PREVIEW: Oilers at Panthers (Game 5)

The Edmonton Oilers look to live another day in the Stanley Cup Final with a victory on Tuesday night in Game 5 against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada at 6:00 p.m. MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers at Panthers (Game 5)

SUNRISE, FL – Embrace the moment and keep the dream alive.

"We've created such a good bond with this group," goaltender Stuart Skinner said. "It's all about being in this moment and really taking in the experience, having fun and enjoying it. That's something that nobody can ever take away from us."

Reaching the summit in the Stanley Cup Final may still look far off for the Edmonton Oilers as they trail 3-1 in the series to the Florida Panthers, but they know if they’re able to continue to take things one stride at a time and keep the mood light, there are no limits to what they can accomplish as a group.

Even when history says otherwise.

“We're taking it one day at a time, one game at a time. It's all we can do,” Leon Draisaitl said. “If you look at the top of the mountain right now, it's pretty steep, but taking it one day at a time doesn't sound so bad. That's our goal, that's our focus right now.”

Saturday’s huge 8-1 victory on home ice was a great start to the process of becoming the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to come back from a 3-0 series deficit in the Final and win. The Blue & Orange know they'll have to show up tonight on the road in Game 5 at Amerant Bank Arena with the same vigour they displayed three days earlier at Rogers Place if they want to prevent the Panthers from lifting their franchise's first Stanley Cup on home ice.

During Monday's practice, the Oilers drilled in on a few areas they expect Florida to attack and defend with, including the expectation of a heavy forecheck and attempts by the Panthers at stifling Edmonton's speed on the breakout and transition, but there were plenty of smiles and jokes going around on the ice that helped create a positive atmosphere and a strong feeling of camaraderie surrounding the skate.

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"I think that's one of the most important things," Skinner said. "I think for all of us, especially in moments like this, we only have a few days left with each other, so you might as well enjoy it and have a ton of fun doing it. That's why we all started playing hockey. That's why being in a moment like this. We're just in awe of it and we love where we are because of being in this type of moment and just having fun with it; enjoying each other through it all."

After chasing netminder Sergei Bobrovsky with five goals on 16 shots and putting eight goals past the Panthers for their highest goal total in a game where they were facing elimination (surpassing their 7-1 win over Anaheim in 2017), the Oilers are well aware that the Russian goaltender will be looking to get back to the early-series numbers he posted in the first three games with a combined .953 save percentage.

"He's an elite goaltender, and in the first three games he was a really big difference maker," defenceman Darnell Nurse said. "And you expect tomorrow night he's going to come out and play hard and be someone on the ice that we're going to have to solve. I'm sitting beside, for me, one of the best goalies in the League [Skinner] and he'll have a night we just talked about and come back and be kicking the next night. And so you expect it from Bobrovsky, who's also in that same level.

"We're just going to have to come out and player game. We're not going to decide how he plays tomorrow night. We're not going to decide how their team plays tomorrow night. We're not going to decide calls. We can only control what we can control, and that's the way we come out and approach this game.

"Play this game, stick to our process, and the rest will take care of itself."

As a whole, the Cats will have a lot more jump on Tuesday with the opportunity to win at home after failing to deal with the rush chances that Edmonton generated, resulting in seven of the eight goals they conceded in Game 4, while knowing they can't rely on scoring as many as they did on Saturday every night.

"I think as a team we can probably look back at Game 4 and say we were able to get into the O-zone and create opportunities," Nurse said. "There are ways to finish, so I think we could carry that. But with the playoffs, I think we've seen it just time and time again that every time that puck drops in the next game, it seems to reset everything.

"There's going to be a huge push here by the Panthers on home ice tomorrow night, and for us, we have to come out and have that same energy."

Even after posting one of their biggest post-season wins in franchise history, the Oilers know they also have some extra to give and will need to be prepared to hold off the Panthers' pressure that will inevitably come in front of their home crowd on Tuesday night, where they're 8-3 in the playoffs and have won four straight games.

"I can't speak to the game that they're going to play, but for us, I think there's definitely another level that we can get to," Nurse said. "I think we've shown throughout the playoffs and throughout the year that when we're in these positions, we just come out and take it one day at a time and work for each other. There's a level for sure that I think that we can get to and sustain for 60 minutes. Just coming out and playing one good game tomorrow."

"I think they're going to push back," defenceman Cody Ceci added. "We played a pretty good game at home last game and we're going to expect them to push back. Now they're at home and have another chance for them to close it, so I think they're going to have a good push and we're going to have to expect that early."