The Florida Panthers brought their “A” game Monday night while the Oilers seemed to have left their game behind in Edmonton. The Panthers beat the Oilers 6-1 to take game three of the Stanley Cup Finals and a 2-1 series lead. The Panthers played their best game of the series so far, while the Oilers played their worst game.
Florida played a nasty physical game, which took the Oilers off their game. The Oilers retaliated against the Panthers every chance they could, and they paid the price. At one point in the third period, all five players had a dance (fight) partner, and the game had all the trappings of an MMA event without all the pomp and circumstance.
To have this many fights on the ice at one time, you would have to go back to the Western Conference Finals in 1997 and a game between Detroit and Colorado, a game that featured 18 fighting majors and 144 penalty minutes.
The Oilers were assessed 22 penalties in the game. Playing five-on-four hockey against the Panthers for over 20 minutes is insurmountable odds, and the Oilers found out how difficult that can be.
The Panthers ran Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner in the third period, and Calvin Pickard replaced him. Pickard was seeing his first action since the Los Angeles series, but it was already 5-1 when he entered the contest.
Brad Marchand got the first goal for the Panthers, his sixth of the playoffs, and with that goal Marchand became the oldest player in NHL history to score a goal in three straight Stanley Cup Final games.
After the Marchand goal, everyone got in on the scoring, including Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, and Aaron Ekblad. Evan Rodrigues added the game’s final goal to make the final 6-1.
Verhaeghe now holds the Panthers record for most career playoff goals and is in first place on the team’s power-play goals list.
Marchand talked about the scoring depth of the Panthers. “We’re a very deep team,” he 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 continued to stand tall in goal for the Panthers, stopping 32 of 33 Edmonton shots. Corey Perry scored the only goal of the night for the Oilers, a power-play goal at 1:40 of the second period.
Even though the Panthers have not yet played a perfect game, Bobrovsky has come up big for the Panthers these last two games.
“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.”
In this game three matchup, the Panthers were much faster and much more focused than the Oilers. They also dominated the Oilers defensively, not letting Leon Draisaitl get a shot on goal and completely neutralizing Conner McDavid, making him a non-factor. When this happens, Edmonton’s chances of winning are slim to none.
Game four is now a must-win for the Oilers if they want to win the Stanley Cup. Over the next two days, the Oilers’ locker room needs to engage in a great deal of self-reflection. They have to play more disciplined and composed in game four.
Matthew Tkachuk discussed the Panthers’ discipline in the big game three win. “We played super well and super disciplined, just like a veteran, older team who’s been here. This is our third time at it. We know it’s a series, and we’ve got to stick up for each other, but got to be smart too. I thought it was great that guys were sticking up for each other, and at the end of the day, it’s just a big win and just one game.”
The Oilers are talented enough to play with the Panthers, as we saw in the first two games in Edmonton, but when the Oilers let their emotions get out of control, you get what happened on Monday night.
Florida has found their game. This is the style they played in the first three rounds of the playoffs. Even with a Stanley Cup under their belts, this Panthers team seems to want it more than Edmonton. Even with the split in Edmonton, the Panthers kept playing their game and staying focused, and they were rewarded with the 6-1 win on Monday night.
Game four is back in Sunrise at 8 p.m. on Thursday.