Greg Wyshynski
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Edmonton Oilers were blown out by the Florida Panthers 6-1 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. They took 21 penalties for 85 penalty minutes, pulled their starting goaltender, had a near line brawl in the third period, and one of their players was irritated enough to squirt a stream from his water bottle at the Florida bench.
But despite all of this, the Oilers swore that the Panthers, considered to be the NHL’s most agitating team, didn’t get under their skin or in their heads Monday night, as Florida took a 2-1 series lead.
“No, I don’t think so. I think the game obviously got out of hand at the end there. That stuff is going to happen. You look at some of the calls and whatnot, [and] obviously some of them are frustrating,” said winger Evander Kane, who had more penalty minutes in Game 3 (16) than he had in his previous 17 playoff games combined (14).
Kane said when the Oilers tried to match the Panthers’ physicality and instigation, they were penalized, but Florida was not.
“They seem to get away with it more than we do. It’s tough to find the line. They’re doing just as much stuff as we are,” Kane said. “There seems to be a little bit more attention on our group.”
The Panthers had 14 penalties for 55 penalty minutes in the game.
After two tightly played games that left the series tied 1-1 — both of which needed overtime to be settled — Game 3 was a blowout that played right into the Panthers’ hands.
“Right away, I thought we ended up playing what Florida kind of wanted: just a little bit of a track meet, a little bit of grinding, lots of penalties. It was just penalty chaos tonight,” said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who had his weakest game in weeks — including a delay of game penalty for a puck over the glass that resulted in Florida’s fifth goal and saw Skinner pulled at 3:27 of the third period.
The Panthers excel at agitation. For the first time in the series, Edmonton took the bait.
Kane took two penalties within 2:41 of the first period and later slashed Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe while Verhaeghe was on his stomach in the third period.
Corey Perry taunted the Panthers as “turtles” and got into a shouting match with fourth-liner Jonah Gadjovich while leaving the ice after the second period. Oilers defenseman Jake Walman had his glove stolen by A.J. Greer, a Panthers fourth-liner who deposited the glove into the bench. Walman responded by taking his water bottle and spraying a stream at Florida’s players while standing at his own bench.
“Yeah, I mean I obviously did that for a reason. I won’t go into the details. It’s just gamesmanship, I guess,” Walman said. “I’ve just got to realize there’s cameras everywhere and they see that stuff.”
With 9:31 left in regulation, Oilers center Trent Frederic went after Florida’s Sam Bennett with a cross-check that broke his own stick. He then grabbed the back of Bennett’s jersey to drag him down. A near line brawl ensued, with Bennett landing punches on Frederic while he was on the ice being held by a linesman.
“He’s been an animal this whole playoffs,” said Panthers winger Brad Marchand of Bennett. “He’s built for this time of year. Just how competitive he is, how intense, and obviously the physicality piece.”
Marchand, after ending Game 2 in double overtime with a breakaway goal, started the scoring in the first period, just 56 seconds into the game. He deposited a shot high into the net while Skinner wildly lunged at a puck that was no longer there.
The rest of the first period was a parade of penalties — four for both teams — that didn’t result in anything on the scoreboard until Verhaeghe ripped a shot over Skinner’s right shoulder for a power-play goal and 2-0 lead at 17:45. Edmonton’s Viktor Arvidsson was in the penalty box after goalie Sergei Bobrovsky drew a goalie interference penalty.
“We’ve got to be more disciplined than that. We know better than that. I mean eventually, they’re going to find a way. That’s a great team. We shoot ourselves in the foot a little bit there. It kind of takes the flow out of it, you know?” Walman said.
Perry cut the deficit with a power-play goal 1:40 into the second period, but Sam Reinhart scored his first of the series to reestablish the two-goal lead 1:20 later. As they have done all postseason, the Panthers quickly padded their lead with another goal: Bennett’s 14th of the playoffs, beating Skinner on a breakaway.
“It’s for the Stanley Cup, you know? … There’s not an inch out there. That’s a grown man’s game out there. It’s not for the faint of heart. Guys are putting everything on the line you know?”
Oilers defenseman Jake Walman
Skinner was chased in the third period after the Panthers’ fifth goal, which was scored on the power play by defenseman Aaron Ekblad after Skinner sailed the puck over the glass. After that, Skinner’s night was over.
Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game that he hasn’t made a decision on his goaltending for Game 4, but that he didn’t think Skinner “had much chance on many of those goals” before being pulled.
Evan Rodrigues scored the Panthers’ sixth goal on the power play late in the third period, which was marred by eight misconduct penalties and a slew of other calls as Edmonton tried to send a late-game message.
“Both teams are going to stick up for each other. They care for each other. The core’s pretty much the same for both teams, the drivers of the team are the same for the last three years. They’ll always have each other’s backs,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Walman said with the stakes this high, emotions were naturally going to boil over.
“It’s for the Stanley Cup, you know? … There’s not an inch out there. That’s a grown man’s game out there. It’s not for the faint of heart. Guys are putting everything on the line you know?” he said.
Edmonton gets two days to reset, with Game 4 Thursday night in Sunrise.
“I thought we got away from our game,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “Part of that it’s due to chasing it a little bit. Part of that is obviously a credit to them. They played well. You find yourself in a hole, you’re going to do some uncharacteristic things, and I thought we got away from our game a little bit there.”
If the Oilers are going to earn a split before heading back to Edmonton, they’ll need more from McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, their two superstar forwards and the first- and second-leading scorers in the playoffs.
This was just the 13th playoff game in which McDavid and Draisaitl both failed to record a point. The Oilers are 2-11 in those games. Draisaitl also failed to register a shot attempt in the game for just the second time in 93 playoff career games.
“Obviously it wasn’t our best. Not our best at all. I don’t think our best has shown up all series long,” McDavid said, “but it’s coming.”
