“It’s not as big a challenge at home. It’s slightly more of a challenge on the road,” is what Paul Maurice said when asked about the Stanley Cup Final. But if we pan our cameras to the Amerant Bank Arena during Game 4, the picture looks quite different. The Oilers beat the Panthers on their home ice, flipping the usual home/away expectations and evening things out. That said, the Panthers have been a force to be reckoned with on the road this postseason, shrugging off the intense pressure of even the eardrum-splitting Caniacs at the Lenovo Center. So with the series heading back to Edmonton, perhaps that’s why Paul Maurice cut a calm figure even after the loss.

During the second period, the Oilers came out of the gates rearing to go after a motivational locker room speech courtesy of Corey Perry. With Pickard in the crease, the Oilers clearly took whatever Perry’s words were to heart as they scored 3 to level the game. It also helped that the Panthers handed the Oilers 3 power play opportunities that they took advantage of, scoring one PPG.

During the postgame interviews, a reporter asked Paul Maurice about the second period, where it all fell apart. And what the Panthers’ head coach replied said everything about the team’s mistakes and the areas of improvement. Paul Maurice said, “I mean, I understand that you’ll look at the analytics in between periods; all the spikes for both teams are on power plays. That’s where all the action comes from.”

The head coach further added, “Then everybody flatlines almost straight across. We got a little bump there in overtime when Benny hit the crossbar. There were a couple of things that went in. Lundell got in alone, and then they’ve got a couple of small spikes in there, which are huge. You get a guy in alone, right? But almost everything that’s happened kind of in terms of moving the bar from your analytics are almost all happening on the special teams. That’s why they’re so critical.”

Though the Panthers rallied in the third period to level the game at 4-4, they were unable to capitalize in overtime, with Draisaitl securing the win for the Oilers.

Like Paul Maurice, the Florida Panthers’ players keep calm after a close defeat

After Leon Draisaitl shot the puck at the Panthers’ net, Bobrovsky tried to stop it, but he was no match for the puck springing off of Niko Mikkola’s skate. Perhaps there was an air of inevitability once the puck left the German’s stick; after all, Draisaitl’s 4 OT playoff goals has set the record for most OT goals in one postseason

“The result at the end [stinks], it does. But what are you going to do?” forward Matthew Tkachuk said after the game. He also added, “The team that moves on from this, and the team that recovers the fastest, is going to have the bigger advantage on Saturday. That’s it.” With the series now tied, it’s really any team’s game.

Sam Reinhart echoed a similar sentiment: “A lot of the success in postseason is how you handle your losses,” he said. “They’re going to happen, especially when you get down to the last two teams. You’ve got two of the best teams going at it. So you’ve got to expect to lose at some point. There’s a lot we can learn from and come back strong in Game 5.”

Now let’s wait and see if Paul Maurice’s team can break the tie again.