Panthers lead Oilers after second period in Game 2 of Stanley Cup Final
Published
The Florida Panthers have a 4-3 lead over the Edmonton Oilers after the second period in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Friday night.
Florida tied the game 3-3 nearly halfway through the period as Dmitry Kulikov’s shot from the point found its way through traffic, hit Evan Bouchard and then the post before beating Stuart Skinner.
The Oilers went on the power play with just under nine minutes remaining in the second as Niko Mikkola took a penalty for hooking Corey Perry but it was Florida that took the lead, as Brad Marchand was sprung on a breakaway shorthanded on a pass from Anton Lundell and beat Skinner to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead. Edmonton failed to score on the man advantage.
Edmonton will start the third period on the power play.
The opening period was filled with action from the drop of the puck.
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 Skinner for his playoff-leading 13th goal.
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 Bouchard picked up the assists on the goal.
Thirty seconds into a 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 ensuing 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.
The Oilers lead the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final 1-0 over the Panthers.