The last time Brad Marchand achieved this level of success in the Stanley Cup Final, it was just his second season in the NHL and his first time in the postseason. It was 2011 when the then-23-year-old scored five goals to help the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup.

Now a grizzled veteran at 37 and a member of the Florida Panthers, Marchand has done it again, scoring twice in a 5-2 win in Game 5 of the Cup Final series against the host Edmonton Oilers to put the Panthers a win away from repeating as champions.

Marchand has six goals in the best-of-seven series, which Florida leads 3-2.

“Man, that guy’s good-looking. That’d probably be it,” quipped Marchand, when asked what his younger self might say to the current version. “It’s just how it plays sometimes. Sometimes you get bounces, sometimes you don’t. But definitely be grateful to be in this opportunity and have another opportunity to be in the Final and be part of a really good team, for sure.”

Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and an assist and Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for the Panthers, who can clinch the trophy at home in Sunrise, Fla., on Tuesday.

“I thought Sergei in the first 10 minutes got tested hard,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “… When you’re on the road, if you can keep the building from lighting up in the first 10 minutes, that’s just a big part of the emotions of what goes on. His performance was key.”

Connor McDavid and Corey Perry scored for the Oilers. Calvin Pickard made 14 saves.

“I thought we had a good start and we didn’t capitalize on our early chances and made a couple of mistakes,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Knowing that we’re in a difficult situation, winning our last two games is something we’re confident that we can do. We’ve been through difficult situations before and it’s just another one that we’ll overcome.”

Marchand gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 9:12 of the first period. He got to a loose puck off a center-ice face-off, went around Mattias Ekholm inside the Edmonton zone and skated to the left hash mark before roofing a snapshot.

Sam Bennett made it 2-0 at 18:06 when he collected the rebound of a Matthew Tkachuk shot that was blocked and fired it quickly past Pickard.

Bennett leads the playoffs with 15 goals.

“His game translates so well to this time of year,” winger Sam Reinhart said. “He creates so much room for himself. That line’s been put in some very big and tough situations, and they just produce time and time again.”

It marked the fourth straight game that Florida has opened the scoring and the third straight game they’ve been ahead by at least two goals after the first period.

“We’ve come out flat now most of the series,” Ekholm said. “I think it’s a mindset. We’ve just got to make sure we get pucks in, try to put pressure on them. … We’ve got to find a way to be better at the start.”

The Oilers had their chances to cut the deficit in the second period with a pair of power plays early in the frame but couldn’t convert.

Marchand extended it to 3-0 at 5:12 of the third period. The veteran retrieved a pass from Luostarinen in the neutral zone, carried it inside the Oilers’ zone and jumped around defenseman Jake Walman above the left circle before sliding it five-hole on Pickard.

McDavid’s first of the series cut it to 3-1 at 7:24. He took a feed from Evan Bouchard in the left circle and brought it down to the crease, slipping it by Bobrovsky’s right skate to bring life to the crowd.

But Reinhart quieted the crowd when he responded for Florida 46 seconds later. Aleksander Barkov collected the puck behind the net and sent a backhand feed to Reinhart, who snapped it from the left circle through two Edmonton defensemen and past Pickard to make it 4-1 at 8:10.

With Pickard pulled for the extra attacker, Perry narrowed it to 4-2 when he fired a blast from the blue line through traffic at 16:47.

Luostarinen scored an empty-net goal at 18:41 for the final tally.

“We gave up way too much, and that’s because we’re not moving our feet,” Walman said. “We’re not playing the way that we know we can, and you can’t just do it for spurts. It’s got to be the whole game.”

–Field Level Media