Marchand, Bennett push Panthers past Oilers to take 3-2 lead in Stanley Cup final
EDMONTON - The Oilers are in a familiar spot — facing elimination in the Stanley Cup final.
Brad Marchand scored twice to give him a series-leading six goals and Sam Bennett buried his NHL playoff-leading 15th as the Florida Panthers defeated Edmonton 5-2 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven matchup Saturday.
Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen, into the empty net, had the other goals for the defending champs. Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves. Luostarinen added an assist for a two-point night.
Bennett and Marchand are the first players since 1981 with at least five goals each in the same final, and the first teammates to do so since 1973. Marchand is also the first player to score six goals in a final since 1988.
Connor McDavid and Corey Perry replied for the Oilers, who will look to stave off elimination when Game 6 goes Tuesday in Sunrise, Fla. Calvin Pickard stopped 14 shots.
Edmonton trailed Florida 3-0 in last year's final only to battle back with three straight victories to force a winner-take-all finale the club lost 2-1.
McDavid had a couple of early chances inside an electric Rogers Place — the raucous, well-lubricated weekend crowd hit 113.4 decibels when the home side hit the ice ahead of puck drop — before the Panthers pounced.
Marchand was quickest off a faceoff at centre and then blew past Edmonton defenceman Mattias Ekholm before firing his ninth of the playoffs off the post and in at 9:12.
The 37-year-old has now has 12 goals in his four appearances in the final to become the seventh player in the post-expansion era to reach that number. He's also the second player since 1967-68 to have at least five goals in multiple finals after scoring that many in 2011 with the Boston Bruins to join Mario Lemieux (1991 and 1992).
The Oilers went to the power play later in the period, but a disjointed and timid sequence resulted in little zone time and no shots on Bobrovsky.
Florida doubled its lead moments later when Bennett fired past Pickard, who got the start ahead of Stuart Skinner following his 23-save performance off the bench in Edmonton's dramatic 5-4 overtime victory in Game 4, after Matthew Tkachuk's initial shot was blocked at 18:06.
Bennett is the fourth active player to have at least 15 goals in a single playoff, joining Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby and injured Oilers forward Zach Hyman.
Edmonton went back to the man advantage in the second period and got some good looks. Bobrovsky denied both Perry and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins before McDavid hit the post.
Marchand made it 3-0 at 5:12 of the third when he undressed Edmonton blueliner Jack Walman and slid home his 10th past Pickard.
McDavid gave the home side some life at 7:24 with a shake-and-back move on Bobrovsky for his seventh — and first of the series — but Reinhart put things to bed 46 seconds later when he snapped home his seventh.
Perry scored a consolation goal with 3:13 left in regulation and Pickard on the bench for an extra attacker in an Edmonton push that came far too late before Luostarinen iced it into the empty net.
PICKARD REFLECTS
The Oilers goaltender got into just 30 NHL games between 2018 and last season — a stretch that included lots of time in the minors and a brief stint in Austria — before getting a shot in the Alberta capital.
'It's been a great journey, I've been a lot of good places,' Pickard said. 'Grateful that I had the chance to come to Edmonton.'
TAKING STOCK
Marchand was asked following Saturday's morning skate where this final ranks after winning in 2011 with the Bruins before falling just short in 2013 and 2019.
'This has been a pretty incredible one,' he said. 'This is one of the tightest series anyone will ever see. Just the talent level and how close these two teams are, how back and forth the games have been. It's been very exciting, a little nerve-racking at times.
'It makes you realize why you love the game so much. But also why this trophy is the hardest to win.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2025.
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