SUNRISE, Fla. — It took almost eight and a half periods to decide the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers.
No one would be surprised if 60 minutes again isn’t enough for a winner to emerge in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1.
“It’s one of those heavyweight tilts,” Oilers forward Adam Henrique said. “You land a punch, you take a punch. It’s back and forth. It’s all of that in one. I’m sure everybody is excited watching, and it’s a lot of fun being out there playing too.”
The Oilers won 4-3 in Game 1 on Leon Draisaitl‘s power-play goal with 31 seconds left in overtime Wednesday. The Panthers took Game 2, 5-4, on Brad Marchand‘s goal 8:05 into double overtime Friday. Both games were at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
“Everything is contested all over the ice, so you’re having more events and it’s more intense, but what a wonderful thing to be able to say that in the Final instead of the first round,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said of the series so far. “These men are going that hard. It’s awesome.”
Edmonton forced overtime by coming back from down a goal in the third period of both games, including Corey Perry‘s game-tying goal with 18 seconds left in the third period in Game 2. But like the Panthers had to do going into Game 2, the Oilers must overcome a tough loss going into Game 3.
They’ve done that well so far in the playoffs.
Edmonton shut out the Vegas Golden Knights in Games 4 and 5 to close their second-round series after losing Game 3 on Reilly Smith‘s last-second goal. The Oilers then won four straight games against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final after giving up five goals in the third period of Game 1 to lose 6-3.
“The true test comes when the puck drops and we play,” Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “We’ve had some emotional games and some emotional losses over the course of this playoff run so far. It’s us taking those lessons, moving on, playing the next game. I think we’ve done a good job of it so far.”
Home-ice advantage has flipped now to Florida, but the Panthers have to make it matter. So far, they’ve been a better road team in the playoffs.
They’re 4-3 in seven home games and 9-3 in 12 road games. They’re even at 18 goals for and 18 against in their seven home games, compared to a plus-27 goal differential on the road (56-29). Their power play at home is 3.6 percent (1-for-28) and 41.2 percent (14-for-34) on the road.
That last one Maurice could not explain.
“We’re down to there’s no more than five games left, so [power play] may be the deciding factor in any one of them. It’s a critical piece,” he said. “I think the number is something like 3.9 percent at home and 40 [percent] on the road. I would suggest, though, that we’re not either, that no team is. We’ve never run a 40-percent power play, home or road, and we don’t run a 4-percent power play, home or road. I’ve absolutely no idea why those numbers are so skewed, at all. We’ve talked about it, and then once we got to the point where we couldn’t figure it out, we just left it alone. That’s some high-end coaching there for you people. ‘I don’t know,’ is the answer.”
The Panthers will have to find an answer for the Oilers’ road success. They’ve won six of their past seven road games since losing their first two playoff games on the road at the Los Angeles Kings, outscoring their opponents 25-16, averaging 31.3 shots on goal per game and 23.6 shots on goal against during that span.
“We’ve been used to starting on the road, so it was almost different starting at home in the Final,” Henrique said. “But we’re confident in our group no matter where we are and confident in our game that it travels wherever it needs to go.”
The Oilers are 9-1 in the playoffs from Game 3 on in a series. The Panthers are 8-3.
When a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final is tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 holds an all-time series record of 23-7 (.767). Teams that win Game 3 of any best-of-7 series that is 1-1 after two games have gone on to win the series 66.3 percent of the time (244-124).
Here is a breakdown of Game 3:
Oilers: Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be a game-time decision because of an undisclosed injury. He will participate in warmups and a decision will be made after that. Nugent-Hopkins was on the ice for the Oilers’ optional morning skate. Jeff Skinner would replace Nugent-Hopkins if he can’t play. Nugent-Hopkins touches all aspects of the Oilers game. He regularly plays on the top line with McDavid and Perry, is on the top power-play unit and kills penalties. He averaged 24:43 of ice time in the first two games of the Final, third among Edmonton forwards. When the Oilers load up by putting McDavid and Draisaitl together, it’s Nugent-Hopkins who shifts to center the second line between Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen. If he can’t play, Edmonton’s versatility will take a hit.
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