Oilers lead Panthers after first period in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final
Published
The Edmonton Oilers have a 3-2 lead over the Florida Panthers after the first period in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Friday night.
Sam Bennett scored a little over two minutes into the opening period on the power play with Oilers forward Evander Kane in the box for high-sticking. Bennett completed a passing play from Nate Schmidt and Evan Rodrigues to snap the puck past Stuart Skinner for his playoff-leading 13th goal.
The Oilers got their first power play of the game a minute after Bennett scored as Aaron Ekblad went to the box for holding the stick of Trent Frederic. But Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was whistled for two minutes for tripping Panthers defenceman Seth Jones to make it 4-on-4 for a 1:22.
Oilers forward Evander Kane tied the game at 7:39 as he scooped up a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated in and snapped the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 1-1. Viktor Arvidsson and Evan Bouchard picked up the assists on the goal.
Darnell Nurse and Matthew Tkachuk were given offsetting two minute minor penalties for roughing after getting into it during a stoppage in play, putting the game back on 4-on-4.
Thirty seconds into the 4-on-4, Bouchard snapped the puck past Bobrovsky to give Edmonton the 2-1 lead. Bouchard picked up a pass from Connor McDavid, took a shot that was blocked by Aleksander Barkov and then picked up the rebound to score. Leon Draisaitl got the secondary assist.
Jones tied the game for Florida 12 minutes in as Eetu Luostarinen found Jones sneaking down the left side undetected and put the puck in the wide-open net to make it 2-2.
Bennett was given a two-minute penalty for goaltender interference after he fell on Skinner at the 12:13 mark. Skinner stayed down for a bit as his leg bent at an awkward angle when Bennett fell on him but after talking with the trainer, he stayed in the game. Tkachuk and Frederic were also given offsetting two-minute penalties for roughing.
Draisaitl would score on the power play, taking a feed from McDavid, who wove his way around two Panthers to find an open Draisaitl, who made no mistake in getting the puck past Bobrovsky for the 3-2 lead.
Edmonton went back on the power play as Niko Mikkola went to the box for roughing on Kasperi Kapanen.
The Oilers got a 5-on-3 for 33 seconds as Jones was penalized for taking down Corey Perry in front of Bobrovsky’s crease. Edmonton failed to score on the man advantage.
Bouchard was given a minor penalty for cross-checking with under two minutes remaining in the first period but Florida did not capitalize before the period ended. The Panthers will have 40 seconds of power play time to start the second period.
The Oilers lead the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final 1-0 over the Panthers.