Stanley Cup live updates: Panthers at Oilers Game 5
Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes a save on Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) during the first overtime period in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final in Sunrise, Fla., on Thursday, June 12, 2025.
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National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Edmonton Oilers have no answers for Stanley Cup snipers Bennett, Marchand
If the Florida Panthers close out the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 Tuesday, either Sam Bennett or Brad Marchand will get the most votes for playoff MVP. Article content They've been the serial killers in this Stanley Cup Final. Article content Article content Bennett has five goals in the first five games, Marchand has six. Article content They're the first teammates in 52 years to each score at least five goals in the final. The last were Hall of Famers Frank Mahovlich and Yvan Cournoyer with Montreal in 1973 against Chicago. And the last player to pop six in the final before Marchand was our own Esa Tikkanen in 1988 against Boston. Article content Bennett, who had 51 points in 76 regular season games, has 22 points in 22 playoff games, with 13 of his 15 goals coming on the road. He's scored in each of his last six games away from Florida. Article content His playoff-leading 15th goal Saturday put him four back of Jari Kurri and Reggie Leach's all-time post-season best. Article content And, of course, Bennett has also spent most nights in the kitchen of whatever goalie he is dining on, with his greasy shrug of the shoulders. Article content Marchand, at 37, and unsure where he would fit in Florida after the Bruins captain was moved at the trade deadline, has 20 points and 10 goals. Article content Two of those goals came in Florida's 5-2 win Saturday on dazzling rushes. The first saw him go outside-in on Mattias Ekholm then lifting one over the glove of Calvin Pickard, after a sloppy Oiler faceoff. The second one was a McJesus-like sleight-of-hand play where he jumped past Jake Walman to beat Pickard — forehand, backhand, five-hole. Article content Article content On the first Marchand goal to open the scoring, his linemate Anton Lundell was agog at the skill level. Article content Article content 'Those are the goals you look at on YouTube as a kid, then you go out and practise that yourself,' said Lundell. Article content Article content But the second goal to make it 3-0 was filthy stuff usually reserved for No. 97, not that Marchand was crowing about it. Article content 'To be honest I don't really know what happened there. I have to see the replay. The puck just found its way in,' he said. Article content He's making it sound like it was a paint-by-numbers play instead of a work of art. Article content 'I have no idea how he did that. We're going to watch that clip a couple of times and I'll ask him to teach me that,' said Bennett. Article content Bennett's 15 goals are out of character for him but not quite the same 'where did that come from?' storyline as Oiler Fernando Pisani's 14 back in their magical run to the 2006 Cup final. That's because Bennett did play with Marchand at the 4-Nations tournament in February, and he did score 25 goals this past season.
Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
Marchand, Bennett too hot for Oilers to handle in Game 5 of Stanley Cup final
Driving the Florida Panthers attack in the playoffs is a player in his NHL prime and another acting like he is. 28-year-old Sam Bennett and 37-year-old Brad Marchand continued to be too much for the Oilers to handle in the Stanley Cup final in Florida's 5-2 win over Edmonton on Saturday to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Marchand scored twice Saturday — Florida's first and third goals — to reach half a dozen goals in the Cup final. Florida's second goal of the game was Bennett's fifth of the Cup final and his NHL-leading 15th of the post-season. The Panthers can close out the series at home Tuesday and become the first back-to-back Stanley Cup champions since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021. A new ingredient for the Panthers this post-season, however, is the five-foot-nine, 180-pound Marchand, who Florida acquired at the trade deadline after his almost 16 years with the Boston Bruins. Story continues below advertisement Marchand's six goals was the most by any player in the championship series since Esa Tikkanen in 1988. 1:43 Edmonton Oilers fans embrace rituals, superstitions during playoffs Marchand, from Halifax, seeks the second Stanley Cup of his career after lifting the trophy with the Boston Bruins in 2011 at the age of 23. He reached another two Cup finals with Boston before he was dealt to Florida this winter. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy When asked what the 2011 edition of Brad Marchand would say to his 2025 version, he replied 'man, that guy's good looking.' 'Sometimes you get bounces, sometimes you don't but definitely you'd be grateful to be in this opportunity and have another opportunity to be in the finals and be part of a really good team for sure,' Marchand continued. Bennett, from Holland Landing, Ont., pushed his road goal streak to six straight games when he wired a rebound past Edmonton's Calvin Pickard to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead in the first period. Story continues below advertisement A front-runner for this year's Conn Smythe Trophy that goes to the NHL's playoff MVP, Bennett ranks second in post-season in hits (103) to Edmonton's Zach Hyman (111). 