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The Florida Panthers host the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight, with the defending champions leading the series 2-1.
After the teams split the first two games, with both requiring overtime, Game 3 was a very different kind of contest. The Panthers dominated the scoreboard, winning 6-1, but the result was overshadowed by fights and penalties. Constant scraps after the whistle gave way to a full line brawl in the third period and by the end of the night, the Oilers had been given 85 penalty minutes, the third most in the history of the Final.
Whether Edmonton can keep its emotions in check will go a long way towards deciding tonight's pivotal Game 4. Kris Knoblauch is making significant changes to his lineup but is choosing to stick with Stuart Skinner in net. Follow along below for live updates, analysis and reaction.
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WATCH: Here’s how Aleksander Barkov is slowing down Connor McDavid in the Stanley Cup Final
For the Edmonton Oilers to get back in this series, they will need the best version of their goalie Stuart Skinner.
Read more below from The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman on Skinner.
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Stuart Skinner wasn’t at fault for Game 3 loss, but Oilers need him back at his best
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During the second period of Game 3, A.J. Greer and Jake Walman got into it after a whistle, with Greer eventually pulling one of Walman's gloves off and tossing into the Panthers bench. Walman eventually got his glove back and responded by spraying water from his bottle across the gap into the Florida bench several times.
When asked about Walman's antics, A.J. Greer responded: "We have plenty of water in our bench. We got great trainers, great training staff. We got Gatorade, we got water, Body Armor. We got some nice stuff over there."
As noted previously, the 140 combined penalty minutes in Game 3 were the fourth most in Stanley Cup Final history, so it was not a surprise that some fines were dealt out on Tuesday as a result. The surprise may actually be that only one player was docked money.
In case you missed, here is the massive brawl from Game 3.
Tensions were mounting throughout this game and the series overall, finally resulting in an outburst in the third period Monday night.
The Edmonton Oilers’ “heart of the order” is clearly established and is unlikely to change next season. The group of “inner circle” roster players begins with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, then extends to a veteran roster deep in quality and no-movement clauses.
From the trade deadline (March 7) through the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final, several players have increased their chances of staying on the Edmonton roster for the 2025-26 campaign.
Check out who these players are below.
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Which Edmonton Oilers players have increased their value for next season?
The 140 combined penalty minutes in Game 3 were the fourth most in a Stanley Cup Final game in NHL history.
Here's the full list, per Sportsnet:
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When speaking to TNT after the Panthers' Game 3 win, Brad Marchand admitted even he would "call BS for sure" if someone had told the then-Boston Bruins captain a year ago that he would be teaming up like this with longtime rival Sam Bennett.
Marchand went on to heap praise on Bennett both in his TNT interview and in his broader media availability later Monday night. Both players scored in Game 3 while helping set the physical tone for a Florida rout.
Read more from Michael Russo below on the unlikely pairing that has the Panthers two wins away from back-to-back Stanley Cups.
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The Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett show just keeps rolling, much to the Panthers’ advantage
Not much sympathy for Edmonton once the dust had settled after Game 3, either, despite Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch criticizing some of the officiating calls in the game…
Chris M: "Panther style hockey" has a long history of winning Stanley Cups by a variety of teams over the years: it's not the ice capades.
Bill S: Whine all you want about the officials, Oilers fans. But Lord, you had SEVEN men on the ice at one point. That’s not on the officials; that’s a sign of a team being completely discombobulated.
Steve R: Florida lived rent free in Edmonton’s head last night.
Jim R: Stuart Skinner is going to take most of the heat but this is a case of Florida just making the whole Edmonton team look bad.
Remember, you can share your thoughts with a chance to be featured in this blog by emailing us at live@theathletic.com or, if you're a subscriber, you can head over to the "Discuss" tab at the top of this page.
Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist in Game 3, bringing his total of points in the Stanley Cup Final up to five.
Late in the first period with Florida leading 1-0, he snapped a shot past Stuart Skinner to extend the Panthers' lead. After Edmonton made it 2-1 early in the second period, Verhaeghe was the lone assister on Sam Reinhart's goal that shifted the momentum back in favor of the home team.
After two quieter performances to open the series, Sam Reinhart stepped up for the Panthers in Game 3. He recorded both his first goal and assist of the Stanley Cup Final, logging 21:21 on the ice and recording four shots on target.
Florida set the tone with two goals in the first period but Edmonton responded with a goal from Corey Perry to make it 2-1. Less than two minutes later, Reinhart answered with a goal of his own and the Panthers never looked back. He would later assist on an Aaron Ekblad goal early in the third period.
Sergei Bobrovsky and Stuart Skinner entered Game 3 on equal footing, each having allowed eight total goals across the first two games. That footing is no longer equal after the thrashing that followed on Monday night.
Bobrovsky has now made 116 saves in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, which is tied for the second most in NHL history through three games of a Final.
He's equal to Olie Kolzig (116 in 1998) and behind only Tuukka Rask (120 in 2013).
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While the Panthers' attack stole the show in Game 3, Sergei Bobrovsky deserves credit for holding down the fort with a strong showing in net.
Florida's goalie saved 32 of Edmonton's 33 shots on goal Monday after allowing eight goals over the first two games of the series.
Overall, Bobrovsky now has a .916 save percentage in the postseason, racking up 488 saves.
