Back on home ice after splitting the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final on the road, the Florida Panthers put forth a dominant performance in Game 3 on Monday, hammering the Edmonton Oilers 6-1.
The Panthers scored 56 seconds into this one and never looked back, notching two goals in each period as the Oilers became completely unglued. Edmonton was assessed 21 penalties totaling 85 minutes, the third-most by one team in a Cup Final game. Florida was 3-for-11 on the power play; no team had more than nine power plays in an NHL game this season.
Game 2 hero Brad Marchand, who scored the double-overtime winner Saturday in Edmonton, opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the postseason. It was the start to a bad night for Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who drifted way out of position, allowing Marchand an open net to shoot the puck into less than a minute into Game 3.
Skinner allowed five goals on 23 shots before he was pulled in favor of Calvin Pickard after Aaron Ekblad’s power-play goal 3:27 into the third period. The Oilers goalie was badly outplayed by Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped all but one of the 33 shots he faced.
Sam Bennett turned in a tour-de-force game at both ends of the rink again for the Panthers. He scored his League-leading 14th postseason goal on a second-period breakaway that made it 4-1, had six hits, and took part in a scrap with Edmonton forward Trent Frederic midway through the third period.
Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, as did Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues. Eetu Luostarinen had two assists, and 12 Florida skaters had at least one point.
Corey Perry scored a power-play goal early in the second period for the Oilers, who received nothing from superstar forwards Connor McDavid (no points; two shots on goal; minus-1) and Leon Draisaitl (no points; no shots; minus-2).
The teams will have two days off before the Panthers host Game 4 at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.
3 takeaways after Panthers rout Oilers 6-1 in Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final
1. Turning point
Game 3 had a clear turning point. After Florida owned the puck (except for one excellent Edmonton power play) and took a 2-0 lead in the first period, backed by a convincing 68.69 percent expected goals share 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick, the Oilers got right back into the game on Perry’s power-play putback 1:40 into the second.
Just 80 seconds later, Reinhart snapped a shot between a defenseman’s legs and beat Skinner to restore Florida’s two-goal lead. It was demoralizing for the visitors and immediately brought the raucous home crowd back to life.
A bit more than four minutes later, Bennett almost single-handedly finished off the Oilers. Bennett delivered two big hits in his defensive zone, then sped up ice to take a head-man pass from Verhaeghe after an Oilers turnover at the blue line. On a clear breakaway, Bennett didn’t miss, beating Skinner up high with a forehand finish to make it 4-1 at 7:46.
Those two goals in a 6:06 span buried the Oilers, who’s overall game devolved from there …
2. Oilers become unglued in unsightly performance
It’s not like the Oilers weren’t a mess all night. But as soon as the game got out of hand, so did their on-ice actions. They sought retribution against an irritating opponent at every turn, casting the game plan and rule book aside.
They took four penalties in the first period, including two by Evander Kane, an undisciplined too many men on the ice minor, and a goalie interference call against Viktor Arvidsson, who didn’t even try and hide the fact that he skated through the crease and knocked down Bobrovsky.
The Panthers aren’t choirboys by any stretch of the imagination. They play right on the edge — and cross over it — for 60 (or more) minutes a night, every night. But they’ve perfected being a pain the ass and using that gritty, irritating style all the way to the Stanley Cup championship last spring. The Oilers tried to channel their inner-most Panthers and it backfired badly. They embarrassed themselves Monday.
Jake Walman was much more interested in mixing it up and being a tough guy instead of playing his usual solid two-way game, which, yes, includes physicality, but rarely crosses over into stupidity as it did in Game 3. Kane finished with four penalties for 16 minutes. Kasperi Kapanen took a late cheap-shot cross-check penalty against Luostarinen. Frederic cheap-shotted Bennett — though, to be fair, Bennett’s had his share of being on the other side of that kind of stuff throughout these playoffs.
For sure, the Oilers are a tougher team to play against than in previous iterations during the McDavid-Draisaitl era. But what took place Monday is not a winning formula at all for them.
3. Aaron Ekblad rings cash register
Ekblad had another impactful performance Monday. The veteran defenseman scored his fourth postseason goal, was credited with five hits, took a double minor for roughing against Walman late in the third period and logged 22:28 TOI. He also hammered McDavid with a shoulder-to-shoulder hit that upended the best player in the world.
The 29-year-old’s snarl and skill are a big part of the Panthers run this spring. A year ago, still not 100 percent after shoulder surgery, Ekblad played a big role, but didn’t make as big an impact, when the Panthers defeated the Oilers in seven games to win the Stanley Cup.
His timing couldn’t be better. Ekblad is a pending unrestricted free agent July 1, and he’d be the best available defenseman if the Panthers allow him to test the open market. No matter what, he — like UFA teammate Bennett — is set to make some serious coin this summer.