'We've talked about it so much,' said Bennett's teammate Sam Reinhart. 'It's just his game translates so well to this time of year. He creates so much room for himself.' Marchand and Bennett each with five, or more, goals apiece in the Cup final are the first teammates to do so since Montreal's Frank Mahovlich and Yvan Cournoyer in 1973. 'They're just certainly capable of processing the context of the game,' Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. 'They don't get too high, they don't go too low. Their energy level is high, and they're very focused on the game. 'There's a mental toughness there, a mental capacity to stay within the game and not try to break it open. Just wait. Patience.' The ageless Marchand scored both his goals off draws that Edmonton won, but he got to the puck first and beat Oilers to the net to score twice. 'What he can do under duress in a small area is world class,' Maurice said.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Oilers seek more early goals to avoid Game 6 elimination in Stanley Cup final
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers' quest for a Stanley Cup would be less uphill if they could strike first in a game in the series, says their coach. The Florida Panthers have outscored the Oilers 7-0 in the first period in three straight games of the Cup final, and 11-4 in first periods overall in the series. Edmonton trails the best-of-seven championship series 3-2 heading into Tuesday's Game 6 in Sunrise, Fla., where the defending champion Panthers will complete a Cup repeat if the Oilers can't wrest the series home to Edmonton on Friday. Early deficits and chasing Florida need to be reined in for the Oilers to avoid elimination a second straight year at the hands of the Panthers, said Kris Knoblauch on Sunday. 'Capitalizing early would be something that would be very good for us,' was an understatement by the head coach. 'I know numerous starts of games we've had quality chances very early in the games. 'If we're able to capitalize on those, playing with the lead early in the game would alleviate the pressure. We just have to be ready to start. That's so important.' After Connor Brown's semi-breakaway 29 seconds into Saturday's 5-2 loss at Rogers Place, Edmonton didn't register another shot on net for the next eight minutes. Within seconds of the Oilers launching their first two salvos on Sergei Bobrovsky, the ice suddenly tilted in the Panthers' favour. Brad Marchand was quicker to the puck off a neutral-zone faceoff the Oilers won. He beat Mattias Ekholm inside to get to goalie Calvin Pickard, and Edmonton was chasing again. The Oilers may be the comeback kings of the 2025 playoffs with eight come-from-behind wins, but going to that well again in a Cup elimination game Tuesday against the defending champions is a low-odds scenario, and also didn't happen Saturday. 'It'd be nice to have that lead and play with that, just knowing that they have to open things up when they're trailing,' Knoblauch said. The combination of a short turnaround and the travel between Thursday's Game 4 in Sunrise and Saturday's Game 5 in Edmonton further impeded the Oilers' chances of another comeback victory. Both teams get a longer breather ahead of Tuesday's Game 6, but the Oilers arguably need more time to top up the tank. The Panthers up 2-0 after the first period and 3-0 early in the third Saturday were able to hold their top three producers — Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Marchand — to a combined 45 minutes of ice time compared to Edmonton's top trio of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and defenceman Evan Bouchard at a combined 76 minutes. McDavid scored his first goal of the Cup final to cut the deficit to two goals in the third period. He and Draisaitl are the NHL playoff co-leaders at 33 points apiece. The Oilers need McDavid's offensive wizardry Tuesday while the Panthers will try to take away the captain's time and space. 'There's been a lot of good scoring chances for him,' Knoblauch said. 'I've got no issues with his game. 'Our team relies heavily on him and Leon and how they're playing. It's tight checking for everyone and it's not going to be a mid-season game against a non-playoff team when there's sometimes (McDavid) has had 10 or 12 scoring chances. 'Those numbers are obviously reduced playing against a good team like Florida but I think Connor's been one of our best players every single night and that's what we expect.' Knoblauch didn't reveal Sunday whether Pickard or Stuart Skinner would be his Game 6 starter. Pickard stopped 14 of 18 shots after 22 of 23 in relief of Skinner in Edmonton's Game 4 overtime win. The coach stated his choice of goalie was 'not an easy decision', but acknowledged life would also be easier on either netminder if the Oilers weren't trying to get up off the mat early. 'It'd be nice to get some goal support and last night was a case where we were having difficulty generating offence,' Knoblauch said. The Panthers beat the Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 to win the 2024 Stanley Cup. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Florida led the series 3-0 before the Oilers won three straight to send it back to Sunrise. 'Certainly, the context changes when you get this close, but having a bit of an experience does matter,' Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. 'It does help in this. We were all pretty wired after Game 3 last year, and I think we can handle that a bit better now.' The Panthers can become the first franchise to clinch each of their first two championships on home ice since the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2025.
