Panthers at Oilers, Game 3: Barkov, Tarasenko ‘Good to Go’

After a couple days of wondering, the Florida Panthers will be at full strength tonight when they take on the host Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Sasha Barkov, who left Game 2 in the third after taking an elbow from Leon Draisaitl, was back at practice on Wednesday and will play tonight according to coach Paul Maurice.

Vladimir Tarasenko missed Wednesday’s workout but will be back on Florida’s third line tonight.

Evan Rodrigues will play with Barkov and Sam Reinhart on Florida’s top line.

The Panthers hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.

“He’s the leader of our group,’’ Reinhart said of Barkov. “It’s never easy when someone like that goes down, especially in a huge part of the game with nine, 10 minutes left.

“It shows to the character of him and how bad he wants it, as well, to get back and not really miss much else.”

The Panthers arrived in Edmonton a little later than expected yesterday due to the heavy rains which swamped South Florida.

Maurice confirmed players and staff just hung around the Fort Lauderdale IcePlex a little longer than expected — and ate more food than expected.

It actually sounds like the best travel delay ever.

“The coaches put on seven pounds yesterday,’’ Maurice joked. “That’s the only ramification. We ate 12 meals. They got on the plane, we spent an extra hour and a half on the tarmac, whatever it was. They played cards, they laughed.

“Every time one of the trainers walked in and he was soaked from head to toe, he got a standing ovation. The flight was the same length, so we get here at whatever, 8 o’clock instead of 6 o’clock. Our day was not serious.”

Edmonton will have a loud and raucous crowd on hand at Rogers Place tonight as it hosts the Oilers in the Cup Final for the first time since 2006.

The Oilers played across town in the old Rexall Place back then, and lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in that Final.

Edmonton’s new arena did play host to the 2020 Final in which Tampa Bay beat Dallas in a near empty building.

It will not be empty tonight.

“Obviously it was a different experience than it is now,’’ said Carter Verhaeghe, who won the Cup with the Lightning that year.

“With the fans and everything it makes a big difference, having home ice advantage, stuff like that. Nothing but good memories here when you win a Cup. It’s one of the best memories of my hockey career. A lot of good memories here.”

2024 STANLEY CUP FINAL

EDMONTON OILERS VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS 

GAME 3

Panthers Lead Best of 7 Series 2-0

• 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
• Local Betting Odds — Oilers Favored: Money Line (-135); Puck line (-1.5, +185); Over/Under 5.5 (+100/-125). Series Panthers -500
• Series Schedule, All Games 8 p.m. on ABC — Game 1: @Florida 3, Edmonton 0; Game 2: @Florida 4, Edmonton 1; 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

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (2-0) LINES

17 Evan Rodrigues // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

23 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 10 Vladimir Tarasenko

18 Steven Lorentz // 82 Kevin Stenlund // 8 Kyle Okposo

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola //  62 Brandon Montour

91 Oliver Ekman-Larsson // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

41 Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: Nick Cousins, Ryan Lomberg, Tobias Bjornfot, Uvis Balinskis, Josh Mahura, Jonah Gadjovich, Spencer Knight, Rasmus Asplund, Mike Benning, Magnus Hellberg, Matt Kiersted, Will Lockwood, Mackie Samoskevich, Justin Sourdif, Patrick Giles

PROJECTED EDMONTON OILERS (0-2) LINES

93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins // 97 Connor McDavid // 18 Zach Hyman

91 Evander Kane // 29 Leon Draisaitl // 55 Dylan Holloway

37 Warren Foegele // 71 Ryan McLeod // 90 Corey Perry

13 Mattias Janmark // 19 Adam Henrique // 28 Connor Brown

14 Mattias Ekholm // 2 Evan Bouchard

25 Darnell Nurse // 73 Vincent Desharnais

86 Philip Broberg // 27 Brett Kulak

74 Stuart Skinner

30 Calvin Pickard

Scratched: Sam Carrick, Derek Ryan, Sam Gagner, Cody Ceci

Injured: Troy Stecher (ankle)

Edmonton Oilers Lines Courtesy NHL.Com