SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Taking advantage of the Edmonton Oilers’ worst performance in several weeks, the defending Florida Panthers pounced on mistakes to win Game 3 in a 6-1 rout Monday night and take a 2-1 series lead.
Brad Marchand became the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of a final, while Sam Bennett added his NHL playoff-leading 14th goal after making a big hit on Edmonton’s Vasily Podkolzin that contributed to the turnover to spring him on a breakaway. Marchand and Bennett have combined to score eight goals for Florida, which was dominant in just about every way.
“We ended up playing what Florida kind of wanted,” said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who got pulled after allowing five goals on 23 shots. “They were great tonight.”
And it was not just Bennett and Marchand. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart each got his first goal of the series, Aaron Ekblad scored to chase Skinner and Evan Rodrigues added the exclamation point in the waning 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.”
At the other end of the ice, Sergei Bobrovsky earned the “Bobby! Bobby!” chants from a fired up South Florida crowd. The two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender known as “Bob” was on his game for the very few quality chances the discombobulated Oilers mustered, making 32 saves.
“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.”
Perry — at 40 the oldest player in the series — beat Bobrovsky with some silky hands for a power-play goal, keeping up this final being a showcase of cagey veterans along with Marchand.
Connor McDavid could not get his team on track, and Edmonton took 15 minors — led by Evander Kane’s three plus a misconduct to add up to 85 penalty minutes — including a brawl that ensued with less than 10 minutes left. Trent Frederic and Darnell Nurse, who fought Jonah Gadjovich, got misconducts that knocked them out of a game with an outcome determined long before.
“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.”
After the final looked as evenly matched as can be with Games 1 and 2 each needing extra time, overtime and then double OT, Game 3 was a lopsided mismatch. The Oilers came unglued to the point Jake Walman resorted to squirting water on Panthers players on their bench from his spot on the visiting side.
The teams have some extra time off before Game 4 on Thursday night, when the Panthers have the chance to take a 3-1 lead and move to the verge of going back to back.
“Game 4 is a really big game,” McDavid said. “It’s a big swing game.”