Panthers Turn It On Late, Beat Oilers In Wild Cup Final Rematch

For those anticipating a rematch of the Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and Oilers, Monday’s heavyweight tilt in Edmonton were not disappointed.

The game between the two Final foes was a wild one, indeed, with five lead changes — including twice in the third period.

In the end, it was a Carter Verhaeghe goal with 6:55 left that led the Panthers to a 6-5 win.

It was a much different pace than Florida’s 2-1 win in Game 7 in which Sam Reinhart’s goal with 4:49 left in the second was the final one of the season.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves in the win; Stuart Skinner made 22.

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Florida is 2-2-0 on a trip that wraps up Wednesday in Minnesota. The Oilers had won five straight and eight of nine.

Florida snapped its scoring drought early, Jesper Boqvist stealing the puck from a stumbling Evan Bouchard and racing in to get his first shorthanded goal and make it 1-0 at 2:42.

The Panthers had gone 2 hours, 28:43 since Sasha Barkov — who missed his second straight game with an illness — scored in Seattle last Tuesday night.

Florida’s inability to stop Vancouver or Calgary off the rush drew the ire of coach Paul Maurice — and Edmonton did more of the same.

The Oilers’ first goal came off a Matthew Tkachuk turnover in the offensive zone, Zach Hyman scoring from the slot on a pass from Connor McDavid.

Tkachuk made it 2-1 with a skate deflection, but Edmonton scored three straight in a span of 3:04 in the second to take a 4-2 lead.

Florida made it 4-3 on Gus Forsling’s point shot through traffic late in the second, setting up what was a wild third.

The Panthers tied the score at 4 on a Niko Mikkola goal, with Reinhart making it 5-4 30 seconds later on a crazy shot from behind the goal-line that he put in off the mask of Skinner.

It did not take long, however, for the Oilers to tie it at 5.

The game stayed that way until Verhaeghe scored off a Sam Bennett feed with 6:55 left.

— Hyman, who scored twice, left the game in the second after getting struck in the face by a puck fired by Bouchard.

He was back in the game wearing a fishbowl mask to start the third and almost got his hat trick but was stopped by Bobrovsky.

— McDavid ended with three assists.

— The Panthers extended its regular-season point streak at Rogers Place to 10 games dating to Jan. 11, 2015 (7-0-3).

It is the longest active road run against the Oilers by any opponent. Toronto went 9-0-1 in Edmonton from 2016-21.

HOW THEY SCORED

• Panthers 1, Oilers 0 (2:42 1st SH): Jesper Boqvist picks the puck off Evan Bouchard, drives in on Stuart Skinner and breaks Florida’s scoring drought.
• Oilers 1, Panthers 1 (15:13 1st): Zach Hyman gets his first of the night, scoring from the slot off a pass from Connor McDavid.
• Panthers 2, Oilers 1 (19:32 1st PP): Matthew Tkachuk nudges a Carter Verhaeghe shot with his skate and gives Florida the lead back.
• Oilers 2, Panthers 2 (6:20 2nd): A collision at their own blue leads the Oilers back on the rush with Hyman rushing through the zone and beating Sergei Bobrovsky.
• Oilers 3, Panthers 2 (7:03 2nd): The Panthers fail to clear the puck out of their zone and Connor Brown scores on a sharp-angled shot from the right hash.
• Oilers 4, Panthers 2 (9:24 2nd PP): Leon Draisaitl hammers one from the right circle for Edmonton’s third goal in 3:04.
• Oilers 4, Panthers 3 (17:55 2nd): Gus Forsling throws one in from the blue through traffic with the puck hitting Skinner then ricocheting off Ty Emberson who was battling Sam Reinhart in front of the net.
• Panthers 4, Oilers 4 (6:53 3rd): Anton Lundell feeds Niko Mikkola with a slick backhanded feed and the Florida defenseman ties it up.
• Panthers 5, Oilers 4 (7:23 3rd): Reinhart scores an incredible goal, outracing Mattias Ekholm to the puck and firing a shot from behind the goal line and off the mask of Skinner and in.
• Oilers 5, Panthers 5 (8:02 3rd): Kasperi Kapanen finds a loose puck on the side of the cage and jams it home to tie the score again.
• Panthers 6, Oilers 5 (13:05 3rd): Carter Verhaeghe one-times a feed from Sam Bennett to give Florida the lead back. The lead stuck this time.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Carter Verhaeghe, Florida
• 2. Zach Hyman, Edmonton
• 3. Sam Reinhart, Florida

ON DECK: GAME NO. 33

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT MINNESOTA WILD 

• When: Wednesday, 9:30 p.m.
• Where: Xcel Energy Center; St. Paul, Minn.
• Local TV: None
• National TV: TNT
• Streaming: HBO/Max 
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season: Wild won 2-0
• This Season (Wild lead 1-0) — At Minnesota: Wednesday. At Florida: Wild 5, Panthers 1 (Oct. 18).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Minnesota leads 21-10-2, 1 tie
• Up Next for the Panthers: Friday vs. St. Louis Blues, 7 p.m. (Local TV)