EDMONTON — This time, the Florida Panthers constructed a lead and held it.
And due to it, they arrive again dwelling with an opportunity to seal the Stanley Cup Remaining for a second straight season.
The Panthers, behind two targets from Brad Marchand and others from Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen, took down the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Sport 5 on Saturday evening at Rogers Place.
Florida, rebounding from a Sport 4 defeat during which it blew a three-goal lead, can declare its second consecutive Stanley Cup again at Amerant Again Area in Sport 6 Tuesday evening.
The Panthers improved to 10-3 on the street this postseason in what they hope might be their last away file if they will end off the Oilers in six.
“It’s an important alternative,” Bennett mentioned. “We’re not going to get forward of ourselves. It’s going to be the toughest recreation. We all know that.”
Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and the Panthers protection had the Oilers shut out by way of two intervals earlier than famous person Connor McDavid scored his first objective of the Remaining within the third interval with Edmonton down three targets.
“I believed guys did a tremendous job with the skating, with the hole, with the sticks,” Bobrovsky mentioned. “On the (penalty kill), I believed there was in all probability essentially the most blocked pictures I’ve ever seen. The blokes placed on an unbelievable efficiency in entrance of me.”
Marchand’s two targets make him the primary participant to attain six in a Stanley Cup Remaining since 1988, when Esa Tikkanen did it for the Oilers.
He was first to attain Saturday, beginning Sport 5 the best way he ended the earlier recreation in Edmonton, when he had the game-winner in double extra time. Marchand stole the puck after a faceoff win by the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl, created his personal breakaway along with his velocity to shoot the puck previous Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard, who was beginning for Stuart Skinner.
Marchand’s fifth objective of the Remaining, earlier than later including a sixth, marked the second time he has scored 5 when taking part in for the Cup. He additionally achieved the feat in 2011 with the Boston Bruins.
“Man, that man’s good wanting,” Marchand quipped when requested what his youthful self would say concerning the Panthers model. “Undoubtedly grateful to have one other alternative to be within the Remaining.”
Later within the first interval, Bennett notched his fifth objective of the championship collection when he blasted one in off a deflection from a shot Evan Rodrigues had blocked.
Bennett scored his fifteenth objective of the postseason and prolonged his file of street playoff targets in a single postseason to 13, doing so in six consecutive street video games.
Bennett and Marchand have mixed for 11 targets in 5 video games of the Stanley Cup Remaining.
“They’re definitely able to processing the context of the sport,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice mentioned. “They don’t get too excessive or too low.”
Because the Panthers established a 2-0 lead, the Oilers solely mustered three pictures on objective within the first interval. They didn’t have one on an influence play from a Seth Jones interference that instantly preceded Bennett’s objective.
When it was 1-0, Draisaitl had the Edmonton crowd pondering it had a tying objective, however he hit the aspect of the online. Bobrovsky, as he heard chants of “Ser-gei” raining down from Oilers followers, stopped a few high quality probabilities Edmonton had early, regardless of not placing one other shot on objective later within the first.
Holding the two-goal lead after one interval, the Panthers killed off two penalties within the second interval, one on defenseman Aaron Ekblad for tripping and one other on Reinhart for a delay of recreation. On the latter penalty kill, Luostarinen used his physique and arms with out his stick.
Marchand pulled off some elite stickwork for a third-period objective which put the Panthers up 3-0 sending the puck between the legs of Oilers defenseman Jake Walman earlier than scoring.
McDavid’s objective introduced life into Rogers Place for the primary time Saturday evening with underneath 13 minutes remaining, however Reinhart put Florida again up by three targets briefly order a minute later to suck the power out of the sector.
Edmonton added a Corey Perry objective with 3:13 remaining and the online empty. However Luostarinen then scored on the empty internet with 1:19 left.
Sport 6 again in Dawn would be the Panthers’ last dwelling recreation of the season, no matter consequence, as Sport 7, might be performed in Edmonton if essential.
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