Stanley Cup Final: Panthers-Oilers Game 3 grades, takeaways

Go ahead and count to 11. One. Two. Yada Yada. Eleven.

That’s how many times the Florida Panthers have scored five or more goals in a single game this postseason. No, really. They did it twice against the Tampa Bay Lightningthree times to the Toronto Maple Leafsfour times against the Carolina Hurricanes and after doing it in Game 2 to the Edmonton Oilersthey did it again Monday in a 6-1 romp in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Scoring goals in bunches is clearly nothing new for the Panthers. But to give up more than five goals in a playoff game? Prior to Game 2, the last time the Oilers allowed that many in a single contest was in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals — a series they would go on to win.

Florida taking a 2-1 series lead means the defending Stanley Cup champions are now two wins away from repeating. Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton examine how Game 3 played out, what players to watch going forward and what questions each team must answer going into Game 4 on Wednesday.

Florida got the better of Edmonton in every respect: they outworked, and simply outmatched, the Oilers at even strength and on special teams. The Panthers’ forecheck was relentless, they won more battles along the boards and, perhaps most critically, held Edmonton’s stars — and entire offense, really — at bay. That latter feat was due in large part to a sensational performance in net from Sergei Bobrovskywho outplayed Stuart Skinner at the other end.

The Panthers were in control of Game 3 from the start, with Brad Marchand‘s goal less than a minute into the first period, and eventually got their power play going when Carter Verhaeghe lit the lamp on their fourth attempt of the first period. Sam Reinhart‘s response to Corey Perry‘s goal early in the second period and Sam Bennett‘s breakaway after that only cemented further how dialed in Florida was.

Going in the third period up 4-1, knowing they were 30-1 in the postseason under Paul Maurice when leading after two periods, was all the positivity the Panthers needed to not just chase Skinner from the cage but cruise their way to a resounding win. — Shilton

Once again, the Oilers had another period in which they gave up two goals, adding to what’s been another chronic issue this series, along with slow starts as a whole. There were the struggles to retain the puck, only to then give up turnovers that led to goals. Take away the goal from Corey Perry that was set up by Evan Bouchardand the Oilers’ supporting cast also struggled to make an impact while Los Gatos had six different goal scorers.

The Oilers also couldn’t keep their cool, finishing with 85 penalty minutes, which is the most in a Cup final game since 1986.

A series that’s been defined by the notion that either the Oilers or Panthers could’ve taken a 2-0 after the first two contests led to a Game 3 that saw the Oilers struggle in several areas. Mounting comebacks has become so much of a trademark this postseason that they ended the Panthers’ 31-game streak of having a second-period lead. But they came into the third period of Game 3 trailing by three goals, which was already a problem for a few reasons. The primary one being that the last time a team came back from a three-goal deficit in the third period of a Stanley Cup final was in 1944 — when the Montreal Canadiens did it off against the Chicago Blackhawks. After allowing an early power-play goal, Stuart Skinner was replaced by Calvin Pickard.

Those challenges added up to the Oilers having their worst game of the Cup Final — and perhaps their poorest performance since early in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings. — Clark

Players to watch in Game 4

It’s about time the Panthers’ captain enters the Cup Final (scoring) chat, right?

While the likes of Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand each have four goals in the series, Barkov has yet to register a single point and has registered just six shots on net. Of course, Barkov has been crushing big minutes (including 30-plus in that double-overtime victory in Game 2) and been tasked with trying to contain the Oilers’ top line, but still. That amount of ice time makes it even more perplexing that he’s failed to find the scoresheet by this point.

Barkov had six goals and 11 points through the Panthers’ first three playoff series, and was among their most consistent forwards. Something just hasn’t translated yet for him to the Final, where he has looked a half-step off throughout.

That can’t last. Barkov is entirely too talented to not become a factor for Florida. It’s Oilers beware if that happens — given how the Panthers’ offense performed in Game 3 even without contributions from Barkov, seeing him catch fire too could be Edmonton’s worst nightmare. — Shilton

Guess we’re doing this again, aren’t we?

Goaltenders always face scrutiny, particularly in the playoffs. After all, it’s one of the few professions on the planet in which a red light, a loud horn and thousands of people openly celebrate your mistakes. Monday was the fourth time during these playoffs that Skinner has allowed more than five goals. The second time that happened, it led to the Oilers replacing him with Calvin Pickard in the first round. Pickard replaced him again in Game 3, and would stop seven of eight shots in 16:33 of ice time.

The most recent time that Skinner allowed more than five goals was followed by the Oilers rallying to win four straight to reach the Stanley Cup Final. And how much of Game 3 can be placed on Skinner? The Oilers had 11 giveaways, gave up seven power-play chances, and fell prey — once again — to giving up two unanswered goals in a period. So is it that Skinner was the problem — or does it have more to do with the fact that he was failed by the environment around him? — Clark

Big questions for Game 4

Florida did an excellent job neutralizing McDavid and Draisaitl at 5-on-5 and on the power play, even when Kris Knoblauch was forced into pairing them together on a line midway through the second period in hopes it would spark the Oilers’ offense. That wasn’t the case — and it didn’t do much to improve things for McDavid and Draisaitl, either.

Draisaitl had zero shot attempts by early in the third period. McDavid had two. While Bobrovsky did appear particularly impenetrable, it was difficult for either of Edmonton’s stars to generate much opportunity in front of him anyway. By the end of the third period Knoblauch might have elected to simply stop putting McDavid or Draisaitl over the boards at all given how the Oilers were imploding.

Regardless, whatever was working for Florida in that respect needs to be bottled and reopened for Game 4. Edmonton was able to make Barkov uncomfortable when they were dictating matchups, and on Florida’s home ice the Panthers were able to respond by stymying Edmonton’s two elite scorers. If that’s a performance Florida can recreate on Thursday, then there’s a real chance Florida can take a stranglehold on this series when it flips back to Edmonton for Game 5. — Shilton

Can the Oilers fix what’s gone wrong with their defensive structure as of late?

A breakaway goal from Brad Marchand in Game 2 got the Panthers on the board, while a second breakaway goal from Marchand in double overtime is how they tied the series. That’s not even counting the Sam Reinhart breakaway that could have ended Game 2 during the first overtime.

Allowing three goals halfway through Game 3 was already going to lead to questions about what happened to the Oilers’ defensive scheme. But the Panthers taking a 4-1 lead in the second period via Sam Bennett’s breakaway presented another potential concern around the Oilers.

There have already been moments in this series in which the Panthers have had a shot share of more than 65%. As noted above, the Oilers also gave up two unanswered goals in a period, something that’s happened six times through the first nine periods of the series. Establishing a sense of defensive continuity has been a hallmark this postseason for the Oilers. But so far, a lack of defensive consistency has led to them falling into a 2-1 hole. — Clark