Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves as the Florida Panthers moved within one win of the Stanley Cup with a 4-3 decision over the Edmonton Oilers Thursday night at Rogers Place.
The Panthers lead the series 3-0.
“It’s 3-0. That’s the only frustration,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid lamented post-game. “It doesn’t matter how the games went, all that matters is the result.”
“I thought we had lots of looks–I thought the game was right there, but a couple mistakes and they find a way to score,” McDavid said.
The Oilers continued to be unable to solve Bobrovsky in the first period. He turned aside 13 shots, including a save on Connor McDavid just as an Oilers power play expired. With the teams playing four-on-four, Sam Reinhart tipped a pass from Gustav Forsling past Stuart Skinner to make it 1-0 Panthers with 1:02 left in the first.
Less than two minutes into the second, Adam Henrique sent Warren Foegele in on a breakaway. Foegele popped a shot past Bobrovsky’s glove for his first goal since the opening game of the post-season.
The Panthers regained the lead when Skinner failed to cleanly play the puck behind the net. Eetu Luostarinen sent the puck in front to Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored before Skinner could get back into position.
“I liked where we were going after Foegele scored that huge goal,” Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We had some really good chances to go ahead, their goalie made some nice saves and then they dump a puck in and we’re down 2-1.”
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Less than five minutes later, Matthew Tkachuk and set up Sam Bennett for a 3-1 lead. Aleksander Barkov went in alone and sniped to give the Panthers three goals in 6:19.
Six minutes into the third, Philip Broberg recorded his second of the playoffs when his wrister banked in off Panthers defenceman Niko Mikkola. Ryan McLeod scored on a deflection to bring the Oilers within one with 5:17 left. McLeod had a point blank look about a minute later, but Bobrovsky came up with a spectacular save.
The Oilers were 0/3 on the power play while the Panthers were 0/1.
“We’ve got to get ready for Game 4 and get a win. That’s all we’ve got to do,” McDavid said.
Game four is Saturday at Rogers Place (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 4 p.m., game at 6 p.m.).
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