Ryan S. Clark
Kristen Shilton
Kristen Shilton
ESPN NHL reporter
Kristen Shilton is a nationwide NHL reporter for ESPN.
The scene modified for Recreation 3 of the Stanley Cup Last, however the finish outcome much like Video games 1 and a pair of, because the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 and are actually one win away from the franchise’s first championship.
After Florida opened the scoring within the first, Edmonton tied the sport at 1, adopted by three straight tallies by the Panthers. The Oilers received inside a purpose with about 5 minutes left, however because of some clutch defensive play and saves by Sergei Bobrovsky, the hosts couldn’t get the equalizer.
Listed below are our grades for each groups, together with takeaways that caught out probably the most, key gamers to look at for Recreation 4 and the large questions left unanswered previous to Saturday night time’s potential Cup clincher (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+).
Panthers grade: A-
Florida got here dangerously near letting Recreation 4 slip away.
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The Panthers let Edmonton chip away at their 4-1 third-period lead till it was an nearly uncomfortable one-goal win — protected primarily by Bobrovsky’s save on Ryan McLeod within the remaining minutes of a frantic third interval.
However that remaining rating is all that issues; Florida is now a single victory away from the franchise’s first championship.
It would not be the case if not for a implausible efficiency (once more) by Bobrovsky, an all-in effort from Florida’s whole lineup and a penalty kill that has continued to carry the Oilers’ vaunted energy play at bay. Even whereas Edmonton clawed its approach again, it by no means appeared just like the Panthers had been panicked. There’s something about this workforce that enables the gamers to stay calm even when circumstances start to appear dire. It is a superpower Florida will attempt to wield once more when it makes an attempt to lift the Cup with a win in Recreation 4.
Oilers grade: C-
Even with their late third-period push, all of the questions surrounding why the Oilers have struggled with the Panthers throughout the Stanley Cup Last had been answered in Recreation 3.
Scratch that. All of the questions surrounding why the Oilers have struggled throughout the Stanley Cup Last had been answered within the second interval of Recreation 3.
Even with a heavy quantity of pictures on purpose, they could not generate the kind of high quality of shot that positioned Bobrovsky underneath fixed menace. They saved getting beat, which is what led to them having breakdown after breakdown. That led to the Panthers scoring as many objectives within the second interval because the Oilers had scored within the first eight durations of this sequence. The third interval rally made issues thrilling, however was finally fruitless.
What we discovered in Recreation 3
Aleksander Barkov is a on one other degree
Edmonton’s stars haven’t proven up on the scoresheet on this sequence. Florida hasn’t had that drawback — particularly with regards to Barkov. The Panthers’ captain was not solely his workforce’s finest ahead, however the high skater total in Recreation 3.
His effort to dig a puck out alongside the wall led to Sam Reinhart’s opening purpose. And the person effort Barkov put in to attain late within the second interval and basically seal the victory for Florida — in no small half by solely deflating the Oilers’ possibilities of a comeback — was sensational. Barkov’s well being had been in query following the excessive hit from Leon Draisaitl in Recreation 2, however there was no query Barkov was feeling simply tremendous given the efficiency he placed on Thursday.
0:47
Aleksander Barkov pads Panthers’ lead with fast purpose
Aleksander Barkov evades two Oilers defenders and finishes on the web with one other Panthers’ purpose.
Florida might assist Sergei Bobrovksy a bit, too
The Panthers have accomplished a lot proper on this sequence. Their penalty kill is elite — it may’t get any larger, at 100%. Their whole lineup is contributing with a formidable depth on full show. Their dedication to workforce protection continues to be a catalyst of their success. And Bobrovsky has been taking part in lights-out in web whereas Florida holds Edmonton’s high shooters off the board (his save on Draisaitl within the first interval was notably eye-popping).
Nevertheless, the Panthers had been outshot in Recreation 3 for the primary time on this Cup Last, and Bobrovksy needed to do extra heavy lifting than in earlier victories — and this one reached nail-biter territory given how the Oilers pushed again within the third. Florida had only one shot on purpose by way of the primary half of the ultimate body after they had been already on the flawed facet of the ledger there, 29-18.
The Panthers had been masterful at suppressing the Oilers’ probabilities towards Bobrovsky in Recreation 1 and Recreation 2 and that is what they should present once more in Recreation 4 in the event that they need to full the sweep.
