The Florida Panthers scored three times in the third period to pull out an enthralling 6-5 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place, ending a two-game losing streak that saw the defending Stanley Cup champions unable to turn on the red light in Vancouver and Calgary.
Jesper Boqvist gave the Cats their first goal since Seattle when he stole the puck from Evan Bouchard at the Florida blue line and scored on a shorthanded breakaway 2:42 into the game.
The Oilers would reply with 4:47 left in the first when they took advantage of gobs of space in the offensive zone to tee up Zach Hyman for a shot from the edge of the right circle that he snapped past Sergei Bobrovsky. The assists on the goal went to Connor McDavid and Bouchard.
The Panthers would regain the lead at 19:32 with 12 ticks left to go on Darnell Nurse’s double-minor. After taking a cross from Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe found Matthew Tkachuk in front and he deflected the shot/pass in with his foot, much to the disgust of Oiler Nation.
Edmonton would blitz Bobrovsky and the Cats with three goals in a torrid 3:04 span of the second period to open up a 4-2 lead.
Hyman would score on a breakaway at the 6:02 mark, solving Bobrovsky with a rising backhand to even it up. McDavid sprung Hyman after bumping into Gustav Forsling and pushing the pack past Aaron Ekblad after taking an outlet pass from Leon Draisaitl. To say that was poorly handled by Florida’s top pairing would be a serious understatement.
Less than a minute later, Connor Brown notched his third goal in as many games thanks to a sweet one-timer set up by grizzled vet Corey Perry.
Another successful one-timer came 2:21 after Brown’s. This time it was Draisaitl pounding home a no-look return pass from McDavid from a sharp-angle in the lower right circle with A.J. Greer in the sin bin. Mattias Ekholm drew the secondary assist on Draisaitl’s league-leading 23rd goal.
Florida’s first pair would find redemption for their part in the Hyman breakaway when Forsling’s long snap shot was stopped by Stuart Skinner and then bounced in off the back of defenseman Ty Emberson with 2:05 to go in the middle frame. The assists on the goal went to Anton Lundell and Ekblad. Props to Reinhart for doing battle with Emberson in front.
Niko Mikkola buried Lundell’s backhand centering pass 6:53 into the third to tie the game after the young pivot and Eetu Luostarinen forced a Bouchard turnover near the boards while players from both clubs were busy battling near the benches
The Panthers forged ahead thirty seconds later when Reinhart skated down the right side, took the puck away from Ekholm and then found a shard of space between Skinner’s melon and the post. Reinhart banked his shot off the side of the keeper’s mask from below the goal line to hit the 20-goal mark. Chévere!
Unfortunately, the Oilers would equalize quickly when Brett Kulak’s blocked shot bounced off the glass and back of the net before coming out to Kasperi Kapanen, who tucked the puck in at 8:02, setting the stage for more third period heroics from Verhaeghe.
Verhaeghe bagged the game-winner with 6:55 remaining in regulation after receiving a pass in the slot from Sam Bennett and firing off a shot that pierced Skinner blocker-side with Tkachuk screening. Mikkola got the second helper for holding the puck in and going down to Bennett.
Bobrovsky stopped the final three Edmonton shots to finish with 25 saves and help the Panthers become the seventh team to hit 40 points this season.
A crazy back-and-forth game between two clubs who really wanted to win this one. Both of last year’s finalists were sloppy as hell, but they put on an exciting show, and hey, the Panthers even remembered how to score. The Cats shook off the Oilers early second period haymaker and played a strong second half to halt Edmonton’s five-game winning streak, evening their record on the road trip at 2-2. They’ll look to make the trek west a successful one when they finish off against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.
Pressure & Viscosity
- First Star Sam Reinhart joined Leon Draisaitl, Kirill Kaprizov and Brayden Point as the only players in the league with 20 or more goals. After scoring a goal and adding an assist, Reinhart leads the Panthers in scoring with 41 points.
- Speaking of Draisaitl, he produced his sixth straight multi-point game. Draisaitl has amassed six goals and 15 points during the heater.
- After a slow start to the season, Carter Verhaeghe has put up 12 points over the last 12 games. Verhaeghe’s game-winner was his third of the season.
- Niko Mikkola’s third period tally allowed him to match his career-high goal total of three, which he set last season, his first with the Cats.
- Connor Brown’s goal was his six this season and the 100th of his career. The milestone marker came in his 550th NHL game. With his 13th point, Brown surpassed his point total from last season.
StatCard
