"So, you're telling me there's a chance?"
The famous line from Jim Carrey's character in Dumb and Dumber (1994) is echoing across the hockey world as the Edmonton Oilers have avoided getting swept in the Stanley Cup Final.
And Burnaby's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins helped the Oilers in a big way once again while recording a major milestone of his own.
The 31-year-old scored his first-ever Stanley Cup Finals goal on a two-man advantage to give Edmonton a 6-1 cushion with seven minutes left in the second period.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is on the board in the Stanley Cup Final 🚨 The Burnaby forward scored the 6th goal in Edmonton’s 8-1 Game 4 win vs. Florida Saturday, June 15 — his 7th of the 2024 playoffs — to help the Oilers avoid a sweep | #burnaby @BurnabyNOW_News pic.twitter.com/v6mFbh0Lkh
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) June 16, 2024
The Oilers won the Game 4 contest Saturday, June 15, on home ice 8-1 over Florida, but are still down 3-1 in the best-of-seven championship series.
Nugent-Hopkins has now recorded seven goals, five on the power-play, plus 14 assists for a total of 21 points in 22 playoff tilts thus far.
The Burnaby Winter Club alum — and first overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft — has now reached 60 points in 71 career NHL playoff games over 13 seasons.
If Nugent-Hopkins wishes to hoist the Stanley Cup, and possibly bring it to his hometown this summer, he and his teammates still have a mountain to climb — win three games in a row.
This past season, coincidentally, when Edmonton lost three consecutive games, they ran it back with significant win streaks on three different occasions:
- 8-0-0 = Nov. 24 to Dec. 12
- 16-0-0 = Dec. 21 to Jan. 27
- 5-0-0 = Feb. 26 to March 5
And during those respective stints, Nugent-Hopkins recorded 11, 15 and five points while scoring nine goals combined.
The Stanley Cup Final shifts back to Sunrise, Fla., with Game 5 set for Tuesday, June 18, at 5 p.m. PDT.
Games 5 and 7, if necessary, are scheduled for Friday, June 21, and next Monday, June 24.
Could the Oilers be embarking on yet another long winning streak? pic.twitter.com/aWzJbeG7SY
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) June 16, 2024
