Ryan S. Clark
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Ryan S. Clark
ESPN NHL Reporterryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
Kristen Silton
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Kristen Silton
ESPN NHL ReporterKristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.JUN 9, 2025, 11:35 PM ET.
Go ahead and count to 11. One. two. No way. 11.
This is the number of times the Florida Panthers have scored five or more goals in one game this postseason. No, really. They did it twice against the Tampa Bay Lightning, three times against the Toronto Maple Leafs, four times against the Carolina Hurricanes, and then the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2, and then they did it with a 6-1 romp in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday.
Scoring in the Bunch is clearly nothing new for the Panthers. But to give up more than five goals in a playoff game? Before Game 2 it was the last time the Oilers allowed many to have been Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals in one contest.
The Panthers, who took a 2-1 series lead, mean that the defending Stanley Cup champions have won two wins from repeated successive events. Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton will look into how Game 3 unfolds, what players will see in the future, and what questions they will have to answer that will need to enter Game 4 on Wednesday.
Florida has made Edmonton better in every respect. It simply beat the Oilers with uniform strength and special teams. The Panthers’ forecheck was relentless, gaining more fights along the board, perhaps most critically embracing the Edmonton star, and truly the whole attack. The feat that followed was largely due to Sergei Bobrovsky’s sensational performance online.
The Panthers were in control from the start as Brad Marchand didn’t take a minute of the game. And when Carter Werhege lit the ramp in the fourth attempt in the first period, they ultimately made their power play. Sam Reinhart’s early goal of Corey Perry’s Edmonton goal and subsequent Sam Bennett’s breakaways have further solidified the dial in Florida.
Knowing that he was 30-1 in the postseason under Paul Maurice, moving forward 4-1 in the third term and leading after the two, the Panthers needed to not only chase Skinner out of the cage, but also cruised with a big win. – Silton
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Brad Marchand gives the Panthers an early lead with 56 seconds
Brad Marchand flicks it through a crowd of defenders to give the Panthers an early lead vs. Oilers.
Again, the Oilers have another first period of abandoning two goals, adding a slow start, along with the chronic issues that are in this series. There was a struggle to keep the puck, but then they simply gave up the turnover that led to goals. While the Oilers’ supportive cast had a hard time making an impact after removing the Corey Perry goal set by Evan Bouchard, Los Gatos had six different goal scorers.
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The Oilers were also cool and were unable to finish with 85 penalties.
The series, where either the Oilers or the Panthers took a 2-0 lead after the first two contests gave way to Game 3, where Edmonton saw him struggle in several regions. This postseason marked the installation of a comeback, but the Oilers achieved three goals in the third season of Game 3. This is a problem for several reasons. The team last returned from a three-goal deficit in 1944, when the Montreal Canadians did it against the Chicago Blackhawks in the third term of the final game of the Cup. And after allowing power play targets early in the third season, Stuart Skinner was replaced by Calvin Picard.
These challenges joined the worst game in the Oilers Cup final. It is perhaps their poorest performance since the early days of their first round with the Los Angeles Kings. – Clark
Players in Game 4
It’s about time that the Panthers captain enters the Cup Final (scoring) chat, right?
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Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand each have four goals in the series, but Barkov has not yet registered a single point and has only six shots online. Of course, Barkov is tasked with crushing big minutes (including 30 plus in a double-time victory in Game 2) and trying to contain the Oilers’ top line, but still. That amount of ice time makes him even more confused that he was unable to find a scoresheet by this point.
Barkov was one of the most consistent forwards, scoring six goals and 11 points throughout the Panthers’ first three playoff series. Something he hasn’t translated into the final has yet to be translated.
It cannot last. Barkov is not as talented as it doesn’t make a factor for Florida. If he does, it’s the Oilers. Even without a contribution from Barkov, considering how the Panthers offense took place in Game 3, it could be Edmonton’s worst nightmare to watch him set fire. – Silton
I think we’re doing this again, right?
Goaltenders face constant scrutiny, especially in the postseason. After all, they have one of the few occupations on the planet. Among them are red lights, big horns, and thousands of people who openly celebrate mistakes. It was the fourth Monday during these playoffs when Skinner allowed more than five goals. When it happened for the second time, it led to the Oilers replacing him with Calvin Picard in the first round. Picard replaced him again in Game 3, stopping seven of his eight shots at 16:33 on Ice Time. Following the recent time when Skinner allowed more than five goals, the Oilers gathered to reach the Stanley Cup finals in a row.
But how many of Game 3 can you put in Skinner? The Oilers have 11 prizes, give up seven power play opportunities, defeating their prey again, and abandoning two unanswered targets during the period. So, was Skinner the problem, or did he fail the environment around him? – Clark
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Aaron Eckblad wins the beautiful Panthers passing by
Aaron Eckblad counts power plays as he returns home with a ferocious passing play between the Panthers vs. Oilers.
Big Questions about Game 4
Florida did an incredible job neutralizing McDavid and Draysightle with a power play, 5-for-5, even when Chris Nobrauch was forced to combine them on the line midway through the second season, hoping that Chris Nobrauch would trigger an Oilers offense. Instead, it didn’t really help to improve McDavid and Draisaitl.
Draisaitl attempted a zero shot by early in the third period. McDavid had two. Bobrovsky seemed particularly unintrusive, but it was difficult for any of the Edmonton stars to create many opportunities in front of him anyway. By the end of the third season, Knoblauch may have chosen to stop McDavid or Draysightle from halting the board at all, given how the Oilers are falling apart.
Anyway, anything that was working in Florida in that respect had to be bottled and resumed for Game 4. The Oilers were able to make Barkov uncomfortable while dictating matchups, but on the ice in the Florida home, the Panthers were able to respond by blocking two elite scorers from Edmonton. If the Panthers are able to replicate that performance on Thursday, there’s a real chance they can choke them down in this series when they return to Edmonton for Game 5. -Silton
What’s wrong with the recent defensive structure?
A breakaway goal from Brad Merchand in Game 2 scored the Panthers on the board, and a second breakaway goal in the second overtime is the tied way of the series. Don’t worry about Samline Heart Breakaway, who may have finished Game 2 during the first overtime.
Allowing three goals in the middle of Game 3 has already led to questions about what happened to the Oilers’ defensive scheme. However, the Panthers, who took a 4-1 lead in the second term via Sam Bennett’s breakaway, raised another potential concern about the Oilers.
There was already a moment in the series where the Panthers had over 65% shot share. As mentioned above, the Oilers also abandoned two unanswered goals during the period, with what happened six times in the first nine periods of the series. Establishing a sense of defensive continuity has been a hallmark of this postseason for the Oilers. However, in this series, they fell to the 2-1 hole due to a lack of defensive consistency. – Clark
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Sam Bennett slots the fourth goal for the Home Panthers
Sam Bennett tricks the goaltender when he joins the Panthers’ fourth goal in Breakaway vs. Oilers.
