Panthers Hold On To Defeat Oilers, Take 3-0 Lead In Stanley Cup Final – Hockey Writers – NHL News
The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 to take a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Panthers opened the scoring in the first half with a goal by Sam Reinhart. It was his ninth goal in the playoffs (and 66th of 2023-24, including the regular season), moving him behind Carter Verhaeghe for the team lead and two behind the franchise record set by Matthew Tkachuk last year (11 in. 2023).
Warren Foegele tied the game with a goal in the second period; It marked his first goal since Game 1 of the 2024 First Round; 18 games.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored his fourth Stanley Cup Final goal to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead, the second-most by any Panthers player and the second-most by any player in the series behind Corey Perry (7).
Sam Bennett extended the Panthers lead to 3-1 in the second half. Bennett scored Matthew Tkachuk's third goal for the Panthers in their first playoff game in Alberta since sweeping the Calgary Flames in Game 2 of the 2020 First Round against the Dallas Stars (also played at Rogers Place during the “bubble”).
After Aleksandar Barkov's goal made it 4-1, Philip Broberg scored to give the Oilers a two-goal lead in the third period. Barkov recorded his eighth multi-point game of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs and established the Panthers' mark for most in a single postseason.
Ryan McLeod brought the Oilers within one with a goal with just over five minutes left in the third period, but the Oilers couldn't get the next goal to even the game.
News and notes
On Thursday, Barkov played for the Panthers against the Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. Barkov's status was uncertain after he hit Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl in the third period of Tuesday's 4-1 Game 2 win. This song caused the Panthers forward and captain to miss the last 9:28 of the game.
Draisaitl received a minor penalty for fouling Barkov.
“First of all, I think we all know that I'm not a player who plays with the intention of causing harm in any way,” Draisaitl said on Thursday. “I have no history of that. I'm not a player who enjoys that part of the game, hurting other players and stuff like that.”
Barkov won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive player for the second time this season and was a key part of shutting down Oilers stars Connor McDavid and Draisaitl in two games.
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