The Florida Panthers dominated the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final. The defending champions controlled the game from start to finish at home in Sunrise.
Brad Marchand made history by becoming the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of a final. Sam Bennett added his NHL playoff-leading 14th goal after delivering a big hit on Edmonton’s Vasily Podkolzin that created the turnover for his breakaway opportunity.
Marchand and Bennett have combined for eight goals in the series so far.
“We ended up playing what Florida kind of wanted,” said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who was pulled after allowing five goals on 23 shots. “They were great tonight.”
The Panthers got contributions throughout their lineup. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart each scored their first goals of the series. Aaron Ekblad scored the goal that chased Skinner from the net, and Evan Rodrigues added the final goal in the closing minutes.
“We’re a very deep team,” Marchand said. “That’s one of our strengths is the depth of the group from the front end to the back end to the goaltending.”
Sergei Bobrovsky earned “Bobby! Bobby!” chants from the fired-up South Florida crowd. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner made 32 saves against the few quality chances Edmonton managed to create.
“Nothing’s going to be perfect in the way we play,” Reinhart said. “This time of year, you need some world-class goaltending and that’s what we get consistently.”
For Edmonton, Corey Perry scored the lone goal on a power play. At 40, he’s the oldest player in the series and showed his skill by beating Bobrovsky with some crafty hands.
Connor McDavid couldn’t get his team on track. The Oilers took 15 penalties totaling 85 penalty minutes, led by Evander Kane’s three minors plus a misconduct. A brawl broke out with less than 10 minutes remaining when the outcome was already decided.
Trent Frederic and Darnell Nurse received misconducts after Nurse fought Jonah Gadjovich.
“Emotions in all these games are extremely high,” Marchand said. “This is the time of year you want to be playing, and you’re enjoying every minute.”
The contrast was stark compared to the first two games. Games 1 and 2 both needed extra time – overtime and double overtime respectively. Game 3 turned into a one-sided affair as the Oilers completely fell apart.
The frustration showed when Jake Walman resorted to squirting water on Panthers players from the visiting bench.
The teams have extra time off before Game 4 on Thursday night. The Panthers will have the chance to take a 3-1 series lead and move within one win of repeating as Stanley Cup champions.
“Game 4 is a really big game,” McDavid said. “It’s a big swing game.”
