If a champion can’t get over a tough loss, it would have to go 16-0 in order to win a Stanley Cup.

Since an undefeated playoff run of four sweeps is highly unlikely, a team will probably have to go the route of showing resilience in the aftermath of hardship along the way to an NHL crown.

The Florida Panthers have done plenty of it during Stanley Cup Final runs the past three postseasons.

That mettle faces maybe its toughest test heading into Game 5 against the Oilers Saturday night in Edmonton with the series tied, 2-2.

The Panthers are coming off a historic collapse in Game 4. On Thursday night at Amerant Bank Arena, they became just the second home team to blow a three-goal lead in a Stanley Cup Final game. The other instance occurred in 1919.

This Cup Final rematch has produced opportunities for big momentum swings, but the Panthers and Oilers always seem to respond to each other’s blows. Edmonton won Game 1 on Leon Draisaitl’s game-winning goal in overtime. Florida saw that and raised a Brad Marchand winner in double overtime in Game 2. Between that, a 6-1 Game 3 victory and the first three goals Thursday night, the Panthers were on a 10-1 scoring run in the series before the Oilers scored five of the next six goals, capped by Draisaitl again in overtime.

“Just understanding that neither one of them is permanent,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice told reporters in Fort Lauderdale before the team traveled to Canada of the highs and lows. “If you’re rolling, it’s not going to look like that for 60 (minutes), and if they’re on you, you don’t need to panic in that game, because it’s coming back to you at some point.”

Added center Aleksander Barkov: “That means there are two good teams playing each other and both teams are playing with their strengths. We’ve had good moments. They’ve had good moments. All we got to do is learn, for example, (Thursday), we’ve got to learn from that game a lot.”

The Panthers have indeed overcome their share of challenges in this three-year run of trips to the Final, winning last year’s title. Last year, they blew a three-game lead against these same Oilers before a Game 7 rebound. Earlier this postseason, they had to come back from down 2-0 in the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs and win a Game 7 on the road. Maybe none of it happens if they don’t come back from down 3-1 in the opening-round series against the Boston Bruins in 2023.

When it’s the two best teams in the NHL squaring off, with three of the four games going an extra period, players know to prepare for the potential of seven games.

“Our mindset is always playing for that Game 7, even though sometimes it’s not going to be seven games,” Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling said Friday. “That’s always our mindset, so we’re calm and confident, and if we play our game, we’re going to win most games.”

There’s also now mystery for which Oilers goaltender the Panthers will face at Rogers Place.

Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch opted not to name a starter for Game 5, but conventional wisdom indicates he probably has to go with the goalie who helped spark Thursday night’s comeback.

Stuart Skinner was yanked for the second straight outing in Game 4, and on Thursday night, the insertion of Calvin Pickard to start the second period held the Panthers without another goal until Sam Reinhart sent the game to overtime with 19.5 seconds left in regulation with a score from an improbable angle.

But did his presence somehow give Oilers skaters a boost?

“I don’t think I noticed the impact on it,” Maurice said. “I think he made some saves, for sure, as I thought that Skinner had. We certainly don’t have a different playbook for goalies. We do a pre-scope at the start of the series, and away we go.”

Said Barkov of any change: “Not our game plan. He played really well. He saved some big scoring chances, but it doesn’t change what we’re trying to do on the ice.”

After the Oilers made a number of line changes in Game 4, Maurice is not planning on doing anything of the sort ahead of Game 5.

He stated simply, “We’re healthy.”

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