Florida Panthers Needed a Win in Their Stanley Cup Rematch

The Florida Panthers really needed a win Monday night.

The Edmonton Oilers did as well, only for a different reason.

Florida, the defending Stanley Cup champions, were back in Edmonton once again trying to end a two-game slide.

Back in June, they lost a third straight game.

Monday night, thanks to a fantastic performance in the third period, they did not.

Obviously, Monday’s game did not have the high stakes that the Stanley Cup Final did when these two high-end teams met last.

But it certainly was entertaining.

The Panthers, which had been shut out in their previous two games, scored three times in the third period and pulled out a 6-5 win over the Oilers.

Edmonton did not get whatever sliver of revenge a win would have brought on Monday night, nor did the Oilers feel too good about things after having their five-game winning streak snapped after feeling pretty good about things midway through.

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Florida, which lost its final two games of the Final held in Edmonton, found itself down in the second but not out.

The Panthers’ win was their first third-period comeback of the season: Florida is 1-10-1 upon trailing going into the third.

“It was a weird one tonight,’’ Paul Maurice exhaled. “We had some things we wanted to try and accomplish and I think we did that.’’

It was not a pretty game — on either side — for sure.

The Panthers fell behind 4-2 in the third after Edmonton scored three goals within a span of 3:02.

The Oilers got goals off the rush, off failed clears, the usual stuff.

But the Panthers did not pack up for Minnesota early.

Instead, they got a goal from Gus Forsling late in the second to make it 4-3 going into the third — and then came out looking a lot like the Panthers their fans have come to love over the past few seasons.

Florida forechecked as if the third period was a playoff game, holding the Oilers to just a jammed-home goal which made it 5-5.

“We are confident in what we are doing and each other,’’ said Jesper Boqvist, who made it 1-0 with an early shorthanded goal.

“We just keep working all the time. Today it paid off and it was good to see.”

The Panthers took the lead at 5-4 on a crazy goal from Sam Reinhart.

Reinhart outskated Mattias Ekholm for a puck along the end boards, and appeared to be circling around the net when he fired off a shot from below the goal line and banked it off the head of goalie Stuart Skinner.

Florida was able to retake the lead on a Carter Verhaeghe goal with 6:55 left.

In a game like this, no lead is safe — especially one goal against a team like the Oilers with almost 7 minutes left to play.

Again, the Panthers clamped down.

They do, as Verhaeghe said, have a few things to clean up after this one.

But no one seemed too worried about that not after taking down the powerful Oilers, a team playing as well as any in the NHL after a painful loss to the Panthers last June.

Now, the Panthers are not some peewee team.

They remain one of the best teams in the NHL and a strong contender to defend their crown.

But after scoring just one goal in three games on this road trip, the Panthers needed something to go their way.

Monday, a lot did.

“They’re a good team,’’ Reinhart said. “You could see tonight how both teams made it far. They have so much speed and are so high in talent.

“They are going to put some pucks in the net.’’

After a long week, so did the Panthers.

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)