All the sights, sounds from Rogers Place in Edmonton
© Katharine Lotze/Getty Images
Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is in the books and it was epic, the Panthers winning 4-3 in double overtime.
NHL.com Senior Director of Editorial Shawn P. Roarke was high atop Rogers Place to provide all the sights, sounds and color from Game 2.
It took until Saturday morning, but Brad Marchand has delivered a Game 2 win with the winning goal at 8:05 of the second overtime.
Marchand scored on a partial breakaway and slipped the puck through the pads of Stuart Skinner.
It was his second goal of the game.
This was the second-longest overtime Final game for the Oilers. There longest is the Petr Klima triple-OT winner against the Bruins when the Oilers won their last Stanley Cup.
Thanks for following along all night. We’re taking our talents to South Florida for Game 3 on Monday.
See you then.
FLA@EDM, SCF Gm2: Marchand sends Panthers to Game 2 victory in 2OT
Here we go with second overtime of sudden-death hockey.
It’s the first time we have gotten this deep in a game in the Final since the 2020 match between the Stars and Lightning here in the Covid bubble. Perry had the game-winner.
Florida defenseman Seth Jones has played 32 minutes, more than any other skater on the ice. McDavid, who has three assists in Game 2, leads the Oilers with 31:41.
Let’s see if somebody can step up and play the hero in this period.
Here we go.
We are heading to double overtime tied at 4-4.
Sam Reinhart had a chance to win it for Florida with a little less than five minutes remaining when he had a breakaway after a turnover by the Oilers in the offensive zone. He went short-side but missed.
Evan Rodrigues had a chance at 17 minutes but his shot fluttered behind Stuart Skinner but did not hit anything and went harmlessly to the other side of the net.
This is the 23rd multiovertime game in Stanley Cup Final history and first since Game 5 of the 2020 Final when Perry scored in double-overtime for the Stars. Oilers defenseman John Klingberg had an assist on the goal to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The game was played at Rogers Place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Five players in this game have scored a multiovertime winner at any point in the playoffs: Perry has two, while Adam Henrique, McDavid, Kapanen and Tkachuk each have one.
FLA@EDM: Skinner makes big save and Klingberg clears the crease
For the second straight game, overtime has dragged past the 10-minute mark.
We are still tied 4-4.
This overtime has been more back-and-forth than the one on Wednesday, which was dominated by Edmonton after an early push by Florida.
Leon Draisaitl scored with 31 seconds left in the first overtime in Game 1 while Tomas Nosek was in the penalty box with a delay of game penalty.
Connor McDavid had a great chance early in overtime, catching defenseman Gustav Forsling a bit flat-footed, but Bobrovsky used a nifty poke check to negate the chance.
At the other end, Stuart Skinner made a pad save on a Marchand backhand and then Marchand slid the rebound under the goalie but it hit the far post and was steered out of danger.
Perry delivers us to overtime with the latest tying goal in the Stanley Cup Final history with 18 seconds left.
He is the fifth player in NHL history to score a goal in the Stanley Cup Final at age 40-plus, joining Mark Recchi (three in 2011 with Boston), Igor Larionov (three in 2002 with Detroit Red Wings), Zdeno Chara (1 in 2019 with the Bruins) and Ray Bourque (1 in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche).
This is the 99th overtime game in Stanley Cup Final history. Road teams own a 51-44-3 advantage in the previous contests (.520).
There are three players in this series that have scored an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Final: Draisaitl in Game 1, Corey Perry with the Dallas Stars in 2020 Stanley Cup Final, and Carter Verhaeghe in Game 3 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers.
Enjoy the free hockey!
We are going to overtime again.
Corey Perry scores for Edmonton with 17.8 seconds left and it’s tied at 4-4.
This place is going bonkers and for the first time in a long time the Panthers look a bit rattled.
It’s the second straight game the Panthers have lost a late lead.
As for Perry, it was the latest tying goal in the Stanley Cup Final history. The previous record was by Tod Sloan in Game 5 of the 1951 Final (19:28 of P3).
The stakes in OT are huge.
