Panthers Took Oilers Out of their Game Early in Game 3

SUNRISE — It took all of 56 seconds for the Florida Panthers to cause the Edmonton Oilers to forget about discipline and get thrown completely off their game.

When Brad Marchand roofed one past Stuart Skinner in the opening minute, Skinner must have still been thinking about the last shot he saw from Marchand which ended Game 2 in double overtime.

It was downhill from that point on for Edmonton.

Meanwhile, the Panthers did what they do best: Score goals, of which they have 14 in the three games.

Aside from scoring, Florida is also good at brining relentless checking which has kept Edmonton on the outside. The Panthers are also pretty adept at getting under their opponent’s skin.

Before the first period ended, Evander Kane was called for cross checking Gus Forsling, then for high-sticking Marchand.

The Oilers also took a too many men on the ice penalty, not to mention Viktor Arvidsson being nailed for taking a run at Sergei Bobrovsky.

In the third period, Kane took a slashing penalty against Carter Verhaeghe which also earned him a game misconduct.

With the game out of hand, frustration took hold, starting with Trent Frederic cross checking the always peaceful Sam Bennett from behind.

All hell broke loose after that.

To add insult to injury, when all the penalties were meted out, the Panthers ended up with a five-on-three advantage.

Evan Rodrigues tallied Florida’s third power-play goal in 11 attempts.

This came against Calvin Pickard who had relieved Skinner.

In all, the third period featured nine roughing penalties, fighting majors to Darnell Nurse and Jonah Gadjovich, and eight misconducts.

“We didn’t play very well,’’ Kane said. “We have nobody to blame but ourselves. We can definitely be a lot better. … We know they pressure. We know they pinch on the wall. I think it’s just about trying to execute the right game plan against that to counteract it.”

Connor McDavid explained that the Oilers were chasing the game from the start which is not the way to win.

“Obviously, when you start in the first with four penalties, almost half the period you’re killing,’’ McDavid said. “It’s not a good way to get to your game.”

He was positive about the team’s chances, however.

They are actually better off than they were last year after three games when Florida took a commanding 3-0 lead before the Oilers stormed back to force a Game 7.

“It was not our best at all,” McDavid said. “I don’t think our best has shown up all series long, but it’s coming. Shift the focus to finding a way to get a win in Game 4.”

Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch felt his team was in the game until Sam Reinhart’s second period goal.

After that, the Oilers lost their composure.

“We scored a power play goal in the second period,’’ Knoblauch said. “Make it 2-1 and alright, now we’ve got a game. Next shift and they [Reinhart] score. I think that was about it for us. I don’t think we really found our footing after that third goal.”

As for the third period mayhem, most of which was instigated by his players out of frustration, Knoblauch chalked up to “boys will be boys.”

Paul Maurice recognizes how quickly things can change in this league, so he was not about to gloat over the win.

There’s a long way to go.

When asked what the Panthers were doing right to get under the skin of the Oilers and cause them to take so many penalties,  he was careful not to create bulletin board material.

“I have no idea,” he said. “I wear a suit. No idea.”

The Oilers are an excellent team.

They have two full days which will not be spent enjoying the Florida sunshine.

Expect them to come out flying Thursday.

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 4

EDMONTON OILERS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS

Florida Leads Best-of-7 Series 2-1

• When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV: TNT/truTV 
• National Streaming: Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys), SiriusXM
• Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
• Series Schedule (all games at 8 p.m., TNT) — Game 1: @Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT); Game 2: Florida 5, @Edmonton 4 (2OT); Game 3: @Florida 6, Edmonton 1; Game 4: @Florida, Thursday; Game 5: @Edmonton Saturday; Game 6*: @Florida, Tuesday June 17; Game 7*: @Edmonton, Friday June 20.
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5), Dallas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• Regular Season: Panthers won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties