In the fourth game of the NHL Finals, Florida experienced its worst loss since April 2022. Aleksander Barkov believes that the team will decide the championship in the next game.
EDMONTON.
In the first playoff game of the Stanley Cup Finals, Florida really nailed it. It led the match series with a 3–0 win and, with a win on Saturday, would have been the first team to march to the championship in four games since Detroit in 1998.
What else. Florida, which had started well, surrendered with superiority at the three-minute mark, and just a moment later, the Canadian audience, which had been howling like crazy all night, could already shout for the second goal: 2–0.
In the end, the readings were recorded crushingly 8–1 for Edmonton. The last time Florida lost by at least seven goals was in April 2022, when they suffered a 2-10 loss in Montreal.
In direct attacks, I hoe
After the game, in the Florida locker room, the captain Alexander Barkov waited for the media in his seat.
– It was not an ideal situation to lose 0–2 at the very beginning. There are many things that we can do better in the future, Barkov began.
The way the match got out of hand in the end in a way that led, among other things, to the goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky to exchange, Barkov could not directly give an answer.
– Good question. I can’t say right away. The opponent played really well and we were not played. I have to watch the video to see what happened here.
In terms of gameplay, Florida’s frost spread on Saturday in a way that it has rarely spread this spring. Edmonton got to power attacks clearly more often than earlier in the series, and Florida also didn’t defend like it did in its best days.
As Barkov turned his sights on Monday’s fifth final, it highlighted one development.
– I don’t know how many goals came from direct attacks today, but there were too many of them. We’ve been playing off direct attacks really well for a couple of years, but not today. This is top of mind for Monday, Barkov said.
Even though the readings were ugly, Florida did not throw in the towel at any point. Florida seemed to realize at the second set break that they had lost the previous three sets with goals of 1–8.
The visiting team played a somewhat composed last period, where they created several high-quality goal chances. Of course, the result was also weak this time, as Edmonton won the last set 2–0.
– We talked about it before the third period, but we also talked about it before the second and first. Even if the game was 5–1 or 6–1, you have to remember your own game and try to play it. That way, it’s easier to catch it again in the next game. The result has nothing in between. It doesn’t matter how many goals you lose.
The goal was still met
The evening was not easy for the Finns of Florida. Barkov and his chains were on the ice during Edmonton’s underpowered goal (1–0) and they weren’t Niko Mikkola and Anton Lundell were at their best in a 2–0 hit.
In the end, all Finns were at freezing point in the power statistics, with a total of five hits. Lundell was credited with an assist on the team’s only goal.
Despite the defeat, Barkov was quite cheerful and, above all, calm and determined.
– We put ourselves in a pretty good situation a few days ago. Now let’s recover and rest a bit and then we have a great new opportunity at home to try to end the streak, the attacker from Tampere decided.
Florida pilot Paul Maurice was also calm and confident in front of the media, satisfied with the big picture.
– We came to get a draw from Edmonton (wins 1-1) and that’s what we got, he said.