There have been 60 series in the Final tied at 1-1. Each team has won 30 times. At 2-0, if the Oilers rally again, the team that leads has won 50 of 55 such series.
See you in 15 minutes.
FLA@EDM, SCF Gm2: Perry puts home the tying goal with 18 seconds left
The Panthers have survived the first 10 minutes of the third period, including the remainder of another penalty kill to start the period.
Florida has found its game here in the past 30 minutes.
Their forecheck is brutally efficient, pinning Edmonton deep. They have closed off the neutral zone, denying Edmonton speed on the attack and they have regained their defensive shape and been more urgent about clearing the zone.
Edmonton has four shots this period and 13 since the end of the first. They had 14 in the first. Florida has one shot, but they aren’t looking for offense as a priority at this point in the game.
There’s still 10 minutes left and a lot could change yet, as it did in Game 1.
We are ready for the third period and Florida has a 4-3 lead.
A lot can change in the next 20 minutes. It did in Game 1.
But right now, Brad Marchand has the winning goal.
His story is unbelievable. It’s the sixth goal of the postseason for him.
It’s his second career short-handed goal in the Stanley Cup Final, tying a Stanley Cup record. It comes 14 years to the day since he did it in Game 3 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final against Vancouver.
He is the second player age 37 or older to score in each of the first two games of a Stanley Cup Final, joining defenseman Larry Robinson who did so in 1989 (Games 1 and 2).
We are done with two periods and the defending Cup champion Florida Panthers have gotten off the mat and lead 4-3 after scoring the only two goals of the period.
The Panthers outshot Edmonton 15-8 in the period, dominating the second period for the second straight game.
They once again head into the third with a one-goal lead. Can they hold it? We shall see.
There have been a few celebrity sightings on the big board this period.
Former Oilers defenseman Ladislav Schmid is here. The big defenseman played here from 2006 to 2014. He got a big hand and the 39-year-old looks like he could jump into the fray if needed despite last playing in 2016.
Native son Chuba Hubbard, a running back for the Carolina Panthers, was also on hand, sporting a spiffy tribute jacket to Gretzky.
Brad Marchand scored a shorthanded goal at 12:09 on a nifty head-man pass by Anton Lundell to make it 4-3 Florida.
Niko Mikkola was in the penalty box for a defensive-zone hook.
Metallica was played after the goal, but the crowd remained mostly silenced as they absorbed the gut punch against the run of play.
Marchand also scored in Game 1.
FLA@EDM, SCF Gm2: Marchand goes five-hole on breakaway for SHG
We are tied again.
Dmitry Kulikov scores with a seeing-eye shot from the point at 8:23 of the second period to tie it for Florida.
Matthew Tkachuk was right on the edge of the blue paint, but it appeared to bank off the backside of Evan Bouchard, who has factored into each of the three Edmonton goals.
The first half of the second period has not been the white-knuckled ride that defined the first period, but things are still tense.
Florida has gotten its forecheck in order and is pinning the Oilers in their own end a bit more, slowing their lightning-fast transition game.
Every whistle is followed by a bit of malice, the battleships and submarines on each side prowling the ice looking to land a verbal or physical blow.
It is the theater of the dark arts and it is compelling as the light arts that defined the first period.
FLA@EDM, SCF Gm2: Kulikov scores from deep to even game at 3
We are under way in the second period.
It’s still 3-2, but shots have been adjusted to 14-11 in favor of the home team.
I’ve been watching the Leon Draisaitl goal on repeat during the intermission.
That was some special stuff by Connor McDavid with the assist.
Let’s see what happens across these 20 minutes, shall we?
Wow, there’s a lot to digest there from a first period that was beautiful chaos.
This is the highest-scoring first period in a Final since 2016 (five goals in first period of Game 5 between the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins).
Sam Bennett scored a historic goal to open the scoring. He has 12 road goals this postseason — and three in the Final — to break the record set by Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets in 2018. He has also scored in each of the past five road games, a new franchise record.
Evander Kane tied it with his first Final goal of his career.
