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2025 Stanley Cup Final

March Madness: Panthers Drop Oilers, Win Away from Stanley Cup

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The Florida Panthers played their style of suffocating hockey throughout on Saturday in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the host Edmonton Oilers.

Now, they are a win away from winning the Stanley Cup for the second straight year.

The Panthers scored twice in the opening period, clamped down in the second, then got a second great goal from Brad Marchand in the third en route to a 5-2 win over the Oilers in a crucial Game 5 win.

Florida leads the best-of-7 series 3-2 with Game 6 in Sunrise on Tuesday night in Sunrise.

The Panthers are 10-3 on the road this postseason which ties an NHL record; they have gone 2-1 in Edmonton thus far. Game 7 would be back in Alberta if neccessary.

Saturday, Marchand got things going for the Panthers by jumping aย faceoff win by Anton Lundell at the center dot, rolled toward goalie Calvin Pickard and beat him off the crossbar.

โ€œSometimes when you cheat, you get lucky,โ€™โ€™ Marchand told TNT postgame.

Sam Bennett made it 2-0 with 1:56 of the first when Matthew Tkachukโ€™s initial shot was blocked but the puck went right to Bennett who one-timed it home.

Florida outshot the Oilers 9-3 in the first with Edmonton going the final 10-plus minutes without a single shot on goal.

The Panthers had to play on their heels a little in the second thanks to a pair of penalties.

Edmonton started the second by outshooting the Panthers 8-1 โ€” but things evened out as the period went along.

In the third, Marchand put on a clinic by racing in from the defensive zone, dipping around Walman and then sliding a backhanded offering through the skates of Pickard.

Connor McDavid woke up the crowd by making it 3-1 at 7:24 of the third, only to see Sam Reinhart suck the life out of it with a wrister 46 seconds later.

Corey Perry scored to make it 4-2 with 3:13 remaining โ€” only for Eetu Luostarinen to launch one from deep in the offensive zone and into an empty net to close this one out.

The Panthers have won five games this postseason following a loss.

โ€œWe’ve been pretty good at bouncing back all playoffs,โ€™โ€™ Marchand told Sportsnet. โ€œWe learned a pretty good lesson there last game, and thought we did a much better job in this one.โ€

CUP FINAL GAME 5: PANTHERS / OILERS

  • Marchand is the seventh player in NHL history to record five goals in multiple Stanley Cup Final series (2011). The only player to do so in the past 59 years is Mario Lemieux (five in 1991, 1992).
  • He is now the first with six goals in a single Finals since Esa Tikkanenen did so in 1988. Marchand scored five goals in three games at Edmonton.
  • Bennett is the fifth player in NHL history with a six-game road goal streak in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Mark Scheifele did it last in 2018.
  • Teams that start at home in a best-of-7 Final and were tied going into Game 5 won 77 percent of the time.

GAME 5 SCORING: PANTHERS / OILERS

  • Florida 1, Edmonton o (9:12 1st): Brad Marchand breaks toward the net before Sasha Barkov wins a faceoff at center ice, gets the puck and works toward Calvin Pickard and beats him bardown for his fifth goal of these Finals.
  • Florida 2, Edmonton 0 (18:06 1st): Moments after the Panthers held Edmonton without a shot on the power play, Bennett gets the puck to Matthew Tkachuk off the boards. Tkachukโ€™s shot from the left circle is blocked by Jake Walman โ€” and right onto Bennettโ€™s stick for his 15th of the playoffs.
  • Florida 3, Edmonton 0 (5:12 3rd): Marchand charges in, gets around Walman in the slot and puts a backhanded shot past Pickard.
  • Florida 3, Edmonton 1 (7:24 3rd): Connor McDavid gave the Oilers life, getting a pass from Evan Bouchard and working it in toward the net and beating Sergei Bobrovsky down low.
  • Florida 4, Edmonton 1 (8:10 3rd): That life was short-lived, with Barkov finding Sam Reinhart in the left circle โ€” and No. 13 flings one over Pickardโ€™s shoulder a mere 46 seconds later.
  • Florida 4, Edmonton 2 (16:47 3rd): Corey Perry gets another one to pull the Oilers back within a pair.
  • Florida 5, Edmonton 2 (18:41 3rd EN): Eetu Luostarinen ices Game 5.

FHNโ€™S 3 STARS OF GAME 5

  • 1. Brad Marchand, Florida
  • 2. Sam Bennett, Florida
  • 3. Sasha Barkov, Florida

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 6

EDMONTON OILERS @ FLORIDA PANTHERSย 

Panthers Lead Best-of-7 Series 3-2

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