From a massive hit to a breakaway goal: Sam Bennett's unforgettable moment in the Stanley Cup Final
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — In a single shift, Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett showed why he's been one of the most unstoppable players in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
In Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, Bennett knocked Vasily Podkolzin off his feet with a huge hit in the defensive zone, then buried a breakaway goal on the other end moments later.
After the goal, which put the Florida Panthers up 4-1 in the second period against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night, Bennett pumped his fist and hugged teammate Matthew Tkachuk, whose mouth was wide open, as if neither could believe what had just happened.
That's who Bennett has been throughout out the postseason — a hard-hitting, goal-guzzling centerpiece to Florida's third straight run to the Stanley Cup Final. His 20 points lead the Panthers. He has more goals — 14 — than any other player in the playoffs and has scored in each of the first three games of the Cup final.
He scored twice in Florida's 4-3 overtime loss at Edmonton in the series opener and opened scoring just two minutes into the Panthers' 5-4 double overtime win in Game 2.
Bennett's breakaway goal, which came on an assist from Eetu Luostarinen on Monday, stretched his goal streak to four games, which is a Panthers' postseason record.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
His playoff scoring surge couldn't have come at a better time, with Bennett set to hit free agency at the end of the season.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice, fully aware of Bennett's pending free agency, made sure to issue a warning to any teams interested in his squad's leading postseason scorer.
'Horrible attitude,' Maurice quipped during a midgame television interview. 'I think he's got bubonic plague. Dengue fever. He's got a whole bunch of things. We're not sure he can be cured.'
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
34 minutes ago
- CTV News
Oilers confident they can bounce back from Stanley Cup Game 3 rout
Edmonton Oilers' Darnell Nurse (25) and Florida Panthers' Jonah Gadjovich (12) fight during the third period in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final in Sunrise, Fla., on Monday, June 9, 2025. It was an uncharacteristic game for the Edmonton Oilers. They're the oldest team in the league with an average player age of 30 and 1,657 collective National Hockey League playoff games of experience – 15 per cent more than their Stanley Cup opponent the Florida Panthers, the defending Stanley Cup champion with an average age of 29 (eight oldest) who together have logged 1,412 of them – so you'd think they'd know better than to overreact and stray from the usual 'stay at even keel, not-too-high-not-too-low' ideal. And yet those were the wily Oilers veterans in the midst of a line brawl halfway through the third period of Game 3, the score at the time 5-1 in favour of the Panthers and three of the five players effectively getting tossed from the contest with misconduct penalties as a result. Oilers star Leon Draisaitl said Tuesday after practice he doesn't take much issue with his teammates getting into the rough stuff, especially at that point of the game when the eventual 6-1 result was all but final, but adds the team could 'be a little bit more disciplined and stay away from that, but there's also times where we've handled it.' 'Last night was the first night where it got out of hand a little bit,' Draisaitl told reporters. 'The game's over. It's 5-1. It's not a big deal. We have guys that are intense. They like getting in those situations just as much as they do.' But in all, the Oilers collected 85 minutes worth of penalties in the game and gave the host Panthers 11 power-play chances, in which they scored on three. That's a lot of punishment for an Oilers team that wasn't known for its physical play coming into the 2025 playoffs. And playing shorthanded for 15:25 of the game, so 25 per cent of it, dampens the Oilers' ability to do what they've been doing the best all playoffs: score at even strength. Stanley Cup Panthers Toy Rats Hockey Toy rats litter the ice as the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers scuffle at the end of the third period in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals in Sunrise, Fla., Monday, June 9, 2025. (Nathan Denette/AP) 'We've got to strive for a tight-checking game, not a lot of power plays going their way,' Draisaitl said. 'Defending well, low event – that's what we're looking to do. That's what we've done throughout most of the playoffs. That's our first step.' Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm said a plus for his team is all that experience because they've learned by now – whether with Edmonton or elsewhere – that they shouldn't think too far ahead or dwell on what's already happened. 'Having all that experience on our side is also huge in situations like this, where you've got to go game by game (and) go day by day, and make sure you don't let that flow into each other too much,' he said. 'We knew before the series was going it's going to be hard.' Oilers practice Edmonton Oilers forward Corey Perry take part in a drill during practice at the NHL Stanley Cup final in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Nathan Denette/THE CANADIAN PRESS) The Oilers have been showing that kind of post-season resolve the last four seasons, stretching back to 2022 when they advanced to the Western Conference final for the first time in recent years. Right at the beginning of this season's playoffs, the Oilers had to bounce back from two high-event losses to the Los Angeles Kings and did so. Echoing Draisaitl and his head coach Kris Knoblauch, who also said Tuesday the Oilers need to get back to playing a game 'that's with the puck, good defensive hockey,' Ekholm said being familiar with the playoff Panthers should be helpful. 'We've won four games against them in these finals the last two years,' he said. 'You look at those games, we're a very focused group. We play our game. We don't let that even creep in a little bit. 'Maybe we lost that a little bit last night, but we know what to do.'
