(Sunrise) Boldly, Kris Knoblauch announced that his eyes were on the next 10 days.
The head coach of the Edmonton Oilers shared his feelings a few hours before his team played a losing game, facing a 0-3 deficit in the Stanley Cup final series against the Florida Panthers.
The Oilers crushed the Eastern Conference champions by a score of 8-1 and obtained a stay of execution.
Knoblauch – confidently, once again – now looks ahead to the next eight days that he anticipates his team members will spend together. However, the margin for error remains zero.
The Oilers will have their backs against the wall again Tuesday night against the Panthers, who now lead the final series 3-1.
Knoblauch’s words – he really had nothing to lose – could have covered a bulletin board in the opposite locker room. But the rookie coach had reason to share his unwavering beliefs publicly.
Aside from the strategy aspect, his job has never been about confidence – or keeping it high. Instead, he has focused on not letting frustration set in among his ultra-talented roster.
It was the mission to fulfill six weeks after the start of the season, during the playoffs, and during this series, which the Oilers players believe they could easily lead 3-1.
“They were considered out,” Knoblauch told reporters Monday after his team’s practice session at Amerant Bank Arena.
“Others said ‘They’re done, they’re not that good, they’re done.’ It doesn’t matter if it was November or during the playoffs. »
“For them, it doesn’t mean anything. »
The Oilers offense came into its own in Game 4, producing a scoring outburst after being held in check by the Panthers.
McDavid led the way with four points while Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finally got their names on the scoresheet.
“If you look at the top of the mountain right now, it’s pretty steep,” Draisaitl said. But taking one day at a time doesn’t seem so bad. »
The Oilers found holes in Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who had stopped 82 of 86 shots in the first three games before being taken out of Saturday’s game after allowing five goals on 16 shots.
“We’re not going to decide how he’s going to play [in Game 5], we’re not going to decide how their team is going to play,” said defenseman Darnell Nurse, who ended Bobrovsky’s night by scoring his first goal since the start of the playoffs.
“We’re not going to choose what decisions are made either. We can only control what we can control.”
That calm approach is something Knoblauch brought when he was thrust into the spotlight of a hockey-crazed region of Canada with a struggling Stanley Cup contender seven months ago.
“He found a way to get through it,” said Nugent-Hopkins, whose team is aiming to force a Game 6 in Edmonton on Friday. He believes in us and we believe in each other. »
The Oilers have demonstrated their ability to fight back throughout the season. Knoblauch is the one who found himself at the helm of this ship.
“It’s a very resilient group,” Draisaitl said. You don’t want to find yourself in that kind of situation too often, but we’ve always done a really good job of collectively pulling on the same rope. It’s not individuals, it’s all of us together. We like to play for each other. »
The big German added that Knoblauch’s confidence was justified.
“It would be a shame if he doesn’t have confidence in us now,” Draisaitl said with a smile. There was a lot of adversity this year, and [we] always found a way to get through it.
“There’s a lot of trust. »
