If the Edmonton Oilers have hopes in becoming the second team to win a Stanley Cup Final after trailing the series three games to none, then Saturday’s thumping of Florida was a good start. 

The Oilers avoided a sweep in dominant fashion on Saturday night, beating the Florida Panthers, 8-1.

Early in the first period, the Panthers were on the power play, and a shot rang off the post. But after a turnover, the Oilers had a 2-on-1, and Mattian Janmark found the back of the net off a patient feed from Connor Brown. A few minutes later, Adam Henrique scored to give the boys from the land up north a 2-0 lead, but Florida answered right back with a goal by Vladimir Tarasenko to cut the lead in half.

Edmonton, though, quickly returned the favor. This time it was Dylan Holloway on a nifty pass from Leon Draisaitl to make it 3-1 Oilers. It was Draisaitl’s first point of the series, and it was the first time the Oilers led by two goals all series.

The scoring barrage continued in the second, as Connor McDavid finally scored his first goal of the Cup Final. It didn’t stop there.

Darnell Nurse joined the fun at the 4:59 mark of the period, forcing the Panthers to replace Sergei Bobrovsky with Anthony Stolarz. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on a two-man advantage later in the period, and Holloway and Ryan Mcleod each added another in the third, just in case.

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) celebrates a goal in the second period against the Florida Panthers in game four of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place.  (Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

The Oilers are looking to become the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0, and the first since the 2014 Los Angeles Kings did so in the first round – they wound up winning the Cup that year after winning two more Game 7s.

The only comeback in the Cup Final was in 1942 by the Toronto Maple Leafs – it was the first 3-0 comeback in the Big 4 leagues.

Five other teams forced, but lost, a Game 7.

Edmonton Oilers center Adam Henrique (19) celebrates again with Edmonton Oilers center Mattias Janmark (13) in the first period against the Florida Panthers in game four of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

Game 5 will be Tuesday night in Florida at 8 p.m. ET.

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Gabriel Pec scored a goal and assisted on two others Saturday as the Galaxy opened the second half of their season with a 4-2 win over a stubborn Sporting Kansas City team at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Dejan Joveljic, Joseph Paintsil and Miguel Berry also scored for the Galaxy (8-3-7), who moved to third in the Western Conference standings, three points behind first-place Real Salt Lake. The win also kept them unbeaten through eight home games for the first time since 2016.

Only two other MLS teams — the New York Red Bulls and LAFC — have yet to lose at home this season, while the four goals matched a season high for the Galaxy.

“Home games are huge,” midfielder Diego Fagundez said. “That’s the key part, making sure that when we come home, we make it hard for teams. And we are doing that.

“We’re scoring a lot of goals, but at the same time, we need to be a little bit better defensively. It would be nice to win a game 2-0 or 1-0. I keep saying it over and over: If this team plays 90 minutes, I don’t think there’s a team that’s better than us.”

The Galaxy, returning after a two-week break and playing without playmaker Riqui Puig, who is nursing a groin injury, went ahead to stay on Joveljic’s goal in the 40th minute. After a tedious start in which the teams combined for only two shots on goal, the Galaxy got three in a matter of seconds, the final a right-footed shot from Joveljic that found the back of the net.

The sequence started with Pec putting a right-footed shot on goal from just inside the box. Kansas City keeper Tim Melia parried that away with both hands, but the ball dropped at the feet of Joveljic, who redirected it on goal. This time Melia made the save with his body as he went to the turf and the rebound hit Joveljic in the chest, allowing him to gain control and dribble past the keeper before sending a shot into the roof of the net from a right angle.

The goal was Joveljic’s team-leading 10th of the season.

Pec, who had a massive game, then doubled the lead nine minutes into the second half, running on to a chipped pass from Joveljic, dribbling into the center of the box and driving a low left-footed shot across his body and just inside the near post.

The goal was Pec’s fifth of the season, the assist Joveljic’s third.

Sporting Kansas City scored in the 66th minute when Stephen Afrifa came off the bench to one-time a left-footed shot past a sprawling John McCarthy just seconds after entering the game. But Paintsil restored the two-goal lead nine minutes later on a breakaway tally.

Defender Miki Yamane set up the goal with a long diagonal ball to Pec. Two Kansas City defenders collapsed on him, leaving Paintsil, playing for the first time in a month, open in the center of the box. Pec pushed the ball to him and the easy finish gave Paintsil his fifth goal of the season.

“It was great to get Joe back,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of Paintsil, who came on at halftime. “He’s got to get back into match fitness and just get sharp again. He probably had three chances to score. He could have had a hat trick in 30 minutes.

“He does so many things at a high speed [so] repeatability is something you’ve got to work [on]. It doesn’t just come overnight.”

But Kansas City (3-10-5), which has won only one of its last 12 games, wouldn’t quit, pulling to within a goal again in the 82nd minute when defender Robert Castellanos bounced a shot off McCarthy’s outstretched right hand and in at the near post.

That was as close as Kansas City would get, though, with Berry closing the scoring for the Galaxy two minutes into stoppage time, sliding to redirect a Pec pass in with his right foot. The two-assist game was the first for Pec in MLS.

The expectations for seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky are high heading into the Summer Olympics, but it’s not just her dominance in the pool that makes her an invaluable member of Team USA’s success. 

Fellow Olympian Missy Franklin believes it’s Ledecky’s role outside pool lanes that makes her one of the greats. 

Speaking to Fox News Digital ahead of the Paris Games, Franklin spoke optimistically about Ledecky’s chances at this year’s Games.

“I think she’s going to show up like she always does. Katie knows when to perform. She’s been doing it since 2012.” 

It will be Ledecky’s fourth Olympics, and she is expected to solidify her spot during this weekend’s U.S. swimming trials. But the challengers are already lining up. Australia’s Ariarne Titmus and Canada’s Summer McIntosh present the biggest threat in the women’s 400-meter freestyle. 

Ledecky won gold in that event in 2016 but lost to Titmus in Tokyo. McIntosh then took over the world record in the women’s 400-meter freestyle, but Titmus claimed it back later that year at the world championships. 

Franklin agrees the competition will be fierce, but that’s when Ledecky shines. 

USA’s Katie Ledecky celebrates after winning the final of the women’s 1500-meter freestyle during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo July 28, 2021.  (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST MISSY FRANKLIN ON THE ‘MOST EPIC MOMENT’ FOR EVERY AMERICAN SWIMMER AHEAD OF 2024 GAMES

“Katie relishes the challenge,” Franklin said. “She loves the competition. She loves having people that are going to push her to be even better.”

Ledecky, 27, already has six individual Olympic gold medals, more than any female swimmer in the history of the sport. Anything more in Paris would only compliment her legendary career. But Franklin knows Ledecky’s role in Paris goes beyond the medal count. 

“I think Katie’s an incredible role model,” Franklin said. “She’s an incredible leader for Team USA. I think alongside her accomplishments in the pool, she’s also going to have amazing accomplishments outside of it when it comes to being that veteran for Team USA and really showing and leading the way with her experience or her knowledge.” 

Missy Franklin, left, of the United States celebrates with teammate Katie Ledecky after the women’s 200-meter freestyle semifinals of the 16th FINA World Championships at the Kazan Arena Aug. 4, 2015, in Kazan, Russia. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Ledecky was off to a strong start in the U.S. Olympic swimming trials Saturday. She finished the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 3:59.99. Her first-place finish was more than five seconds ahead of second-place finisher Paige Madden. 

The final is scheduled for Saturday night. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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