them their lives.
“It’s not like we’re going to go out there and be absolutely dominated by a team that’s better than us,” said Hyman, who scored a combined 68 goals in the 2023-24 season but was kept off the scoresheet in this series. “Those are moments in the game where they showed a little more maturity than us.”
The Oilers made a trio of crucial mistakes in a 4-3 loss in Game 3 that left them on the brink of elimination on Saturday – the potential end to the magical spring in Alberta’s capital.
A bad 2-on-1 reading, a blunder behind the Edmonton goal, a blatant giveaway in the defensive zone. Those mistakes all ended up in the back of Stuart Skinner’s net.
“This series is 3-0, but it doesn’t feel like a 3-0 series,” Hyman said after Friday’s practice. “It feels like we are in control of the game to a large extent, and there are times in the game where we give away freebies.
“They do not.”
The Panthers aren’t allowing the Oilers’ big guns to get going either. Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was outstanding, allowing just four goals on 86 shots, including a shutout in Game 1.
Hyman, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard have no goals.
Connor McDavid (97) of the Edmonton Oilers will participate in training in Edmonton on Friday, June 14, 2024. The Edmonton Oilers will be eliminated when they host Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup final on Saturday.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
The power play is 0 of 10. Florida largely controls the center of the ice and the blue lines, making zone exit and entry a challenge for a team that thrives on the rush.
“A very committed five-man effort against those guys,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said of limiting the opposition’s high-flying attack. “Like a lot of offensive guys we have on the team, we’re a defensive team.”
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Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch said internal data indicates his group is getting more opportunities and fewer opportunities against opposition this spring than in any other series.
And yet the Oilers are still only 60 minutes away from the golf course. Only one team in NHL history – the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs – has come all the way from a 3-0 deficit in a final.
Edmonton posted two eight-game winning streaks and made 16 appearances in the regular season, but is now 0-5 against the Panthers in 2023-2024.
“Disappointed that we are in this situation,” Knoblauch said. “We have a lot to be optimistic about. We made some pretty amazing rolls during the regular season.”
The Oilers, looking to force a Game 5 in South Florida on Tuesday, have dug themselves out of a lot of holes this season. There was an ugly 2-9-1 start, with the Vancouver Canucks falling behind by three in the second round, and a 2-1 deficit to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference finals.
“People have been ignoring us all year, and there’s a good chance we won’t win,” Hyman said. “We play our best when our backs are against the wall.”
The task is big. However, the door is not yet completely closed.
“You never know how many chances you’re going to get,” said veteran winger Corey Perry. “For many players this could be it. This could be their only chance. I played with a lot of guys who never had this opportunity.
“When you get it, you hold on to it and do everything you can not to let it go.”
Despite the dire situation, Hyman said the group has a steadfast belief.
“If there’s one team that can do this, it’s this team,” he said. “There’s something about this team.
“We don’t give up.”
The mystery of Maurice
Florida winger Kyle Okposo – acquired from the Buffalo Sabers before the NHL trade deadline – is impressed with the way head coach Paul Maurice operates.
“He has a unique way of preparing us,” the 36-year-old said. “Sometimes he uses humor, sometimes he is more demanding. He has a very good pulse within the team.”
Wide-eyed teammate
Tkachuk grew up in the St. Louis area and spent a lot of time watching Vladimir Tarasenko with the Blues. Now they stand side by side, one win out of Florida’s first Cup.
“He was one of my favorite players,” Tkachuk said. “I’m sure my 12- or 15-year-old self would be completely impressed.”
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