The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Thursday night. The Panthers lead 3-0 in the best-of-seven series and can capture their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history on Saturday night in Edmonton.
In the first period, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead on a 4-on-4 goal with 1:02 to go. Aleksander Barkov stole the puck at the top of the Florida zone and skated with it to the right point. He connected a cross-ice pass to Gustav Forsling at the top of the Oilers zone. Forsling sent a diagonal pass from above the left circle and it was redirected by Sam Reinhart in the crease area past Stuart Skinner for his ninth playoff goal.
Edmonton evened it up 1-1 at the 1:49 mark of the second period. Adam Hentique angled a pass from his own blue line to the center circle Warren Foegele went on a breakaway and snapped a shot from the high slot by Sergei Bobrovsky for his second tally of the postseason.
Florida moved ahead 2-1 at 9:12. Eetu Luostarinen fed the puck from the end wall and Vladimir Tarasenko placed in a forehand shot from the top of the crease for his fourth goal of he playoffs.
It became 3-1 for the Cats with 6:03 remaining in the second by two former Calgary Flames. Matthew Tkachuk got to the loose puck in the right circle and centered it. Sam Bennett scored his seventh postseason goal on a snap shot from the top of the crease. Tkachuk picked up his first point in the series while Bennett now has a six-game point streak.
Florida increased it to 4-1 with 4:29 left in the second. Evan Rodrigues made a square pass at the top of the Edmonton zone. Barkov went up the middle and snapped a shot from the slot area for his seventh goal of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Reinhart was credited with a secondary assist on the play. Barkov set a Panthers franchise history with his eighth multi-point game in one postseason.
The Oilers pulled the contest to 4-2 at the 6:02 mark of the third period. Darnell Nurse took a shot from the left wing which was saved. Connor McDavid carried the puck around the Panthers cage and passed it out. Philip Broberg fired a snap shot from the right-circle dot that went into the net for his second tally of the postseason.
Edmonton closed it to 4-3 with 5:17 left in the third. McDavid sent a pass and Brett Kulak released a shot from the left circle. It was deflected in by Ryan McLeod from the crease area for his second goal of the playoffs.
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