Evan Bouchard made it 2-1 with the 20th postseason goal of his career, matching Cale Makar of the Avalanche as the fastest active defenseman to 20 career playoff goals.
Connor McDavid has two assists already and he has 33 multiassist games in the postseason, third place on the all-time list behind Wayne Gretzky (72) and Mark Messier (40).
Leon Draisaitl scored his 10th goal of these playoffs and became the third player in NHL history to score 10-plus goals in three consecutive postseasons, joining Mike Bossy (four from 1980-1983) and Gretzky (three from 1983-1985).
It’s 3-2 Edmonton after one period.
Time to exhale.
The Panthers escaped near-certain catastrophe by surviving a 5-on-3 when Niko Mikkola and Seth Jones took penalties to give the Oilers 33 seconds of a two-man advantage.
Jones went for suplexing Corey Perry in front on a one-time attempt on the original power play. Sergei Bobrovsky, under siege for most of the first period, made a couple of big saves, including an uncontested slapper from Darnell Nurse.
Edmonton has a 16-10 advantage in shots after the first period.
It was the highest scoring first period of a Final game since the Sharks and Penguins combined for five goals in Game 5 of the 2016 Final.
See you back here in 18 minutes. I’ll try to get my heart rate down by then.
The goals are coming from every angle.
Seth Jones just scored to make it 2-2 at 11:37.
The PA played “Dirty Deeds” after the goal, but it was a cover and not the AC/DC original.
But it is Nate Schmidt who is doing them dirty. The well-traveled defenseman has factored in four of Florida’s five goals so far.
It was also a harbinger of what was to come moments later when Bennett barged into Skinner, stunning him.
Bennett took a goalie interference penalty on the play at 12:13.
And then 20 seconds after the penalty, Leon Draisaitl scored to make it a 3-2 game on an unnbelievable feed from Connor McDavid and this place is going bonkers.
How great was the assist? McDavid was the first one to the bench in congrats line, usually reserved for the goal-scorer.
That gives Draisaitl three goals in the Final and 10 in the playoffs.
Nickleback is playing on the PA and the crowd is delirious.
The best kind of Friday night in Oilers Country.
What a first period. Five goals and we we still have more than six minutes left. And now the Oilers are back on the power play with Niko Mikkola taking a roughing minor.
FLA@EDM, SCF Gm2: Draisaitl and McDavid team up for stellar PPG
Two games, two comebacks for the Oilers.
Evan Bouchard scored at 9:19, scooping up a loose puck after his first shot was blocked by Aleksander Barkov and putting it past a surprised Bobrovsky for a 2-1 lead.
The teams were playing 4-on-4 with Darnell Nurse and Matthew Tkachuk in the box for matching argy-bargy antics.
The Oilers trailed 3-1 in Game 1 before coming back to win 4-3 in overtime.
That’s seven goals for Bouchard, although this one was a mini Bouch bomb at best.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl had the assists.
FLA@EDM, SCF Gm2: Bouchard finds the twine to make it 2-1 in 1st
We are tied. Evander Kane has made amends for his earlier sin.
The Edmonton power forward scored at 7:39 to tie the game at 1-1 and set this place back into bedlam mode.
The entire crowd is mocking Sergei Bobrovsky with sing-song chants of Ser-gei, Ser-gei.
A few minutes before the goal, they showed Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm during a stoppage in play.
In what surely wasn’t a coincidence, “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin was blaring through the speakers.
Ekholm is called Viking because, well, the imposing Swede looks like he could play in Amon Amarth, the Swedish Viking metal band.
“We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!”
Valhalla indeed.
FLA@EDM, SCF Gm2: Kane knots the game at 1 in the 1st
Sam Bennett is quickly becoming public enemy No. 1 here in Edmonton.
He just scored at 2:07 of the first period, on the power play, to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Bennett had two goals in Game 1 and he now has 12 goals while playing away from home this postseason.
Evander Kane was in the penalty box, having committed a high-sticking infraction against Carter Verhaeghe in the offensive zone.
The Oilers have given up a power-play goal in each of the first two games. It’s the first time in nine games the Oilers haven’t scored the first goal.
