Panthers In Control of Oilers, Barkov Takes Shot to Head

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers may have lost captain Sasha Barkov to injury Monday night, but a pair of goals from Evan Rodrigues gave his team control of the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-1 win.

Barkov took an elbow to the head from Leon Draisaitl — which was looked at and given a 2-minute minor for roughing at 10:32 of the third — and did not return.

Rodrigues got his second of the game on the ensuing power play, redirecting a pass from Anton Lundell in the slot to make it 3-1.

The Panthers take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series for the next two games in Edmonton.

Sergei Bobrovsky, who had 32 saves in Saturday’s shutout, made 18 saves on Monday as Florida held the Oilers in check for much of the night.

Edmonton went into the second with seven shots on goal in a 1-1 game.

The Oilers picked up the pace in the third — but only after Rodrigues gave the Panthers their first lead of the night at 3:11 of the period.

Edmonton scored its first goal of the series at 11:17 of the first period.

It came on the first shot of the game for the Oilers with Mattias Ekholm beating Bobrovsky.

Florida trailed by a goal up until 9:34 of the second when Niko Mikkola one-timed a beauty of a drop pass from Lundell.

The Panthers beat Stuart Skinner again, this time a rough turnover led to Rodrigues’ goal when he one-timed what was a nice unintended pass from Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard.

It was the second goal by Rodrigues in this series.

Aaron Ekblad made it 4-1 with an empty-net goal with 2:28 left.

The Panthers will travel to Alberta in the coming days with Game 3 on Thursday night.

Florida, which held its first 1-0 series lead in its history in the Final, is now two wins away from the Stanley Cup.

Monday was Florida’s third win in the Final in 11 games; last year, the Panthers were down 0-2 after the first two games of the Final in Vegas.

GOALS OF GAME 2

• Oilers 1, Panthers 0 (11:17, 1st): Edmonton gets a goal off its first shot of the night, Mattias Ekholm scores after getting sprung from Connor McDavid from deep in the defensive zone.
• Panthers 1, Oilers 1 (9:34, 2nd): Niko Mikkola hammers a drop pass from Anton Lundell and we have a brand new game in Sunrise.
• Panthers 2, Oilers 1 (3:11, 3rd): Florida puts more pressure on the Oilers with defenseman Evan Bouchard turning the puck over by putting it right on Evan Rodrigues’ stick. Bad place to put it. E-Rod gets his second in as many games.
• Panthers 3, Oilers 1 (12:26, 3rd PP): Rodrigues gets his second of the night, redirecting a Lundell pass in the slot and through.
• Panthers 4, Oilers 1 (17:32, 3rd EN): Aaron Ekblad ices it and insures a 2-0 lead for Florida as it heads to Edmonton.

GR’S 3 STARS OF GAME 2

1. Evan Rodrigues, Florida

2. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida

3. Anton Lundell, Florida

2024 STANLEY CUP FINAL

EDMONTON OILERS VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS 

GAME 3

• When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Rogers Place; Edmonton, Alberta
• National TV: ABC
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Series Schedule, All Games 8 p.m. on ABC — Game 1: @Florida 3, Edmonton 0; Game 2: Edmonton @Florida, Monday; Game 3: Florida at Edmonton, Thursday; Game 4:Florida at Edmonton, Saturday June 15; Game 5*: Edmonton at Florida, Tuesday June 18; Game 6*:Florida at Edmonton, Friday June 21; Game 7*: Edmonton at Florida, Monday June 24. (*) – If Necessary
• How They Got Here — Florida: d. Tampa Bay 4-1, Boston 4-2, New York Rangers 4-2; Edmonton: d. Los Angeles 4-1, Vancouver 4-3, Dallas 4-2.
• This Season (Florida Won 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 5, Oilers 3 (Nov. 20). At Edmonton: Panthers 5, Oilers 2 (Dec. 17).
• Last Season: Edmonton Won 2-0
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-16-0, 3 ties
• Postseason History: First Meeting