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June 14 (UPI) — A confident Florida Panthers team beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 Saturday night on the road, moving to one victory away from their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
The Panthers can claim the cup Tuesday night in Game 6 at home at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. If Florida were to lose, Game 7 would be Friday at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
The Oilers "are a tough team to play, but we realize how special a group we have," the Panthers' Brad Marchand, 37, said on a post-game interview on TNT. "It's a grind, but we're having fun each day."
The 16-season NHL veteran added: "I feel like a young guy in this league. This is the loosest I've felt, and I am enjoying every moment."
On Saturday, Marchand scored the first goal of the game, bringing the puck in after a center ice faceoff, inside-out on Mattias Ekholm and and beats Calvin Pickard on the glove side by skating left and shooting right.
The methodical Panthers made it 2-0 with 1:54 left in the first period on a Sam Bennett goal after he grabbed a blocked Matthew Tkachuk shot and propelling it past Pickard. It was his 15th goal of the postseason.
"We're a close team," Bennett said after the game on TNT. "We see the crowd cheering against us and we enjoy that."
Marchand made it 3-0 at the start of the third period with his second goal of the night after taking the puck at center ice, steering around Jake Walman and letting go a shot that beat Pickard through the legs.
Less then two minutes later, the Oilers' Connor McDavid scored to make it 3-1 with 12:36 left and the silenced crowd came to life. Then, the Panthers' Sam Reinhart scored, bringing the score to 4-1.
The Oilers pulled their goalie with about five minutes left, and Edmonton's Corey Perry scored his 10th goal of the post-season with 3:13 remaining, making it 4-2.
The Panthers' Eetu Luustarinen ending the scoring with an open net goal with 1:19 on the clock, giving Florida the 5-2 victory.
With the win, the Panthers scored their 10th win on the road during the playoffs, tying an NHL record.
Game 6 on Tuesday is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT, and will be shown on TNT and TruTV and streamed on Max. Bennett told TNT's Jackie Redmond in the post-game interview that Florida has "more experience and more composure" than last year.
That's when the Panthers won the first three games of the Stanley Cup final and then lost the next three games to the Oilers, forcing a Game 7 that Florida won 2-1.
