Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart each scored and added an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves, none bigger than his left pad stop on Ryan McLeod with 4:13 remaining, to lead the Florida Panthers to the brink of glory after a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place.
After missing the final 9:28 of Game 2, Barkov played a pivotal role in the game’s opening goal. Barkov poked the puck away from Evan Bouchard at the Florida blue line and then gained the Edmonton zone, where he established firm possession along the boards before crossing to Gustav Forsling. Forsling sent a crisp pass towards Sam Reinhart, who put his blade on the ice and redirected the puck off the post and in with 1:02 remaining in the first period.
Adam Henrique would sweep Sam Bennett’s missed slapper, that caromed all the way up to the blue line, to spring Warren Foegele on the breakaway that he converted by beating Bobrovksy between his glove and pad 1:48 into the second. Bennett got frustrated for a second after missing the quality look and couldn’t get back in time to catch Foegele.
Puck luck would swing the Panthers way midway through the frame. Stuart Skinner would misplay Anton Lundell’s dump in and Eetu Luostarinen wheeled his way by Cody Ceci and knocked the puck in front to Vladimir Tarasenko, who drove it home to give the Cats the lead back at the 9:12 mark. Tarasenko now has a goal in each series.
Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk harried Darnell Nurse into a turnover in front off his net and Tkachuk sent a pretty back door pass to Bennett. This time Yosemite Sam didn’t miss, roofing a shot over a helpless Skinner to double the lead at 13:57. The assist was Tkachuk’s first point of the Final and ended a four-game run of him being held off the score sheet.
The Panthers final goal of the night was a beauty. Reinhart sped to a loose puck in his own zone and then hit Barkov in stride to create a 2-on-1 break. Barkov one-touched to Evan Rodrigues, who returned it to the captain to send him in on Skinner with a full head of steam and Barkov unleashed a perfectly-placed shot that bulged the twine blocker side.
Down three in the third, the Oilers would get a break at 6:02 when Connor McDavid fed Philip Broberg in the right circle and his shot, that was high and wide, struck Niko Mikkola’s elbow and found it’s way over the goal line. Nurse would collect the secondary assist on Broberg’s second playoff goal.
Edmonton pulled within one with 5:17 remaining in regulation to make it a bit of a nervy finish. Following some hard work along the boards, McDavid crossed from the lower right side to the Brett Kulak at the left point. Kulak sent the puck tumbling towards the cage and McLeod was able to deflect deflect down and in with Bennett trying in vain to defend him.
After Bobrovsky made the aforementioned big save on McLeod, the Panthers largely suffocated Edmonton’s attack the rest of the way to run its winning streak to six games, leaving them one victory away from hoisting Lord Stanley’s old silver mug.
The Cup will be in the building on Saturday night. Finish them!
Stanley Stuff
- A beastly performance from Aleksander Barkov, who delivered his eighth multipoint game of the playoffs. Barkov’s effort to set up Florida’s first goal was key as the Oilers were gathering momentum as the first period went on. His goal looked to be the icing on the cake at the time, but the fine finish ended up being his fourth postseason game-winner.
- Evan Rodrigues’ primary assist on Barkov’s winner gave him points in all three games of the Final. Rodrigues and Barkov are the only players in the series with four points.
- First Star Sergei Bobrovsky was sensational throughout, raising his record to 15-5 in the postseason. Bobrovsky made 28 of his 32 saves over a very busy first forty minutes.
- Connor McDavid assisted on both Edmonton tallies and finished with a game-high five shots, but like Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, he has not been able to solve Bobrovsky.
- Sam Reinhart (1G/1A) and Anton Lundell (1A) became the fourth and fifth Panthers to hit 15 points during the postseason. Reinhart finally got his first of the series and Lundell has quietly posted five points in the last five games.