Stanley Cup Final blog: Connor Brown

Edmonton Oilers forward Connor Brown will be keeping his own blog throughout the 2025 Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers. He will check in regularly with behind-the-scenes access.

In his third entry, after a 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Arena that gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series, Brown talks about how to put a disappointing performance behind them and what they can learn in the two days before Game 4 on Thursday that can help them get back in the series.

We have to put this game behind us. It’s over and there is nothing we can do about it. We just need to focus on Game 4.

I think there is learning from every game. We took four penalties in the first period and were down 2-0 and were chasing the game. They were capitalizing on their chances and we weren’t. It just went from there.

The biggest thing is we have a deep sense of belief in the group and that’s not going away. We know that once we find our game we will be tough to beat.

There are two days off until Game 4, and I think it is nice to have a couple of days off here, but in the end, it doesn’t really make a difference. We’ll be ready to get back at it.

There was a lot of stuff at the end of that game and a lot of penalties, but we were down five goals with eight minutes left. I think at that point you have to understand that the series is longer than one game. Their guys have taken some liberties, so that is the opportunity for us to play the long game.

There were things in this game that we can learn from, I think that is the biggest thing. There are definitely things that we have been doing that we need to get away from and that we need to learn from.

We have already had good discussions postgame, it started right away in the dressing room. We were in the dressing room chatting about this right away, getting ready for Game 4.

We have to take that game with a grain of salt and understand that last year we beat them 8-1 in one of the games (Game 4) and they ended up winning the series (in seven). That’s something we have to remember and build upon.

It doesn’t matter if it is 6-1 or 3-2 in overtime, a loss is a loss and we have to process it and move on. That’s what this time of the season is about.

Look, good teams learn from their losses, and we are a good team. We have done that in the past and we will continue to do that. It’s important to not just get discouraged. You have to understand what is going on, what you can fix and find a way to fix it.

That’s what we are going to do as we get ready for Thursday.