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Abbotsford Canucks: Will Lockwood has Calder Cup incentive with red-hot Charlotte Checkers
Will Lockwood scored twice for the juggernaut Charlotte Checkers in an impressive Eastern Division final sweep of the high-octane Laval Rocket to punch their AHL ticket to the Calder Cup Finals. Article content It's not breaking news, but it's significant for the former Vancouver Canucks winger. He has five goals in his last 10 post-season games, after just 10 goals in 52 regular-season outings, and is on an expiring two-year, $1.55-million US contract with the parent Florida Panthers. Article content Article content Article content The Checkers have won eight-straight playoff games, are 10-2 in the post-season, and swept their last two series. Article content Lockwood, 26, will have extra incentive when the best-of-seven championship series against Western Division champion Abbotsford Canucks opens Friday in North Carolina. He was a third-round 2016 NHL Draft selection by the Canucks — 64th overall and 44 spots higher than an NHL Central Scouting projection — but never gained traction in Vancouver or Florida. He has two assists in 52 career games. Article content Lockwood managed just one assist in 28 outings over three NHL seasons here, but did have 12 goals with Abbotsford in 26 games during the 2022-23 season. He was traded to the New York Rangers in February of 2023 for underwhelming winger Vitali Kravtsov, who managed just one goal in 16 NHL games before the restricted free agent returned to the KHL. Article content The pressure to perform in hockey-mad Vancouver got to a lot of prospects. For Lockwood, it was a combination of tailoring his game to the NHL and trying to be a feisty fourth-line fit. It was a physical grind and mental challenge amid roster additions. He even fought to gain attention. Article content Article content 'I had people coming up to me and saying, 'They're picking up this guy and this guy.' I didn't have any idea,' Lockwood told Postmedia. 'You have to focus on controlling what you can. It's a business. The team wants to win, and you have to understand that. Article content 'I'm not going to score from the top of the circle or beat a goalie with a clear shot all the time. If I can get to those dirty areas, I'll produce.' Article content Former Canucks bench boss Bruce Boudreau said, 'He's got great speed, great tenacity, and for a not overly big guy, he hits real hard. If you give him enough ice time, like he had in the AHL to score goals, it will build his confidence.' Article content Fast forward, and if this it how it ends for Lockwood in his latest adventure — hosting the Calder Cup trophy — then he'll probably take it, although he would like to keep playing. The same goes for former Canucks winger Aidan McDonough, 25, and centre Zac Dalpe, 35, who serves as Checkers captain.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘A UFC fight': Tensions rise in Stanley Cup Final as the Panthers get the upper hand on the Oilers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Things got chippy in the Stanley Cup Final late in Game 3 when the Florida Panthers were well on their way to blowing out the Edmonton Oilers. Brawls ensued, Darnell Nurse and Jonah Gadjovich dropped the gloves, and eight guys got sent to the showers early with misconduct penalties. 'When we get into garbage time, those things happen, and I don't mind when those things happen,' Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. 'It's what good teams do: fight your way out of the rink. I don't mind that in garbage time.' Long before garbage time, Florida took it to Edmonton, with the defending champions dictating their style of play and knocking their opponents off kilter to take a 2-1 series lead with a 6-1 laugher. If more of that continues in Game 4 on Thursday night, it's advantage Panthers because they thrive on making other teams feel uncomfortable. 'We played our game, our style, stuck up for each other when we needed to,' Panthers winger 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 — a spear, a slash, whatever the case is, you've got to take it.' It should not be surprising that tensions boiled over given the lopsided score in the 10th game in the Cup final between these two teams over the past year. The Oilers and Panthers have grown a healthy distaste for each other with all that familiarity. With that comes plenty of hits, shoves and jabs that lead to slashes, punches and gear strewn all over the ice. The 140 combined penalty minutes in Game 3 were the most in a final since Game 4 between Montreal and Calgary in 1986. 'The game's over with 11 minutes left,' Oilers star Leon Draisaitl said Tuesday after practice. 'Then all hell breaks loose. It's a UFC fight.' The penalties that mattered to the result came early. The Oilers were not shy about criticizing the officiating and the Panthers for allegedly influencing it. Goaltender Stuart Skinner said, 'Some guys are flaking and going down trying to cause penalties,' and Evander Kane questioned some of the calls. 'There seems to be a little bit more attention on our group,' said Kane, who took two minor penalties in the first period alone. 'They seem to get away with it more than we do. It's tough to find the line.' Toeing that line is what the Panthers do best, and it is a recipe that has them in the final for a third consecutive year under coach Paul Maurice, who credited Tkachuk for having 'a little bit more impact on the tenacity of the team than the guy who wears a suit behind the bench and never takes a shift.' Florida's roster is full of truculence with talent to match. Sam Bennett delivered a big, open-ice hit that led to his breakaway and playoff-leading 14th goal, and finishing checks on John Klingberg has hampered the veteran defenseman's play in the series compared to the first three rounds. 'That's part of their DNA, that's what they do,' Draisaitl said. 'It's an emotional time. It's two teams that want to win, two teams of doing it their own way, but I don't think anybody is going crazy here. They're good at what they do.' Maurice did not buy into the idea that Game 3 was the Panthers showing what they can do at their best. The opener went to overtime and Florida needed double OT to win Game 2. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'I think the first two games are indicative of what Game 4 is going to look like,' Maurice said. 'We're not going to look at (Game 3) and say, 'That's the way it should look if we play our game.'' The Oilers certainly look at it as the opposite, discombobulated and nothing resembling the group that had gone 12-2 since a couple of losses to open the first round. They've dropped two in a row for the first time since. 'We just got to play our game,' Nurse said. 'We got guys that can do all that kind of stuff. But is that our game? So I think we just got to stick to play the way that we play. We're such a good hockey team when we just play hockey, and we just got to do that.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
