Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand celebrates scoring during the third period against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 on Saturday.Perry Nelson/Reuters
The Florida Panthers moved within one victory of winning the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight year on Saturday with a 5-2 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place.
Brad Marchand scored twice and Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen had one apiece for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky wasn’t tested enough in Florida’s net and was mostly up to the challenge when he was.
Bobrovsky finished with 19 saves.
The Panthers now lead the best-of seven final 3-2 with Game 6 to be contested in Sunrise, Fla., on Tuesday. If a seventh game is necessary, it will be held in Edmonton on Friday.
Connor McDavid and Corey Perry each scored in the third period, but was too little too late for the Oilers.
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The Oilers have not won a Stanley Cup since 1990, and no Canadian team has claimed one since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens. Florida needs to win just one more to repeat as the Stanley Cup champion.
The Oilers find themselves in a difficult position. They need to win the next two contests to bring a sixth Stanley Cup back to Edmonton.
A year ago they fell behind in the final 3-0 before winning the next three to force a Game 7.
“We have to stay confident and stay positive,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “This is the ultimate test. It will be a challenge but we are confident we can get the job done. We can find a way to do it.”
In a remarkable series, three of the first four games went to overtime and one went to double-OT. Edmonton trailed 3-0 in the first period on Thursday before it rallied for a 5-4 victory in extra time. It was the first three-goal comeback by a road team in the final in more than a century.
McDavid gave Edmonton life when he scored with 12:36 to go to cut Florida’s lead to 3-1. But Reinhart ended the Oilers’ faint hopes of staging another thrilling comeback when he scored less than a minute later.
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Edmonton went with Calvin Pickard in the net. He replaced Stuart Skinner at the start of the second period on Thursday with Florida ahead, 3-0, and stopped 22 of the next 23 shots the rest of the way. He entered Game 5 with a 7-0 record during this postseason.
“It’s exciting and a good opportunity for me,” 33-year-old Pickard, mostly a career backup, said after the morning skate. “I guess you could look at tonight as the biggest game of my life but last game was the biggest one before now.”
Pickard allowed four goals on 18 shots. Luostarinen’s was scored into an empty net. with 1:19 left.
Edmonton got drubbed 6-1 in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena and quickly fell behind 3-0 hole in Game 4. It escaped with the win but did not want to put itself in a hole like that again.
It has been outscored 11-4 in the first period in the five games.
“Getting behind is tough,” Kris Knoblauch, the Edmonton coach, said. “You can only do that and get away with it so many times.”
Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones defends against Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl during Game 5.Perry Nelson/Reuters
As much as it didn’t want to, Edmonton ended up in arrears.
Marchand broke a scoreless tie, scoring with 10:48 to go in the first period after Edmonton won a face-off. Then Bennett, who leads all playoff scorers, netted his 15th with 1:54 left before the first intermission to make it 2-0.
The Oilers were outshot 8-3 over the first 20 minutes and did not have a shot on net over the last 11:50.
They lost the first three games to the Panthers a year ago before winning the next three to force a seventh game.
Edmonton had opportunities with three power plays in the first 40 minutes but did not capitalize. It pulled Pickard with 4:55 to go in favour of an extra attacker. Perry scored his 10th goal of the postseason with 3:13 to go
Rogers Place was jammed and thousands of more fans gathered outside to watch on big screens in a chilly rain. Three hours before the opening puck drop, lines snaked for several blocks around the arena’s outdoor venues. Horns were honked as drivers passed the crowded sidewalks where Oilers’ devotees chanted, “We want the cup!”
It is going to take two tough games to do it.