Again, that's the Panthers’ perspective, and it’s legitimate. Nobody thought this would be a sweep until the possibility existed after three games. Most predicted a six- or seven-game series.
Nobody predicted it would get to Game 6 the way it did, but it's here, the Panthers having blown two of the four opportunities they earned to win the Cup.
"We're learning how to do this," Maurice said. "We're learning how to feel it."
After Florida's morning skate in advance of Game 4, Maurice talked about two sets of energy sources that would be obvious in the game that night.
"One is desperation and the other is desire," he said.
The Oilers, down 3-0, had the desperation to keep their season alive, the goal of winning the Stanley Cup so far in the distance that it couldn't even be a thought.
The Panthers, up 3-0, had the desire to win the Stanley Cup, the goal being right in front of their faces. Maurice even said the goal of winning the Stanley Cup feels like it comes before the game itself because it's so close you can taste it.
At no other point in the season does the ultimate goal come before the game you have to play. That's especially true when you're facing a team that is already being counted out, as the Oilers were after three games in this series.
"When you have nothing to lose there's a freedom to that, right?" Maurice said. "There's also a danger to that, right? There's a great line in one of those cheesy movies, the most dangerous man in the world is the guy whose got nothing to lose, that idea. Then when you have something to protect sometimes you feel the pressure to protect it."
The Panthers still feel that. But Maurice wants you to think that maybe the Oilers do too now.
"There's an evening out in this series now," he said. "I think the pressure is closer. We'll take all of it. Feel free. But the stake is there now for both teams where it was just there for us [before]. The goal is closer for them and now that part evens out."
That might be a narrative-driving perspective on Maurice's part, a coach trying to change the storyline because his team has lost two games in a row.
But it can be taken in a different context. Maybe that, too, is part of the Panthers' perspective of where they are in this series.
"We're very comfortable in this position," Tkachuk said. "We were in this position a couple series ago in Boston. We played the [New York] Rangers and had a very similar position going there for a Game 5. So, we're very comfortable right now. We're excited. We know it's going to be a great environment tomorrow and hopefully our last game of the season."
If it is, they'll have won the Stanley Cup.
If it's not, there is always Game 7 back home Monday.
"I mean, we're here to win a Cup," Panthers forward Kevin Stenlund said. "If we do it in five, six, seven, it doesn't really matter. We're here to win one game, just focus on that."
Perspective.
