The Florida Panthers suffered a crushing defeat, blowing a 3-0 lead in the first period to lose the game 5-4 in overtime. The Cats rallied from a 4-3 deficit late in the third, tying the game with about 13 seconds to go in the period.
The Panthers’ Game 4 loss evened the series at two games apiece.
Leon Draisaitl ended the game, scoring his 11th of the postseason at the 11:18 mark of the extra frame. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Vasily Podkolzin, and Jake Walman got the other goals for the Edmonton Oilers.
Matthew Tkachuk scored twice for the Florida Panthers, with Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart adding the other tallies for the Cats.
So, here’s a look at the three least impressive Florida Panthers players from their Game 4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
3 least impressive Florida Panthers players from OT loss in Game 4 to Edmonton Oilers
#3 Jonah Gadjovich
Jonah Gadjovich was on the wrong end of a pair of Edmonton goals. In particular, Darnell Nurse’s tally stands out.
Here’s a look:
The play started with the Florida Panthers being unable to clear the zone after losing the puck along the boards. The Oilers retrieved the puck and sent it back to the point where Mattias Ekholm found Nurse on the left side.
As Gadjovich tried to block the shot, he allowed Nurse to zip it past him and up high on Sergei Bobrovsky.
While Nurse deserves credit for the wicked shot, Gadjovich did little to prevent Nurse from shooting. It was a rough night for the Panthers’ fourth line as they got burned twice by the Oilers.
#2 Seth Jones
Seth Jones, who’s been a solid addition for the Florida Panthers this postseason, had an uncharacteristic tough outing.
He ended the night a minus-2 in nearly 29 minutes of ice time across 36 shifts. While Jones played a gritty game, his miscues allowed the Oilers to get back into the game.
Here’s a look at Jake Walman’s go-ahead goal:
The play began with an atrocious giveaway by Sasha Barkov. The puck came to Kasperi Kapanen who made a sick move on Jones. Kapanen dished the puck to Walman who unleashed a rocket for the go-ahead goal.
The replay showed how Jones was unable to do much to stop Kapanen from moving the puck to Walman for the goal.
Moving forward, the Panthers will need to remain focused throughout the game as it seems the Oilers capitalized on the Cats’ defensive lapses in the latter portion of the game.
#1 Niko Mikkola
Niko Mikkola had a terrible game for the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. He ended the game a minus-3, getting outplayed in crucial situations.
First Mikkola was unable to stop Vasily Podkiolzin from finding the equalizer in the second period.
Check out the goal:
Podkolzin outmuscled Mikkola to the front of the net, then picked up the loose puck for the goal.
After that, Mikkola completely misplayed Leon Draisaitl’s overtime winner.
Here it is:
Mikkola attempted to slide in order to take the pass away from Draisaitl. However, Mikkola committed too late, forcing Sergei Bobrovsky to slide across anticipating the pass. Draisaitl took advantage of Bobrovsky’s misread and dropped the puck for the game-winner.
The Panthers will be looking to remedy the mistakes that cost them Game 4 as they look to take a 3-2 series lead in Game 5 on Saturday night.
alt=”Nestor Quixtan” height=”72″ width=”72″>
Edited by Nestor Quixtan