Right after the goal, the Oilers went on the power play, but then forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins took a tripping penalty, so that power play was negated.
FLA@EDM, SCF Gm2: Bennett finishes slick play for PPG and 1-0 lead
There’s no show quite like the pregame show at Rogers Place.
It’s red meat for Oil Country, designed to get the crowd to a fever pitch.
It starts at the end of warmups. Oilers forward Corey Perry waits along the wall on the ice for everyone to leave and then he scores into his own net before skating off, raising his arms and imploring the crowd to bring their best to the fray.
Then, it’s Guns N’ Roses during a video montage, segueing into Metallica as the Oilers stream onto the ice in the darkened arena. Guitars are wailing, flags are waving, voices are rising, decibels are shattering eardrums and then it’s time for the anthems.
The Canadian national anthem, sung by Robert Clark while in the stands, is mesmerizing. Clark sings the first verse into the mic before holding it out and letting the crowd take it home.
It’s an experience not to be forgotten.
Now, let’s play hockey. Game 2 is under way.
It’s time for warmups for Game 2. The teams are charging onto the ice, led by Florida starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner.
It’s 5:40 p.m. local time, so the building is a little less than half full, but those here are raising the roof as “Airbourne” plays over the PA and the houselights come on.
It appears there are no changes to either lineup from Game 1. There was some concern that Florida forward Jonah Gadjovich could miss this game after getting dinged up in Game 1, but he’s out there.
The crowd is amped because they know history is on their side. The Oilers are up 1-0 in the series and in the history of the Final, teams that win Game 1 are 65-20 (76.5 percent) when it comes to hoisting the big silver trophy everyone here craves.
The music director here at Rogers Place is pretty good with the easter eggs in the playlist.
As I settled in the empty press box about 90 minutes before puck drop, “Roll with the Changes” by REO Speedwagon was playing and this snippet exploded in my brain.
“My cup is on the table, my love is spilling
Waiting here for you to take and drink of
So if you’re tired of the same old story,
Oh, turn some pages
I will be here when you are ready
To roll with the changes, yeah, yeah”
In this instance, the cup is the Stanley Cup, which was on the ice for pregame intros in Game 1. Everyone is spilling their love, sacrificing their sanity to take and drink from it.
Before they do, another three to six pages will have to be turned. Whoever rolls with the changes best will drink from the chalice soon and see their dreams come true.
Who knew that the 80s rockers from outside Chicago were singing ballads to the Stanley Cup? You do now.
Stay around for more keen insight like this.
It is pretty quiet inside at the moment, as the gates have yet to open. But the party is in full swing outside with the locals pretty chuffed with the 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.
We pulled up in our trusty bus a little more than two hours before the game and the lines were already massive. The line to get into the Moss Pit, the outdoor watching venue, serpentine around the block. Across the street, the line was equally long for entrance into the pregame concert area, fans waiting for Canadian rock icons, Triumph, and The Glorious Sons, another band out of Ontario.
It was hard not to feel like a member of the Charlestown Chiefs from the movie “Slap Shot” as they pulled into road cities late in their reign of terror through the Federal League. The Ice District, the area around the arena, was crawling with rambunctious fans wearing orange and blue, some with their faces painted, other in costumes. A fire truck with the Oilers logo on its side circled the building, making it look mean. Everyone was braying for the Cup.
It’s intimidating, for sure. But don’t expect the Panthers to be intimidated. They were here last season for the Final and encountered similar. They have a cast of hardscrabble players who laugh in the face of adversity and antagonism.
It should be a great night of hockey, just as it was two nights ago when the Oilers won 4-3 in overtime on the second goal of the night by Leon Draisaitl.
Stay right here for all the action and some analysis during Game 2. It should be a wild ride.
FLA vs. EDM
FLA vs. CAR | EDM vs. DAL
FLA vs. TOR | CAR vs. WSH | DAL vs. WPG | EDM vs. VGK
OTT vs. TOR | FLA vs. TBL | MTL vs. WSH | NJD vs. CAR
STL vs. WPG | COL vs. DAL | MIN vs. VGK | EDM vs. LAK
