The Florida Panthers didn’t pull any punches against the visiting Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.
The Panthers scored in the opening minute and didn’t let up in the scrappy, penalty-filled game, cruising to a 6-1 victory in Sunrise, Fla.
The result gives the Panthers a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series heading to Game 4 on Thursday night in Sunrise.
Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist, Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett also scored, and Eetu Luostarinen had two assists for the Panthers, who are trying to become the third team to repeat as Stanley Cup champion in the past 10 years.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves for Florida, which went 3-for-11 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.
“We talk about being composed,” Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “If you’ve got to take a punch in the face, a slash in the face, a cross-check, a slash in the leg, whatever the case is, you’ve got to it. There’s a bigger picture with the win here for us. We just wanted to protect ourselves, protect our teammates when needed, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to be smart in a game like this, and I thought our team did that.”
Corey Perry scored for the Oilers, who are hoping to become the first franchise from Canada to win the Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
Stuart Skinner surrendered five goals on 23 shots before he was replaced early in the third period by Calvin Pickard, who finished with seven saves.
“We didn’t play very well. We have nobody to blame but ourselves,” Edmonton left winger Evander Kane said. “We can definitely be a lot better.”
Marchand scored his fourth goal of the series 56 seconds into the game.
The puck caromed to Marchand in the slot, and he brought it back to the inside edge of the right circle before scoring with a snap shot. Skinner was off balance in front of the crease when the puck hit the net to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
Marchand, who turned 37 on May 11, is the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of a Stanley Cup Final, and his 11 goals in the finals are tops among active players, one more than Perry.
The teams combined for seven power plays in the opening period and the Panthers scored on the last. The Oilers left room for Verhaeghe to skate into the right circle and fired in a wrist shot for a 2-0 lead at 17:45.
Edmonton was on a power play to start the second period when Perry converted a rebound to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 1:40.
Florida answered 1:20 later when Reinhart shot the puck between the legs of Oilers defenseman John Klingberg from the left faceoff circle and past Skinner to re-establish the two-goal lead at 3-1.
“We played like a solid, veteran, older team that’s been here before,” Tkachuk said.
Bennett and Luostarinen then sprung loose on a two-on-none break and Bennett finished it off for his fourth goal of the series and 14th of the postseason to make it 4-1 at 7:26 of the middle period.
Florida added another power-play goal at 3:27 of the third period to stretch the lead to 5-1. Ekblad took a feed from Reinhart and scored with a one-timer from the inside edge of the right circle, ending the night for Skinner.
Rodrigues blasted in a one-timer during a five-on-three power play with 3:50 left to make it 6-1.
The teams combined for 140 penalty minutes.
“I mean, it’s for the Stanley Cup, you know,” Edmonton defenseman Jake Walman said. “There’s not an inch out there. It’s a grown man’s game out there. That’s not for the faint of heart. Guys are putting everything on the line.”
–Field Level Media
