Florida thrives in ‘heated’ atmosphere to take series lead
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SUNRISE, Fla. — This is what the Florida Panthers can do to you. They can play on the edge, take away your time and space, and pull ahead on the scoreboard. They can take you off your game and suck you into theirs.
They did it to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday, a chippy, physical, emotional, penalty-filled 6-1 Florida win that gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
Each team pushed back on that narrative afterward. But this was Panthers hockey, not Oilers hockey. Edmonton was undisciplined from the start and unraveled after the score became lopsided, taking 85 penalty minutes to Florida’s 55.
“You know, we talked about it in the third,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “If you have to take a punch, take a punch. If you have to take a cross-check, take a cross-check. Spear, a slash in the face, whatever the case is, you’ve got to take it.”
The Oilers fell behind 2-0 amid a series of penalties in the first period, then fell behind 4-1 in the second period after Panthers forward Sam Bennett threw two body checks and then scored on a breakaway at 7:26.
Soon, the game got out of hand.
Late in the second, Panthers forward A.J. Greer stole one of Oilers defenseman Jake Walman’s gloves and threw it in the Florida bench. Walman lost his composure. He stood up on the Edmonton bench and squirted a water bottle, trying to hit Greer on the Florida bench.
The water ended up on video screens between the benches used for the TNT television broadcast. TNT analyst Brian Boucher banged the glass while Panthers defenseman Seth Jones held up his hands as if to say, “What’s going on?”
“Obviously, did that for a reason,” Walman said. “I won’t go into the details. It’s just gamesmanship, I guess, you know? Just got to realize there’s cameras everywhere that see that stuff.”
It was just the start. Before the period ended, Walman had words with Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola as each stood at the end of their benches.
“It’s a heated game,” Mikkola said. “It’s the Stanley Cup Final. Emotions are high, and you just the play the game. Also, it’s pretty loud out there, so you don’t hear every word.”
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad gave Florida a 5-1 lead on the power play at 3:27 of the third period, and it got worse.
Oilers at Panthers | Recap | SCF, Game 3
There were too many penalties to list here. But here is a sampling of the chaos:
Oilers forward Mattias Janmark swatted Greer in the back of the head, and Oilers forward Trent Frederic broke his stick across Bennett’s back. Five scrums broke out. Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse fought Panthers forward Jonah Gadjovich.
“‘Gadgy’ did an incredible job sticking up for the guys there and taking on Nurse, who’s obviously a tough guy as well,” Panthers forward Brad Marchand said.
After Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard slashed Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe in the leg, knocking him to the ice, Oilers forward Evander Kane skated past and slashed Verhaeghe in the face. Walman went after Tkachuk while Oilers defenseman John Klingberg held him, and Ekblad came flying in. Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen cross-checked Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen.
“I can’t really comment on what they did,” Verhaeghe said. “Honestly, we just try and stick to the way we play. That’s kind of what we did in the first two. It kind of got away in the third, but it’s kind of what happens.”
The score had something to do with it, for sure.
“Well, definitely the third period is an unraveling,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I think the game was out of hand. I don’t think we would have acted or played like that had the game been a one-goal or two-goal game. I think our guys were just trying to, I don’t know, boys being boys, I guess, just trying to make investments for the next game.”
The Oilers weren’t happy with the officiating, either.
“You look at some of the calls and whatnot, obviously some of them are frustrating,” Kane said. “They seem to get away with more than we do. It’s tough to find the line. They’re doing just as much stuff as we are.”
But you’re the Oilers, this can’t happen again, and if you’re the Panthers, well …
They’ll take it.
“We played super well and super disciplined, just like a veteran, older team who’s been here,” Tkachuk said. “This is our third time [in the Cup Final]. 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.”
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