The Florida Panthers scored in the opening minute of play and never looked back in a 6-1 blowout victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night in Sunrise. The Panthers lead the Stanley Cup Final series, two games to one. Florida scored two goals apiece in each of the match’s three periods with six different players tallying once apiece.
Brad Marchand (eighth goal of the playoffs, fourth of the series), Carter Verhaeghe (power play, 7th), Sam Reinhart (5th), Sam Bennett (14th), Aaron Ekblad (power play, 4th), and Evan Rodrigues (power play, 2nd) scored goals for the Panthers. Meanwhile, Sergei Bobrovsky turned back 32 of 33 shots, but saw only nine high-danger chances in the game.
Corey Perry (power play, 9th) notched the lone Edmonton goal in Game Three. Conversely, Stuart Skinner absorbed five goals on just 23 shots. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch sent in Calvin Pickard (seven saves on eight shots) for mop-up duty after Ekblad opened a 5-1 edge at 3:27 of the third period.
Play turned chippy in the latter half of the final stanza. The Panthers went 3-for-11 on the power play on Monday. The Oilers were 1-for-6. Overall in the series, Florida is 5-for-17 on the man advantage. Edmonton is 3-for-16 with a shorthanded goal (Marchand in Game Two) yielded.
Panthers pounce quickly
Marchand, who scored twice in Game Two including the double-overtime winner, struck again just 56 seconds after the game’s opening faceoff. The Panthers’ won an offensive zone faceoff to Skinner’s left. Anton Lundell put the puck in front and Marchand claimed it to notch the opening goal that made it 1-0. Eetu Luostarainen (11th playoff assist) drew the secondary helped.
First period shots were 12-10 in the Oilers’ favor but Bobrovsky had a good look at most of them. After Viktor Arvidsson was called for a goalie interference penalty late in the periods, the Panthers doubled their lead. Rodrigues found Verhaeghe open on the weak side. From the left dot, Verhaeghe beat Skinner upstairs to the short side off the post. Nate Schmidt drew the secondary helper.
Florida responds quickly to Perry’s goal
Play turned feisty at the end of the first period. Lundell (roughing) got the only penalty, and the Oilers started the second period with a full two-minute 5-on-4. At 1:40, Perry potted a power play rebound to narrow the gap to 2-1. Defensemen Evan Bouchard (15th playoff assist) and Mattias Ekholm collected the apples.
The Perry goal could have been a turning point in the game. Instead, 1:20 after play resumed, the Panthers restored their two-goal advantage. The Florida forecheck created a turnover along the side boards (with help from John Klingberg accidentally bumping into the referee). Taking a pass from Verhaeghe, Reinhart used defender Jake Walman as a screen and beat Skinner to the short side. It was not an easy save with Reinhart shooting between Walman’s legs but it was a needed save given the situation.
The Florida lead grew to three goals at 7:26 of the second period. Bennett started the sequence with a hit on Vasily Podkolzin in the defensive zone. Forcing a turnover at the blueline, Luostarinen (second assist of the game, 12th of the playoffs) broke out with Bennett on a 2-on-0 break. Bennett went on alone after taking a pass, and beat Skinner upstairs on the forehand. The Panthers now had a commanding 4-1 lead.
Penalty box parade in the third period
Skinner’s night was finished when Ekblad (assisted by Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk) made it 5-1 on the power play at 3:27 of the third period. The outcome was a foregone conclusion at this point. Pickard came in for goaltending relief.
With the score out of hand, the Oilers got frustrated. The latter half of the final frame turned into a penalty box parade and misconduct collection. Darnell Nurse fought Jonah Gadjovich. Evander Kane was initially assessed a slashing major for a play with Verhaeghe on the ice but the call was changed to a minor and 10-minute misconduct.
Rodrigues rounded out the scoring with a power play one-timer from the “Ovechkin spot” atop the left circle. Taking a pass from Niko Mikkola, Rodrigues hammered the puck past Pickard. Gustav Forsling dew the other assist at 16:10.
Three keys revisited: Why the Panthers won
Heading into Game Three, there was a different feel from the previous two games in Edmonton. The ice figured to be much softer and slushier (it was). Bobrovsky was due for a slam-the-door goaltending performance. Paul Maurice’s team played long stretches of the first two games (minus the second periods) at the pace and style preferred by the Oilers. Meanwhile, the Oilers needed to at least neutralize their disadvantage in killing penalties by staying out of the penalty box as much as possible.
In looking back the pregame keys to victory, this is how Game Three played out.
- Style of play. The quick Marchand goal certainly factored into the rest of the match. In general, the game was played to the style the Panthers prefer. Come Game Four on Thursday, the Oilers must find a way to flip the script back to generating more tempo and pressuring Bobrovsky with quality shots.
- In-game adjustments. Edmonton struggled against Florida’s puck pressure and paid for mistakes. At least on this night, the Oilers failed to fully adapt.
- Discipline and special teams. The Oilers took only two minor penalties in Game One. The Panthers scored on one of their two power plays but the special teams battle evened out. Edmonton’s sudden death goal at 19:29 of OT came on the power play. In Games Two and Three, Florida won the overall special teams battle. This played heavily into the Game Three outcome and also factored into Game Two.
