After blowout loss in Game 3, Oilers need to 'play their game' moving forward

The Panthers played their style on Monday night. The Edmonton Oilers got away from theirs. The result was a lopsided 6-1 win for Florida, which gave the defending champions a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

"We gotta play our game," stressed Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch. "That’s with the puck, good defensive hockey. Some guys thrive on those extra-curricular activities, things that happen after the whistle, but I think some of our guys got distracted with that."

The Oilers and Panthers combined for 140 penalty minutes on Monday, which was the fourth highest total in a game in Stanley Cup Final history. Edmonton accounted for 85 of those minutes. 

Since Paul Maurice took over behind the bench at the start of the 2022-23 season, the Panthers have been penalized more than any other team. They like to play with an edge. Key players like Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and now Brad Marchand relish the chance to get under the skin of the opposition. 

"That’s their brand," said Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm. "That’s what they do. That’s what they do really well. But, at the same time, we’ve won four games against them in these finals in the last two years. I think you look at those games, we’re a very focused group. We play our game. We don’t let that creep in a little bit. So maybe we lost that a little bit last night, but we know what to do." 

The Oilers will get a chance to show that on Thursday night in Game 4. 

It will be up to the team's leaders to help right the ship. Star centre Leon Draisaitl was held off the scoresheet on Monday night and finished the game without a shot for only the third time in 19 playoff games this year. 

What is it about the Panthers that drives teams crazy? 

"I'm not going crazy," Draisaitl countered. "I don’t know if anybody’s going crazy. It’s an emotional time. It’s two teams that want to win. Two teams that are doing it their own way, but I don’t think anybody is going crazy here."

After the first period on Monday night both teams had taken four minor penalties, but the parade to the penalty box slowed the pace of the game, which seemed to favour the Panthers. And the frustration was evident on the Oilers side. 

"They seem to get away with it more than we do," winger Evander Kane said in the immediate aftermath of Game 3. "There seems to be a little more attention on our group."

Oilers winger Trent Frederic, who also faced the Panthers last year in the playoffs when he was with the Boston Bruins, echoed Kane's sentiment on Tuesday. 

"I've played them in multiple series and it feels like, obviously I'm biased, it feels like they're doing more, but getting more [power plays]," he said. "They're good at that."

There's no easy answer. 

"I'm not sure what we can do," Knoblauch acknowledged. "We can play hockey. Hopefully it works out."

Knoblauch added that every team is always unhappy with some missed calls. That was certainly the case for Edmonton early in Game 3.

Kane was whistled for high-sticking Brad Marchand and cross-checking Gustav Forsling in the first period on Monday. 

"It’s important for us to be disciplined and not go to the penalty box, but I don’t know," Knoblauch said with a sigh. "It’s tough for us to say that we’re not going to do that because one of the highs sticks was pushed up into his face, cross-check [and the] guy falls, I didn’t think that was really much of a crosscheck. They're all judgement calls ... Hopefully over the long haul it evens out."

The Panthers have had 17 power plays in the series versus 16 for the Oilers. 

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The NHL Department of Player Safety fined Jake Walman $5,000, the maximum allowed under the CBA, for unsportsmanlike conduct in Game 3. The Oilers defenceman sprayed water at the Panthers bench in the second period.

"I obviously did that for a reason," Walman said after the game. "I won't go into the details. It's just gamesmanship, I guess."

Panthers winger A.J. Greer had grabbed Walman's glove and tossed it in Florida's bench moments earlier.

Walman's solution to dealing with Florida's gamesmanship moving forward? 

"Initiate," he said. "That's pretty much it. If you retaliate you're going to get called, so initiate. We can play that game."

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Walman was also fined $5,000 for roughing Tkachuk in the third period. He sticked Tkachuk low before throwing punches while defenceman John Klingberg held the Panthers winger.

"We talk about being composed and if you gotta take a punch in the face, if you gotta take a slash in the face, a cross-check, slash in the leg, whatever the case is, you gotta do it," Tkachuk told the TNT panel after the game. "There's a bigger picture with the win here for us."

The Walman interaction with Tkachuk was part of a crazy third period, which also featured a line brawl. 

"The game’s over with 11 minutes left, right, like, whatever it is, and then all hell breaks loose," Draisaitl said. "It’s a UFC fight. I think overall we can be a little bit more disciplined and stay away from that, but there’s also times where we’ve handled it really well."

Frederic got the line brawl started by crosschecking Bennett. 

"I just gave a shot," Frederic said. "My stick broke. I figured I was going to get a penalty anyways so just kinda kept going."

Panthers winger Jonah Gadjovich then dropped the gloves with Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse in a marathon tilt. 

Ekholm initially tried to get to Gadjovich, but Greer jumped in. 

"I thought that I was in with the other guy there, Gadjovich, and then [Greer] comes out of nowhere there trying to sucker me," Ekholm said. "I didn’t do much more, but I got tossed out of the game."

Everyone involved received a 10-minute misconduct and was sent to the dressing room as there were only nine minutes and change remaining.  

After the game, Marchand passed Gadjovich the player of the game puck. 

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Stuart Skinner was pulled in the third period after allowing five goals on 23 shots. Knoblauch is still mulling over who will start Game 4 on Thursday night. 

"I think a lot of the games that Stu maybe wasn't on his A game, our team wasn't on its A game in front of him," Knoblauch noted. "I don't think there are any bad goals. Maybe an extra save, but it doesn't matter how well Stu played last night, it wouldn't have made any difference in the game most likely. I'm not holding anything against Stu on that performance."

Calvin Pickard stopped seven of eight shots during Monday's relief appearance. It was his first game action since sustaining an injury on May 8. 

"Whether we use him again, there's a little opportunity for him to get some playing time so when we do use him he's a little more comfortable when he goes in that net," Knoblauch said. "So, I think it's one, allowing Picks some playing time just in case we do need him, choose to use him at a certain point, but also give Stu some time off and not have him play through that circumstance."

Pickard is 6-0 in the playoffs with an .888 save percentage. 

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With two days between games, the Panthers decided to stay off the ice on Tuesday. The expectation was the Oilers would follow suit. 

But Edmonton opted to hold a full practice on Tuesday and, instead, stay off the ice on Wednesday. Knoblauch said the team decided to break things up by skating on Tuesday and then again on Thursday morning. 

Players appreciated the chance to get back to work after a disappointing performance. 

"We've just got to have a moment of realization this morning of, yeah, we're three wins away," said Ekholm. "We're one win away from having a best two out of three with two home games. There's a lot of positives. Sometimes you get a little lost in that when you lose a game. We had a really good practice today where we're upbeat and we know we can be better."

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Just like on Sunday, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missed practice. TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston reports that the Oilers forward is believed to be dealing with an issue in the hand area. 

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Lines at Oilers practice on Tuesday: 

Skinner - McDavid - Perry
Kane - Draisaitl - Kapanen
Frederic - Henrique - Brown
Podkolzin - Janmark - Arvidsson

Ryan, Jones 
Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Klingberg
Walman - Kulak
Stecher, Emberson, Dineen

Skinner 
Pickard