It used to be a running joke in Florida: If you wanted tickets to a Panthers game, just ask. Freebies weren鈥檛 hard to find.

Those days are long gone. Especially now.

The Panthers, for the first time in their history, are set to play a home game with a chance to win They take a 3-1 lead over the Edmonton Oilers into Game 5 of the Cup final on Tuesday night with many tickets on the secondary market going for more than $1,000 apiece.

A historic night may await a franchise seeking since its inaugural season 30 years ago.

鈥淭his is why we play,鈥� Panthers forward Vladimir Tarasenko said.

The Panthers took a 3-0 series lead into Game 4 at Edmonton on Saturday night and got rolled, with an 8-1 win. A good sign for the Oilers: No team has lost a playoff game by seven or more goals and went on to win the Cup since Toronto in 1947.

鈥淢omentum just lasts short periods of time, pretty much shift to shift,鈥� Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. 鈥淢aybe we鈥檝e got the momentum for the first shift, but I think that鈥檚 about it. Yeah, that鈥檚 about it.鈥�

The Panthers are 4-1 after losses in these playoffs, outscoring their opponents by a combined 21-10. But the last four periods of this series 鈥� going back to Game 3 鈥� have been all Edmonton.

The score over the last 80 minutes of hockey entering Tuesday night: Oilers 10, Panthers 1. Edmonton nearly pulled off a rally in the third period of Game 3, cutting a 4-1 Florida lead to 4-3 but getting no closer, and then had the rout in Game 4 behind

鈥淲e鈥檙e taking it one day at a time, one game at a time. It鈥檚 all we can do,鈥� Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. 鈥淚f you look at the top of the mountain right now, it鈥檚 pretty steep, but taking one day at a time doesn鈥檛 sound so bad. That鈥檚 our goal, that鈥檚 our focus.鈥�

Florida鈥檚 focus is different: It鈥檚 Cup time.

It鈥檚 taken 30 seasons, 457 different players, 18 different coaches, about two decades of irrelevance wedged in there along the way, rumors of contraction, rumors of relocation and who knows how many bad nights to get to this moment.

The Cup is in the Panthers鈥� building. Win on Tuesday night, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will hand it to them for the first time.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be an awesome atmosphere,鈥� Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 looking forward to it.鈥�

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