Saturday, June 14, 2025

Panthers Knock Off Oilers In Game 5

     The Florida Panthers rolled by the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Saturday night. The Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and can capture their second straight Stanley Cup title on Tuesday night with Game 6 in Sunrise.
     The Panthers set an NHL record with their 10th postseason road victory in one year. Brad Marchand became first player to score five away goals in a Stanley Cup Final since Jack Adams in 1922. 
     Florida rolled out to a 1-0 advantage at the 9:12 mark of the first period. Anton Lundell tapped the puck ahead on a center-circle faceoff. Marchand collected the puck, raced down the middle of the ice and snapped a shot from the inner left circle by Calvin Pickard for his ninth goal in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final and 65th career playoff goal. The Cats scored first for the fourth straight game in this series. 
     The Panthers expanded it to 2-0 with 1:54 remaining in the first. Sam Bennett flipped a cross-ice in the neutral zone. Matthew Tkachuk entered the Oilers zone and had his shot from the left circle blocked. Bennett followed and placed in a snap shot from inner left circle for his NHL-leading 15th postseason goal. He has 13 goals on the road during the playoffs which is an NHL single-season record. Bennett also continued a six-game road goal streak. Marchand and Bennett became the first teammates to score in the first five games of a Stanley Cup Final since 1973 by Frank Mahovlich and Yvan Cournoyer of the Montreal Canadiens. 
     Neither team was able to score during the second period. It was the only scoreless frame in this series beside the first overtime in Game 2. 
     In the third period, the Cats took a 3-0 lead at the 5:12 mark. Eetu Luostarinen one-handed a lead pass from just inside the Panthers blue line. Marchand sprinted from the red line, through the left circle and took a wrist shot from the crease area for his second goal of the contest and sixth goal of this series. 
     Edmonton made it 3-1 at 7:24 of the period. Mattias Ekholm backhanded a drop pass from the high slot and Evan Bouchard sent a diagonal pass from the top of the zone. Connor McDavid carried the puck from the left circle and waltzed by Sergei Bobrovsky from the left of the crease with a forehand shot for his first tally of the series. It was his seventh goal in the postseason. 
     It became 4-1 for Florida at 8:10 of the third. Aleksander Barkov stole the puck on the end wall and backhanded a pass to the middle. Sam Reinhart scored his seventh goal of the playoffs on a snap shot from the top left circle. Reinhart extended his goal-scoring streak to three games. 
     The Oilers pulled Pickard for an extra skater with 4:57 to go. They scored with 3:22 remaining and trailed 4-2. Darnell Nurse pushed it ahead from the left point and it grazed off Corey Perry. Leon Draisaitl ripped a shot from the left wing that was saved. The rebound went all the way to the top of the zone and Perry rifled a slap shot for his 10th postseason goal. 
     Pickard was pulled again with 2:25 left. Luostarinen flicked a 155-foot shot from his own zone into and empty net with 1:19 left for his fifth playoff tally to give Florida a 5-2 lead. 

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