EDMONTON — It was not supposed to be this easy for the Florida Panthers.
Their travel to Edmonton on Wednesday for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, which featured hours of flight delays while rain inundated South Florida and a landing in Alberta just 22 hours before puck drop of Thursday’s game, may well have been the most difficult part. The Edmonton Oilers flew Tuesday from Fort Lauderdale and spent two nights in their own beds before Game 3, aiming to be as rested and prepared as possible.
The Panthers pulled out another victory Thursday at Rogers Place, scoring three goals in the span of just over six minutes in the second period, then holding off a third-period charge from the Oilers for a 4-3 win and a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. They are one win away from their first Stanley Cup.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky again frustrated Edmonton with 32 saves on 35 shots. Stuart Skinner made 19 saves for the Oilers.
Two late goals for Edmonton made for a tense final stretch, but the Panthers held on.
“It’s just we keep staying with the moment,” Bobrovsky said. “Obviously it’s a great win for us, and we enjoy it tonight and get ready for the next moment.”
After losing both games in Florida, where they scored just one goal over the first two games, the Oilers anticipated getting a boost from their home crowd Thursday — but also knew that they would have to match the energy with their play on the ice.
“It’s going to be special, but we have to give them a reason to be special, right?” Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said Thursday morning. “We have to come out and put our game in order and find our game early and just be better, really.”
In the opening minutes, the sellout crowd’s ferocity didn’t appear to translate to the ice. Neither team came out flying, but if one had the edge early, it was Florida. Edmonton scratched out some momentum with a penalty kill after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was boxed for interference just 4:30 into the game — two shorthanded chances for Connor Brown particularly sparked the crowd — but the Panthers, in the assured fashion that has become their trademark in their playoffs, just waited for their moment.
Bobrovsky’s impact on the series, if it wasn’t already obvious after his 32-save shutout in Game 1, crystallized into view again during an Edmonton power play midway through the opening period.
Connor McDavid, the Oilers’ superstar, had a point-blank look from the low slot and shot it wide while looking at Bobrovsky for an opening. Draisaitl, who has become nearly automatic from a sharp angle at the bottom of the right circle, was stoned by Bobrovsky moments later — a stop that had Draisaitl looking to the rafters in disbelief.
“They are a very skillful offensive team,” Bobrovsky said. “They’re smart guys, and they’re going to make plays. You just focus on each and every one and it’s a fun challenge.”
At four-on-four late in the frame, with Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk and Edmonton’s Brett Kulak off for roughing, the Panthers’ moment arrived. Aleksander Barkov, who left Game 2 with an injury after a high hit by Draisaitl, forced Evan Bouchard into a turnover at the blue line and fended off Bouchard on his way up the ice before feeding the puck across to Gustav Forsling.
Forsling took a few strides toward the net before unleashing a low, hard pass onto the tape of Sam Reinhart’s stick, which was at the front of the net for the redirect past Skinner. The crowd, which had been wavering on its vociferousness, went silent.
Warren Foegele brought it back to its feet with a breakaway goal to tie the game at 1 just 1:49 into the second period — Edmonton’s first goal at five-on-five in the series — but the momentum didn’t last.
Vladimir Tarasenko capitalized on a misplay behind the net by Skinner midway through the second to put the Panthers ahead, and they didn’t look back. Eetu Luostarinen beat Edmonton’s Cody Ceci to the puck along the back boards after Skinner had to leave the puck behind, and Tarasenko crashed to the front of the net for a slam-dunk finish.
Just over four minutes later, it was Sam Bennett with a slam-dunk finish of his own, this time at the far post off a feed from Tkachuk. And less than two minutes after that, Barkov roofed a wrist shot over Skinner off the rush — Florida’s third goal in the span of 6:19, flipping what had been a tight-checking matchup into a blowout.
“It was big for us,” Bennett said. “Obviously, goals are tough to come by, especially in the Cup finals. It was a big period for us. I think it just started with our defense, and that’s how we were able to generate that offense.”
The Oilers cut the lead to two with a tally from Philip Broberg at the 6:02 mark of the third period and made things even more interesting with a goal from Ryan McLeod with just 5:17 remaining.
“The offense generated in the third period was more contextual,” Florida Coach Paul Maurice said. “We got a big lead, then the first one goes in off [defenseman Niko Mikkola], off the post, almost behind it. Kind of a bad break, and you don’t like that. The next one’s a good tip, but it’s not a three-pass play or a nine guys at the net kind of play. … The best chance that Edmonton had didn’t go in. That’s Sergei Bobrovsky in the net.”
The crowd, fully re-engaged by the comeback bid, protested the lack of a penalty call with two minutes left. Edmonton pulled Skinner for an extra attacker with 1:49 left, but Florida held the Oilers at bay in the final stretch.
Now one win away from their first Stanley Cup, the Panthers can sense how close they are — but they know there’s work to be done Saturday.
“Obviously, it’s there for us, but you don’t think about it. You can’t think about it,” Barkov said. “All you have to do is just take one moment at a time. Right now, we’ve got to enjoy this win. We know we battled really hard today and had a good win. Just enjoy this. Tomorrow, we recover and get ready for the game.”