"Love the optimism" "Your season ends tonight bud" - NHL fans react to Kris Knoblauch's optimism over Oilers' comeback against Panthers in Game 4

The Edmonton Oilers find themselves in a 3-0 hole against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final after a 4-3 loss in Game 3. Despite the daunting deficit, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch remains optimistic about his team's chances of mounting a comeback.

"I'm really excited for the next 10 days," Knoblauch said, referring to his belief that Edmonton can win four straight games to claim the Cup.

Fans reacted to Knoblauch's statement on X.

"Love the optimism," one fan tweeted, showing support for the coach's mentality.

However, one fan thinks the Oilers will lose.

"Your season ends tonight bud," the fan tweeted.

"What else is supposed to say? "Yeah, really looking forward to hitting the links on Tuesday, instead we're going to get swept," one fan tweeted.

"I mean the practical thing to say would be 'takes 4 wins in the finals to win the Cup; a win tonight is the focus,'" a fan tweeted.

"I mean saying bye, to guys who might not be returning next year. And gearing up for the next season would be important," a user tweeted.

"Typical Canadian Cope... Sweep incoming. Cup stays home in the USA!" Another user tweeted.

The Oilers must win Game 4 on home ice on Saturday night to keep their Stanley Cup dreams alive. If they can find a way to extend the series, their next battle will come on the road in Florida for Game 5.

Oilers' HC Kris Knoblauch admits facing Panthers is 'difficult'

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch admits his team faces an uphill battle against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.

"You know, we've gone on some quite astonishing runs during the regular season," Knoblauch said to the media on Friday.

"Obviously, it's a little more difficult now playing in the playoffs against Florida in the Stanley Cup Final. But I'm also optimistic about the way we've played so far in this series. We've got a lot to be optimistic about."

While Edmonton will look to throw more pucks to the net to generate scoring chances, Knoblauch cautioned against getting reckless.

"Yeah, obviously, the more we throw it to the net, the more opportunities we have to score. But we also don't want to be just throwing away the puck and getting a C-grade chance when we could have built it into something more," he said.

Despite the daunting deficit, Knoblauch believes his team still has reasons to be optimistic.