Florida Panthers are 3-0 ahead of the Stanley Cup

The Florida Panthers are close to winning the Stanley Cup.

Yesthe Florida Panthers.

The Stanley Cup.

Say it again.

On Thursday night, they took control of the host Edmonton Oilers in the second period before celebrating a narrow 4-3 victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Florida now leads the best-of-7 series 3-0.

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Only one team – the 1942 Maple Leafs – was able to overcome a 3-0 deficit and win the Stanley Cup.

Game 4 takes place Saturday night in Edmonton.

The Panthers would like to take the Stanley Cup with them on their long flight home.

On Thursday evening, the Panthers went into the second half with a 1-0 lead in front of a trembling Rogers Place. The goal was scored by Sam Reinhart prepared by a strong defensive performance from Sascha Barkow on the blue line.

“Our competitiveness, our will and our desire to win this game were enormous from the start.” Sam Bennett told Emily Kaplan on ABC.

“You could see that on all four lines. Everyone, right down to our goalkeeper, worked their asses off. It was nice to see how much effort they showed. Either you have it or you don't.

“We have 23 dogs on our team who have this will. Either you have it or you don't.”

Edmonton equalized early in the second period, but then the Panthers quickly pulled away.

Florida scored three goals in six minutes and went into the third quarter with a convincing 4-1 lead.

The Panthers have never lost a playoff game after leading by 3 or more points in the third quarter. This has only happened five times in regular season history, most recently in 2022 against St. Louis.

Edmonton tried its best to make history in this regard, scoring twice in the third period.

In the second case, however, Vladimir Tarasenko got rolling when he came in front of the goal and received a pass from Eetu Luostarinen after Edmonton goalkeeper Stuart Skinner played the puck wrong behind the goal and scored 2:1.

The Florida Panthers sold out the lower seating area of ​​Amerant Bank Arena for Thursday's watch party and had to vacate the upper deck due to demand. // Photo courtesy of @FlaPanthers

Next it was Matthew Tkachuk He jumped on a puck lost by Darnell Nurse and passed it to Bennett, who was just collapsing the net.

Barkov increased the lead to 4:1 in the 15:31 minute of the second round when he and Evan Rodrigues came to a conclusion in a 2-on-1 initiated by Reinhart.

The more spectacular game of Sergei Bobrovsky who made one brilliant save after another at the beginning of the second half and kept the score at 1:1.

Edmonton was able to get back into the game despite a strong defensive performance from the Panthers. Philip Broberg And Ryan McLeod Each scored a goal to make it 4:3.

Broberg's shot missed Niko Mikkola; McLeod's shot was deflected with 5:17 minutes left.

Nevertheless, Bobrovsky only conceded four goals in three games against the mighty Oilers – and made 32 saves on Thursday.

GOALS OF GAME 3

• Panthers 1, Oilers 0 (18:58, 1. 4/4): Sasha Barkov Forces a turnover in the defensive zone, works the puck up and brings it Gus Forsling who feeds a strip Sam Reinhart for the diversion past Stuart Skinner.
• Oilers 1, Panthers 1 (1:49, 2.): Warren Foegele comes free after a missed shot at the boards during a counterattack, runs in and hits Sergei Bobrovsky on the glove side.
• Panthers 2, Oilers 1 (9:12, 2.): Skinner misplays the puck behind the net, Eetu Luostarinen storms in and throws it on the back walls to Vladimir Tarasenko right on your doorstep.
• Panthers 3, Oilers 1 (13:57, 2.): Darnell Nurse turns the puck over deep in the defensive zone, Matthew Tkachuk picks it up and pushes it to his former buddy from Calgary Sam Bennett for the top gate.
• Panthers 4, Oilers 1 (15:31, 2.): Reinhart gets things going from the Florida zone and brings them to Evan Rodrigues for a 2-on-1 that Barkov finished.
• Panthers 4, Oilers 2 (6:02, 3.): Florida fails to clear the puck deep and Philip Broberg fire a shot once Niko Mikkola and past Bobrovsky.
• Panthers 4, Oilers 3 (14:43, 3.): Brett Kulak fires one out of the blue and Ryan McLeod stood in front of the goal and directed the ball through.

GR'S 3 STARS FROM GAME 3

1. Sascha BarkowFlorida

2. Sergei BobrovskyFlorida

3. Sam ReinhartFlorida

STANLEY CUP FINAL 2024

EDMONTON OILERS VS FLORIDA PANTHERS

GAME 4

Panthers lead the best-of-7 series 3-0

• When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Rogers Place; Edmonton, Alberta
• National television: ABC
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Schedule of the series, all games at 8 p.m. on ABC — GName 1: @Florida 3, Edmonton 0; Game 2: @Florida 4, Edmonton 1; Game 3: Florida @ Edmonton, Thursday; Game 4: Florida at Edmonton, Saturday; Game 5*: Edmonton, Florida, Tuesday; Game 6*: Florida at Edmonton, Friday, June 21; Game 7*: Edmonton, Florida, Monday, June 24th.
• – If necessary How they got here – Florida: Tampa Bay 4:1, Boston 4:2, New York Rangers 4:2; Edmonton:
• Los Angeles 4:1, Vancouver 4:3, Dallas 4:2. This season (Florida won 2-0) — In Florida:Panthers 5, Oilers 3 (November 20) . In Edmonton:Panthers 5, Oilers 2 (December 17)
• . Last season:
  
• Edmonton won 2-0 All regular season series:
• Oilers lead 23-16-0, 3 draws Postseason History:

First date