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 routed 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 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 got a goal shorthanded from Mattias Janmark three minutes in to get the already fired up crowd into it and a 5-on-3 goal later that ended an 0 for 12 drought on the power play in the series.

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

The Panthers didn’t impress Shania Twain much despite entering Saturday’s game with a 3-0 series lead.

The legendary Canadian performer fired up the crowd outside Rogers Place prior to Game 4 and started a “We want the Cup!” chant among Oilers fans. It would take the team pulling off a comeback not made in the final since 1942 – the only time in NHL history it has happened at this stage and on only four previous occasions any time in the playoffs.

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

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