Cup Final Chronicles: Stuff is Officially Real
It took three games, but we finally saw a team dominate play as the Panthers took Game 3, 6-1. Can the typically resilient Oilers recover?
Good morning, hockey fans. In Games 1 and 2 of this Stanley Cup Final, we were treated to two elite teams going shift-for-shift, pound-for-pound, pony-for-rat as the Oilers and Panthers had to break random NHL records each night to get past each other.
There were spurts of dominance, like Edmonton outshooting Florida 14-2 in the third period of its Game 1 win, and Florida’s high danger chances in the first overtime period of its Game 2 win. But each shift had game-breaking potential and leads kept swapping by the period; It rocked.
If Game 3 needed overtime, it would’ve been the second time in NHL history the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final went to OT. The Panthers got home to Amerant Bank Arena Monday and decided doing something for the second time in NHL history was too boring after so many broken records.
So Brad Marchand scored 56 seconds in at the place he now gratefully calls home, becoming first player in Final history to score in overtime and then again in the opening minute of the following game. He also became the oldest player to score in the first three games of a Stanley Cup Final at 37, but jeez, it’s not like he’s signing up for the AARP this offseason. Let’s lay off that one.
Anyway, Game 3 was the first game where we weren’t enjoying the beautiful game for exactly what it is, in an almost vacuum-like state.
In other words, sh*t finally got real. You know who thrives when sh*t gets real?
The Florida Panthers thrive when sh*t gets real, no matter what the sh*t is — or who is to blame for the sh*t. Want one shift (triple checking typos, here) to describe Florida’s 6-1, Game 3 win?
Sam Bennett’s league-leading 14th goal of the playoffs didn’t come easily, but it came in a way that increased the pending free agent’s next salary by another billion dollars.
Did you catch that Paul Maurice quote after the goal, a valiant attempt at deterring teams from making an offer for Bennett?
“He’s got a horrible attitude,” Maurice told TNT’s Jackie Redmond on the bench. “I think he’s got bubonic plague. Dengue fever. He’s got a whole bunch of things. We’re not sure he can be cured.”
Can the Oilers be cured following an epic, third-period tantrum we’ve never quite seen from a team that prides itself on skill? To get there, we have to start at the first period.
The game started with little stability or flow as teams traded penalties in the first, one or two of which were a bit soft to be calling in a Stanley Cup Final game, no? Regardless, the Oilers took four penalties in the first period — three coming in the offensive zone, and one was a Too Many Men (TM) penalty. This is just unacceptable in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
This is also exactly where the Panthers want the game to go, because they’re completely unfazed by the drama. It’s such a “win-by-committee” team, it’s no surprise Carter Verhaeghe capitalized off the mess for his first of the series, a power play goal to give his team the all-important 2-0 lead.
After Corey Perry tried to give his team some life for the only Oilers goal of the game, Sam Reinhart — oh yeah, oh sh*t even, he exists — followed right up with his first of the series, a game-breaker the Oilers never even sniffed a recovery from.