The Florida Panthers are now one win away from hoisting the Stanley Cup for the very first time in their franchise’s 31-year history. The Panthers brought a 2-0 series lead to Alberta after dominating the Oilers defensively back in Florida. Edmonton is known for having one of, if not the best home advantages in all of hockey. Winning there any time of year is extremely difficult, let alone in the final series of the NHL season, so the Panthers knew this would be no easy task.
For the first time in this series, it felt like both teams were playing at the same level as opposed to Florida physically dominating the Oilers. Towards the end of the first period, both teams were issued a penalty resulting in a 4 on 4, a scenario that favors the Oilers. With one less player on defense, it gives Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl more room to operate and, in theory, should give them the better chance to score. But the script flipped when Aaron Ekbald poked away the puck marvelously from Evan Bouchard which led to immediate pressure, and a subsequent goal from Sam Reinhart to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
The second period belonged to Florida. Even with the Oilers evening it up at one apiece after Adam Henrique assisted a Warren Foegele goal, the Panthers scored three unanswered goals. Three goals that seemingly crushed the Oilers Stanley Cup hopes. Florida broke the Oilers defense in the second twenty, any similarity we saw in the first period was gone. The second period was a microcosm of the series. While Edmonton has more “star-power” than the Panthers, Florida wins the more important battle at goaltender. On two of the three goals scored in the second, Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner made crucial mistakes that cost his team. For example, Vladimir Tarasenko scored the Panthers second goal on what was essentially an open net. The reason being, Skinner was shifted too far towards the puck that was being held behind the net, which left the back door wide open for a trailing Tarasenko. Skinner was simply out of position and that has been the difference in games one through three. Skinner played well in games 1 & 2, but Bobrovsky was better in those games and again last night. Bobrovsky hasn’t made the mental errors that Skinner has in the past three games. That, in my opinion, is why this series sits where it sits.
The Oilers looked hollow and desperate in the third period. Sometimes playing with that mindset can help you leave everything on the ice. In this case, it helped the Oilers get back in this game. Ray Ferraro said it on the broadcast, the Oilers really just needed one goal within the final fourteen minutes to spark something. And they got it. While Connor McDavid has still not found the back of the net in this series, he did his part assisting Philip Broberg and then Ryan McLeod in goals that brought the deficit to one. The energy and momentum completely flipped. The crowd was back in it, and the Oilers were just one goal away from completing a ridiculous comeback considering the circumstances. Ryan McLeod had a golden opportunity in the waning minutes where he found himself face-to-face with Bobrovsky and a chance to tie the game. But Sergei made a Sergei save with his left pad that stymied a goal that could have completely changed the series. The Panthers did what they do best and milked out the remaining seconds by pinning the puck to the boards and holding on for dear life, and they now lead the Stanley Cup Final Series three games to none.
It’s never over ’til it’s over, right? But the Oilers have quite the mountain to climb if they want to etch their name in hockey history. Game 4 of this series is tomorrow night, puck drop at 7 PM CT on ABC
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