The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers met on Monday in Alberta.
It was a Stanley Cup Final rematch that felt every bit as dramatic, emotional and bonkers as the seven-game series was.
Fortunately for Florida, just like back in June, they were ahead when the final buzzer sounded. This time it was the Cats coming back from a third period deficit to take down the Oilers 6-5.
For the first time on the road trip, it was the Panthers that grabbed the game’s opening goal.
With Niko Mikkola in the penalty box for hooking just 2:33 into the game, Jesper Boqvist poked the puck away from Evan Bouchard and went in all alone on Stuart Skinner.
Boqvist went blocker side and snuck the puck past Skinner to give Florida their first lead of the roadie.
Edmonton would tie the game on a rush play.
Zach Hyman found all kinds of time and space after arriving late in the Florida zone, beating Sergei Bobrovsky over the blocker to tie the game at one.
The game didn’t stay tied very long because about 30 seconds later, Darnell Nurse was called for a pair of minor penalties, giving the Panthers a four-minute power play.
With just 11 seconds left in the man advantage, Matthew Tkachuk deflected home a shot by Carter Verhaeghe to send Florida into the intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Two goals in less than a minute propelled the Oilers from behind to ahead.
First it was Hyman on a breakaway after a defensive miscue between Gus Forsling and Aaron Ekblad. Then just 43 seconds later, Connor Brown one-timed a sharp angle shot past Bobrovsky to give Edmonton their first lead of the game.
Another sharp angle goal, this time on the power play by Leon Draisaitl, gave the Oilers a 4-2 lead just before the game hit its midway point.
Florida got one back on a strong shift that started with Florida’s fourth line getting the puck in deep and Anton Lundell eventually stealing the puck to keep it in Edmonton’s end.
Eventually, Forsling found the puck on his stick at the blue line and his wrist shot hit Ty Emberson in the back and tricked over Skinner and into the net.
Mikkola and Reinhart scored a pair of goal just 30 seconds apart to put the Panthers back in front – Reinhart’s goal came from below the goal line and went off Skinner’s mask – but the lead wouldn’t last long.
Just 39 seconds after Florida scored twice in 30 seconds, a Brett Kulak shot went wide of Bobrovsky and took a fluky bounce of the boards, dropping just to the right of Bob’s net where Kasperi Kapenin’s quick shot found a hole and snuck into the net.
The tie game held for all of five minutes in this bonkers Cup Final rematch.
Carter Verhaeghe, a guy known for coming up big during the third period, scored his first goal in five games to put the Panthers back in front, finishing off a great centering feed from Sam Bennett and quickly sending a shot over Skinner’s blocker.
That would be the goal that held up, with a couple big saves from Bobrovsky down the stretch certainly lending a hand.
On to Minnesota.
QUICK THOUGHTS
After being shutout in consecutive games, Florida’s shutout streak ended at 2:28:43.
Not only have all five of Boqvist’s goals this season come during the first period, but each time he was the first Panthers player to score.
The shorthanded goal was the first of Boqvist’s career.
Tkachuk’s goal was his first point in four games. He went three straight without a point after logging 13 over a four-game span.
The four games between Reinhart goals was his longest drought of the season. He hadn’t gone more than two games without scoring previously.
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