Skinner: If anyone can overcome 3-0 deficit, 'it's the Oil'
Stuart Skinner believes his Edmonton Oilers can dig themselves out of a three-game hole and win the Stanley Cup Final despite how rarely that's happened.
"It is disappointing being down 3-0, we've got to let that reality sink in," the goaltender told reporters after a 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 3. "I'm not too sure what the stats are coming back (from this deficit), but if anyone can do it, it's the Oil."
Skinner added that the Oilers' late surge in Game 3 - in which they scored two third-period goals to trim the Panthers' lead to one - gives Edmonton confidence.
"I think the way that we finished this game, too, also brings a strong belief in this group, the way that we battled back," the netminder said. "If we play like that for 60 minutes, we'll give ourselves a really good chance to win games. I think that gives you a lot of belief, and we've got nothing but hope in this room."
The Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team to pull off a reverse sweep in the Cup Final, doing so against the Detroit Red Wings in 1942. That was also one of only four times it's been accomplished in any round in NHL history.
The Los Angeles Kings did it en route to winning the title in 2014, but that was a first-round comeback over the San Jose Sharks. Four years earlier, the Philadelphia Flyers overcame a 3-0 series deficit to oust the Boston Bruins in the second round. The New York Islanders did it to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1975, but they pulled it off in the quarterfinals.
The Panthers will have a chance to ensure it doesn't happen to them in Game 4 on Saturday in Edmonton.
"We're trying to figure them out," Oilers superstar Connor McDavid said postgame Thursday. "Obviously, we haven't beaten them in three games. We've had stretches of good, we've had stretches of bad, (but) we're trying to figure them out."
McDavid also channeled Yogi Berra when he added that "it's not over 'til it's over."
Game 4 is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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