The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final.
Brad Marchand opened the scoring for Florida halfway into the first period after he corralled the puck off a centre ice faceoff, split Edmonton’s defence and roofed a shot past goalie Calvin Pickard.
Sam Bennett pushed the lead to 2-0 late in the first after a blocked shot fortuitously fell to him in the slot, and he snapped a shot past an out-of-position Pickard.
In the second period, Florida withstood multiple spells of Edmonton pressure — including killing off two Oilers power plays — to keep the score intact.
In contrast, the third period saw a flurry of goals.
Five minutes into the third, Marchand scored his second of the game at after slipping the puck past Edmonton defender Jake Walman before stuffing it in past Pickard.
It took Edmonton just two minutes to respond, with captain Connor McDavid stickhandling around an outstretched Sergei Bobrovsky in the Florida goal, but Sam Reinhart restored the three-goal lead about 40 seconds later with a wrist shot from left side face off circle.
With three minutes left in the game, and Pickard on the bench for an extra attacker, Oilers’ Corey Perry scored from the blue line with a speculative shot toward goal that beat a screened Bobrovsky.
But Edmonton’s comeback hopes were dashed after Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen scored a cross-rink empty net goal from his own defensive zone.
The Oilers evened the series at 2-2 on Thursday with an overtime goal by Leon Draisaitl — his record-setting fourth OT marker of this year’s NHL playoffs — capping off a wild game that saw Edmonton overcome a 3-0 deficit.
Pickard got the start in goal for the Oilers Saturday after relieving Stuart Skinner in the second period of Game 4 and making 23 saves, including several show-stoppers.
Florida needs one more win at home to capture the Stanley Cup.
