Panthers Outscore Oilers

     The Florida Panthers returned from a three-game road trip of California and outlasted the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena. Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour made their home debuts with the team. 

     Edmonton(5-11-1) took a 1-0 lead at the 5:59 mark of the first period. Evan Bouchard backhanded a pass from the blue line. Leon Draisaitl fed the puck from the above the right circle and Connor McDavid one-timed a slap shot from the right goal line past Sergei Bobrovsky. It was just the fifth goal of the season for McDavid. 

     The Oilers expanded it to 2-1 at 9:00. Ryan McLeod pushed it from the right-wing boards and Derek Ryan connected a square pass. Evander Kane snapped a shot from the slot area for his eighth goal this season. 

     Florida(12-5-1) cut it to 2-1 on the power play with 9:24 left in the first. Montour touched the pass and Sam Reinhart send a cross-ice backhand pass from the left wing. Carter Verhaeghe settled the puck in the high slot and then released a wrist shot by Calvin Pickard for his eighth goal of the campaign. 

     The Panthers evened it up 2-2 with 4:07 remaining in the period. Kevin Stenlund picked up a loose puck at the top of the zone following an Oilers clearing pass and carried it to the left circle. He dropped the puck off and Nico Mikkola scored his second tally this year on a snap shot from the left-circle dot. 

     In the second period, Edmonton reclaimed the lead 3-2 at 5:00. McDavid was able to score his second goal of the contest on a penalty shot. 

     It became 3-3 at the 6:08 mark. Verhaeghe kicked the puck to his left outside of the Panthers zone. Mikkola brought the puck through the neutral zone and down the left circle. His forehand shot found the inside of the cage for his second tally of the contest. It was the first time in his NHL career that Mikkola had scored twice in a game. 

     The Cats made it 4-3 with 6:18 to go in the second. Eetu Luostarinen passed from the right side of the nest and Stenlund put in a wrist shot from the low right circle for his fifth goal this year. 

     The Oilers pulled their goalie for an extra attacker late in the third period. Sam Bennett put the puck from the left circle into an empty net with 42.6 seconds remaining for a 5-3 lead. It was the first goal and first point for Bennett in the 2023-24 season.