Shania Twain fires up Edmonton as Oilers win 8-1 to avoid Stanley Cup sweep

Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the Stanley Cup Final as part of a four-point performance, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Florida Panthers 8-1 in Game 4 on Saturday night to avoid being eliminated in a sweep.

The Oilers scored five goals on their first 16 shots to chase down playoff MVP candidate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky early in the second period. McDavid had three assists to reach 32 and pass Wayne Gretzky for the most in a single postseason.

Edmonton fell short of a Mattias Janmark goal three minutes later to get the already excited crowd into it and a 5-on-3 goal later that ended an 0-on-12 drought on the power play in the series.

Stuart Skinner was spectacular at the other end, sending the series back to Sunrise for Game 5 on Tuesday night.

The Panthers didn’t impress Shania Twain much despite opening the series with a 3-0 lead on Saturday.

The legendary Canadian performer stoked the crowd outside Rogers Place before Game 4, starting a “We want the Cup!” chant among Oilers fans. The team would have to complete a comeback that hasn’t been made in the finals since 1942 – the only time in NHL history that has happened at this stage and only four times before in the playoffs.

“How are you feeling in Edmonton?” Twain said between songs. “We are in the spirit of the Stanley Cup here in Edmonton!”

Twain followed The Kid LAROI and DJ Khaled from the Florida games and the band Our Lady Peace outside Rogers Place earlier this week. The Oilers are hoping to avoid being the first team to be swept in the Cup finals since Washington in 1998.