SUNRISE, Fla. — A year ago, Connor McDavid stood inside this building and channelled a lifetime’s worth of hopes, dreams and frustrations into a rallying cry he delivered to his Edmonton Oilers teammates, peppering in 14 F-bombs behind closed doors while urging them to “Dig! In! Right! Now!”
With the Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Florida Panthers spinning in a similarly unfavorable direction following Monday’s 6-1 loss, the Oilers captain sounded a different note of defiance.
“Obviously it wasn’t our best. Not our best at all,” McDavid told reporters, his team trailing 2-1 in the Final. “I don’t think our best has shown up all series long, but it’s coming.”
While not nearly as visceral a reaction as the one caught by Amazon’s embedded cameras last spring, it was the kind of comment that made your ears perk up and take notice.
When the best player on the planet starts making statements that sound like promises on a stage as critical as this one, it would be unwise to ignore them.
Read more below.
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For Connor McDavid and the Oilers, a new ‘dig in’ moment arrives
Fans of the Panthers, Oilers and the NHL in general didn't hold back in their assessment of a Game 3 that grew uglier as it went on…
Moshe P: If it were possible to lose a series in one game this would be it.
Douglas R: Embarrassing game for the NHL.
Jordan M: Real bush league business down the stretch but it still only counts as one loss. Will be interesting to see what version of Edmonton shows up in Game 4, I guess.
Jason I: I am seriously surprised how bad Edmonton has embarrassed themselves, not only with the score but with the way they played, just pathetic.
Remember, you can share your thoughts with a chance to be featured in this blog by emailing us at live@theathletic.com or, if you're a subscriber, you can head over to the "Discuss" tab at the top of this page.
Edmonton's 85 penalty minutes in Game 3 ranks as the third most by a team in the entire history of the Stanley Cup Final.
The record is held by the Canadiens, who took 90 penalty minutes against the Flames in 1986.
It wasn’t just that the Oilers took four penalties in the first period — it was how they took them. They were called for three offensive-zone fouls plus a too-many-men penalty.
Kane was sent to the box the first two times in the first eight minutes of the game and both trips were warranted. First, he cross-checked Gustav Forsling in the back in front of the Panthers net with the Oilers on a power play. Later he carelessly high-sticked Marchand on the forecheck. Kane was also in the mix as part of the too-many-men penalty.
Finally, Viktor Arvidsson was too aggressive around the crease and knocked over Bobrovsky. That led to a Verhaeghe goal on a Florida power play and a 2-0 deficit.
The Oilers wound up giving the Panthers 10 power plays and allowed them to score on two of them. It’s hard to win that way.
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No individual moment in Game 3 better encapsulated how physically imposing the Panthers were than the sight of Connor McDavid getting sent tumbling to the ice after Ekblad stepped up to deliver an open-ice hit at full flight.
McDavid was staggered by the contact at the Florida blue line just before the midway point of the game and briefly headed down the tunnel to the Oilers dressing room. He missed less than a minute of game time and played a regular shift after returning.
Still, it was a bit jarring to see someone catch the game’s fastest player so cleanly. Ekblad was one of the defenders McDavid walked through while setting up a dazzling Game 2 assist, prompting the Panthers defenseman to say “yeah, McJesus” while summing up the challenges of defending that play.
In Game 3, Ekblad made McDavid look mortal by sending him to the ice with a textbook body check delivered shoulder to shoulder. That was part of the game-high five hits he delivered through 40 minutes.
Florida’s game plan is built around a belief that the physical toll will eventually wear down an opponent over the course of a best-of-seven series. They were the aggressors in Monday’s game, highlighted by Bennett bowling over Podkolzin, among numerous other thunderous checks.
Marchand scored the Panthers’ two biggest goals of the playoffs with a couple overtime winners, and his hot streak in the Stanley Cup Final continued Monday night when it took him just 56 seconds to score the game’s first goal and his fourth of the series.
At 37, Marchand became the oldest player to score in the first three games of a Stanley Cup Final. The previous mark was held by 35-year-old Frank Mahovlich with the 1973 Canadiens.
Marchand now has 11 goals in his Stanley Cup Final career, the most amongst active players. It was his eighth goal of the postseason, tying Ray Sheppard for the third-most goals by a Panthers player in his first postseason with the club (Matthew Tkachuk, 11; Dave Lowry, 10).
One potential change to Edmonton's lineup that isn’t happening is between the pipes. Stuart Skinner remains the starter despite being pulled in the third period of Game 3 after allowing five goals on 23 shots.
“I felt like I was going to be in,” the goalie said. “I don’t really see too much reason to panic quite, quite yet. It’s a good opportunity for me to come back. We lost two in a row, and I’m good in these situations. I know how to bounce back. I know how to play well, so it’s just getting back to that.”
Knoblauch gave a ringing endorsement of Skinner after not declaring him the Game 4 starter immediately after the loss or over the two off days.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been really impressed with how Stu has handled a lot of things,” Knoblauch said. “One, the adversity, whether that’s regular season, playoffs. Things haven’t always gone smoothly, but he’s been able to work it out and respond.
“Another one is just how well he’s played in the second half of series. That goes for every single series last year, this year. There’s confidence that here’s a guy who’s going to continue to get better as the series goes on. Hopefully we have a few more games that he can stand up and play really well.”
