Panthers pull away from Oilers in Game 3, take Stanley Cup Final lead

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers played Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on their terms from start to finish. They won going away.

If it happens twice more in this series, they'll be Stanley Cup champions, again.

Brad Marchand scored for the third straight game, setting two Cup Final records in doing so, Sam Bennett scored his NHL-leading 14th goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Panthers routed the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

"We played super well and super disciplined, just like a veteran, older team who's been here," Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "This is our third time at it. We know it's a series, and we've got to stick up for each other, but got to be smart too. I thought it was great that guys were sticking up for each other, and at the end of the day, it's just a big win and just one game."

Sam Reinhart scored for the first time in more than three weeks and had an assist, and Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Eetu Luostarinen had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves.

The defending Stanley Cup champions lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 will be here on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

"We were good today," Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said.

Corey Perry scored for the Oilers, but Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were held off the score sheet. McDavid was limited to two shots on goal, and Draisaitl did not have a shot attempt.

Stuart Skinner allowed five goals on 23 shots before being replaced by Calvin Pickard (seven saves) following his fifth goal against at 3:27 of the third period.

"Obviously, not our best," said McDavid, the Edmonton captain. "I don't think our best has shown up all series long, but it's coming."

The Oilers put the Panthers on the power play 11 times. Florida scored three times. There were a combined 35 penalties totaling 140 minutes between the two teams, with each getting four for eight minutes apiece in the first period.

Edmonton had 16 penalties totaling 75 minutes in the third period, including Skinner's delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass at 2:19 that led to Aaron Ekblad's power-play goal that gave Florida a 5-1 lead with 16:33 remaining.

Darnell Nurse, Trent Frederic, Mattias Ekholm, Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen each was out of the game early after receiving a 10-minute misconduct in the final 10 minutes of the game. Jake Walman also left early with three minor penalties at 14:44 of the third.

"Oh definitely the third period is an unraveling," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I don't think we would have acted or played like that had the game been a one-goal or two-goal game. I don't know, boys being boys I guess, just trying to make investments for the next game."

Marchand got the Panthers going with his fourth goal of the series, scoring from the left face-off circle 56 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead.

He became the first player in Stanley Cup Final history to score an overtime goal and then score in the first minute of the following game. He scored 8:05 into the second overtime to give the Panthers a 5-4 win in Game 2 in Edmonton on Friday.

The 37-year-old also became the oldest player in Cup Final history to score in the first three games of the series, topping Frank Mahovlich, who was 35 when he scored in Games 1, 2 and 3 for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1973 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Black Hawks.

"I don't know if it set the tempo, but it obviously feels good when you score early in the game," Marchand said. "But especially with the way the series has gone so far one goal doesn't mean a whole lot, especially with that group and how talented they are. You don't expect to keep them off the board. It's just a play in the game and you look to build off it, move forward."

They did later in the period, when Verhaeghe made it 2-0, scoring a power-play goal at 17:45 with Viktor Arvidsson in the box for goaltender interference. Verhaeghe wired a shot into the top left corner of the net from the left circle.

Perry's power-play goal 1:40 into the second period cut it to 2-1.

"We score a power-play goal in the second period, make it 2-1 and all right now we've got a game," Knoblauch said. "Next shift they score, and I think that was about it for us."

Reinhart scored 80 seconds after Perry to make it 3-1 at 3:00.

Barkov forced John Klingberg into a turnover in the left corner of Edmonton's defensive zone. Verhaeghe got the puck and set up Reinhart, who scored from the left circle for his first goal since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 18.

"The Sam Reinhart goal is the inflection point in the game," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "So at 2-1, especially with what both teams have been through in the first two, there is no lead at that point. Sam's goal was very important for us."

Bennett extended the lead to 4-1 at 7:26, scoring his fourth goal of the Cup Final on a breakaway set up by Luostarinen.

It capped a busy shift for Bennett. He put an open-ice hit on Vasily Podkolzin in the Panthers' defensive zone before helping to force Draisaitl into a turnover in the corner. Bennett tried to get the puck out, but Podkolzin kept it in at the point. However, Luostarinen's pressure forced him into a turnover.

Luostarinen got the puck and moved it up to Bennett, who went in alone on Skinner and scored with a backhand-forehand deke for his fourth goal of the series, fifth in the past four games and eighth in the past eight.

"That shift was a perfect example in his game," Marchand said of Bennett. "He blows two guys up and somehow leads the rush after that and scores a beautiful goal. He can do it all."

Ekblad made it 5-1 at 3:27 of the third period, ending Skinner's night.

There were 23 penalties, including a combined eight misconducts and eight roughing minors, totaling 116 minutes in the final 10:29.

Rodrigues added a power-play goal at 16:10 for the 6-1 final.

"I mean, look, we could have lost 3-2 in triple overtime and the series is 2-1," Kane said. "How you lose in the playoffs really doesn't matter as much as it might in the regular season. We have a shot to get a split here on Thursday and that's the focus."