Florida Panthers fall to Edmonton Oilers in Stanley Cup Final rematch

Should the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers meet in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight summer, Saturday night was a reminder that Paul Maurice’s bunch will need Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad and Sergei Bobrovsky all healthy and playing at their best. That most certainly was not the case Saturday. With Tkachuk and Barkov hurt, Ekblad sick, and Bobrovsky off his game, the Oilers jumped all over the defending champs and cruised to a 6-3 victory in the building where their Stanley Cup dreams ended five months ago.. “Guys just got to step up,” said Panthers center Sam Bennett. “We’ve definitely dealt with injuries in the past -- maybe not as many as we’re dealing with right now -- but that’s part of hockey. Guys go down, and other guys have to step up.” Not nearly enough did in the game’s opening period. It was ugly early for the Panthers (11-9-1), who dug a 4-1 hole and trailed for all but 61 seconds Saturday. On the game’s opening shift, Bobrovsky surrendered a soft goal to Jack Roslovic that somehow slipped past Bobrovsky’s stick and skate. Roslovic scored again at the 7:06 mark, as Evan Bouchard found him unmarked in the circle to Bobrovsky’s left. The Panthers netminder had no chance from that range; Roslovic elevated the puck past Bobrovsky before the latter could barely react. That goal came 36 seconds after Anton Lundell had tied it up with a rebound goal set up by a sweet wrap-around move and feed by Mackie Samoskevich. Bouchard and fellow defenseman Mattias Ekholm each finished with three points and a plus-5 on-ice rating. With the Panthers off their game early, the Oilers (10-9-5) were able to play at their preferred breakneck pace, which didn’t work out well for Florida. Defenseman Donovan Sebrango, who dressed with Ekblad out, was whistled for interference. And while Ekholm’s goal through traffic wasn’t technically on the power play, it came as Sebrango was leaving the box. Things went from bad to worse for the Panthers at the 6:45 mark of the second period. That’s when Bobrovsky gave up an impossible-angle goal to Vasily Podkolzin that caromed off Bobrovsky’s shoulder on the 17th and final shot he would face. Maurice turned to backup Daniil Tarasov to finish the game moments later. “He had had enough,” Maurice said. “Like our team, Bob is so very consistent, so very strong. There’s no point in leaving him [in there]. We’re down 4-1, we’re going to open up our game. It’s a great time for Danii to go in, and he came in off a really great performance the last time, and he’s scheduled to play in Nashville, so he got some work to tune him up before the next time he plays.” The switch not only stopped the bleeding, it helped get the Panthers back in the game. Tarasov stopped all 12 shots he faced, and the Panthers offense -- which has scored 41 goals in the last nine games against Edmonton -- came to life. Samoskevich made it 4-2 with a one-timer set up by a great feed by Uvis Balinskis, and then Sam Reinhart made it 4-3 by backhanding a midair rebound off a Lundell shot that went through Ty Emberson’s legs and past Skinner. And thanks to a sprawling skate save by Tarasov on a Draisaitl breakaway in the period’s final seconds, the game was improbably there for Florida’s taking entering the third. But the Panthers would get no closer, thanks to a series of high-leverage late saves by Skinner and empty-net goals by Connor McDavid and Matt Savoie within a span of 27 seconds.