Florida Dominates Game 3 with 6–1 Blowout Over Edmonton, Takes Series Lead

Summary:

• The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 6–1 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
• The Panthers took a 2–1 lead in the series, which will carry on with Game 4 on June 12.
• Stuart Skinner was pulled after allowing five goals.

The Florida Panthers returned to home ice with a bang, crushing the Edmonton Oilers 6–1 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena.

After two tightly contested games in Alberta, Florida gave its fans a performance to remember and took a 2–1 series lead in the process.

Veteran Marchand Scored in Less Than a Minute

The tone was set early, and it was veteran winger Brad Marchand who lit the fuse. Just 56 seconds into the game, the 37-year-old crashed the net and slipped one past Stuart Skinner to put the Panthers up 1–0.

This time, he didn’t leave it late.

The opening period was packed with penalties, with a total of nine power plays being awarded, but the Panthers made the most of the chaos.

Carter Verhaeghe managed to double the lead late in the first, after finishing off Evan Rodrigues’ and Nate Schmidt’s setup.

Reinhart, Back in Business

Sam Reinhart, who had been unusually quiet in the first two games, was finally seen retuning to his usual form early in the second period.

For all of the goals scored across the first two games of Stanley Cup action, one name that was unusually absent from the scoring sheet was Sam Reinhart.

That, however, changed quickly. Just three minutes into the second, Reinhart buried a feed from Verhaeghe to make it 3–0. It was his first shot of the game, and a welcome one, after being snakebitten on nine tries in Games 1 and 2.

After Corey Perry gave Edmonton some hope with a power-play goal, Sam Bennett crushed it with a breakaway finish five minutes later. The home crowd, already buzzing, broke into mocking chants directed at Skinner.

Through just 30 minutes of play, the Panthers had scored four goals on only 16 shots.

The frustration boiled over in the third after Aaron Ekblad beat Skinner on the power play, chasing the Oilers goalie from the net. Backup Calvin Pickard came in, but the damage was done.

That’s when the gloves dropped. A full-on melee erupted, with Jonah Gadjovich and Darnell Nurse trading heavy punches in the middle of it all. A.J. Greer, Sam Bennett, Trent Frederic, and Corey Perry all picked up minor penalties in the fallout.

Game 4 is set for June 12 in Sunrise. Florida will look to keep the momentum, and Edmonton will try to regain its footing.

Can the Oilers get back into the game? Get the best odds from Canadian sportsbooks or US Based Sports betting sites with us.