The Oilers are getting secondary scoring
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It began with Warren Foegele. It continued with Philip Broberg and once more with Ryan McLeod tallying a purpose with 5:17 left within the third interval.
One of many largest questions going through the Oilers going into the Stanley Cup Last was if they might obtain a constant quantity of secondary scoring. Thus far, they’ve. The Oilers’ first 5 objectives of the sequence have all come from secondary and tertiary sources, which is what allowed them to take Recreation 3 from what was as soon as a three-goal gap to 1 that grew to become dangerously near time beyond regulation.
However even with these objectives from Broberg, Foegele and McLeod, it raises a fancy dialogue concerning the Oilers: Whereas it reveals the Oilers can certainly get objectives from different sources, is it a viable technique at a time wherein Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins haven’t scored as soon as on this Cup Last?
Dangerous issues proceed to occur in threes for the Oilers
It occurred within the first spherical, when the Los Angeles Kings scored three objectives within the first interval of Recreation 2. The identical goes for when the Vancouver Canucks scored three objectives within the third interval of Recreation 1 in a second-round sequence. Then there’s the three objectives the Dallas Stars scored in Recreation 3 of the Western Convention finals.
So what the Panthers did by scoring three unanswered objectives within the second interval, whereas jarring, was removed from a shock contemplating it has occurred, properly, three earlier occasions this postseason.
Gamers to look at in Recreation 4
Gustav Forsling, D, Panthers
The eye on this sequence has squarely fallen on forwards and goaltenders. Forsling deserves what highlight has come his approach — and it is solely going to burn brighter in Recreation 4.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice referred to as Forsling the most effective defenseman on the earth “in his fashion,” and that time is regularly onerous to argue whenever you see what Forsling has been capable of do. He is had Edmonton’s quantity in his sequence, by way of how rapidly he can learn the play and have an effect.
When Forsling is on the ice, he is a major menace in all three zones and it is apparent how the remainder of Florida’s defensive effort funnels by way of him. When the Panthers try and clinch in Recreation 4, it will probably be in no small half due to Forsling and the way he is capable of set a tone and constantly be top-of-the-line defenders on the ice.
Connor McDavid, C, Oilers
Whereas McDavid has but to attain within the sequence, his two third-period assists had been essential when it got here to the Oilers making it shut. Nobody participant makes a workforce. Or within the case of the Oilers, no two generational facilities make a workforce.
That mentioned, the truth that the Oilers scrambled to attain two third-period objectives — with none of them being scored by Bouchard, Draisaitl, Hyman, McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins — reveals that the Oilers can get contributions from their supporting forged, however that in addition they want objectives from their stars as properly.
That has to begin with the celebrity carrying a “C” on his sweater.
Large questions for Recreation 4
Is Florida prepared to complete?
The final victory is the toughest to get for a motive. It’ll take every part Florida has on the ice to carry off the Oilers from being swept out of a Cup Last in their very own constructing, and seal the deal.
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There is a landslide of things that may affect how a workforce approaches a recreation the place the stakes are this excessive, and Florida is low on expertise in being there. Sure, they’ve closed out a number of sequence within the final two years, however by no means one the place names are etched into hockey historical past on the finish. Reaching that time requires greater than only a full buy-in to construction. It is weathering adversity on each shift, and matching urgency in methods Florida will not have been by way of at some other pinnacle earlier than.
Are the Panthers able to ship that remaining blow?
May that third interval be the beginning of one thing for the Oilers? Or was it the start of the tip?
This is the factor about how the Oilers carried out within the third interval. Getting two objectives in that body, in an evening that noticed them get three objectives whole, was huge when you think about how this sequence began. They scored one purpose mixed within the first two video games, so to get three objectives on this one may very well be an indication that they could have discovered a solution within the offensive zone.
However might or not it’s sufficient? Even with the three objectives they scored in Recreation 3, the Oilers nonetheless allowed 4, which additionally comes with this explicit significance: The Oilers allowed 14 objectives in six video games towards the Stars within the Western Convention finals; they’ve allowed 11 objectives to the Panthers in three Stanley Cup Last video games. They will want to enhance on each ends to get a win, a lot much less make this a sequence.
