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Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart reveal reasons for Game 4 collapse
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- Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart reveal reasons for Game 4 collapse
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The Florida Panthers lost Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final 5-4 in overtime . For the third time in this series, extra time was needed to decide the winner. This time, it was a multi-goal comeback from the Oilers that had Florida down in the third period. Sam Reinhart scored in the final seconds to force overtime. But they could not finish it off in overtime. Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk spoke with The Athletic's Michael Russo about what happened in their Game 4 collapse.
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"We probably got a little too stretched out — we weren't as connected," Tkachuk said. He scored twice in the Panthers' big first period. They were his first goals of the Stanley Cup Final, both coming on the power play.
"I felt we were a little bit slow. I think we were watching the play develop, as opposed to playing on our toes, and that's obviously how they got back in the game," Reinhart told Russo. He picked up an assist on one of Tkachuk's goals and scored with 19 seconds left to force overtime.
The Panthers dominated Game 3 to take the series lead. Through the first period on Thursday, it seemed that they were going to walk to a 3-1 series lead. But Corey Perry gave the Oilers the speech they needed to hear after that first period. They came out and stuck three past Sergei Bobrovsky in the second period to completely change the Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers were up 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final last year against the Oilers. Then, Edmonton won Games 4 and 6 at home and Game 5 on the road to force Game 7. Even though they won last year's title, that is a reason for concern for Florida. When they had two chances in Edmonton to close out the title, they failed. Now, they need to win at least one game in Alberta to repeat as champions.
Related: Panthers' Paul Maurice hypes 'great' Stanley Cup Final despite Game 4 heartbreaker
Related: Panthers' Sam Reinhart finds silver lining from stunning Game 4 loss to Oilers
