Panthers-Oilers Sport 3 takeaways, early have a look at Sport 4

The scene modified for Sport 3 of the Stanley Cup Closing, however the finish end result much like Video games 1 and a pair of, because the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 and are actually one win away from the franchise’s first championship.

After Florida opened the scoring within the first, Edmonton tied the sport at 1, adopted by three straight tallies by the Panthers. The Oilers bought inside a objective with about 5 minutes left, however because of some clutch defensive play and saves by Sergei Bobrovsky, the hosts couldn’t get the equalizer.

Listed below are our grades for each groups, together with takeaways that caught out essentially the most, key gamers to look at for Sport 4 and the large questions left unanswered previous to Saturday evening’s potential Cup clincher (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+).

Panthers grade: A-

Florida got here dangerously near letting Sport 4 slip away.

The Panthers let Edmonton chip away at their 4-1 third-period lead till it was an virtually uncomfortable one-goal win — protected primarily by Bobrovsky’s save on Ryan McLeod within the remaining minutes of a frantic third interval.

However that remaining rating is all that issues; Florida is now a single victory away from the franchise’s first championship.

It would not be the case if not for a implausible efficiency (once more) by Bobrovsky, an all-in effort from Florida’s total lineup and a penalty kill that has continued to carry the Oilers’ vaunted energy play at bay. Even whereas Edmonton clawed its method again, it by no means appeared just like the Panthers had been panicked. There’s something about this group that enables the gamers to stay calm even when circumstances start to appear dire. It is a superpower Florida will attempt to wield once more when it makes an attempt to boost the Cup with a win in Sport 4.

Oilers grade: C-

Even with their late third-period push, all of the questions surrounding the Oilers’ struggles with the Panthers through the Stanley Cup Closing had been answered in Sport 3.

Scratch that. All of the questions surrounding the Oilers’ struggles through the Stanley Cup Closing had been answered within the second interval of Sport 3.

Even with a heavy quantity of photographs on objective, they could not generate the form of high quality of shot that positioned Bobrovsky beneath fixed risk. They stored getting beat, which is what led to them having breakdown after breakdown. That led to the Panthers scoring as many objectives within the second interval because the Oilers had scored within the first eight durations of this collection. The third-period rally made issues thrilling however was in the end fruitless.

What we discovered in Sport 3

Aleksander Barkov is a on one other degree

Edmonton’s stars haven’t proven up on the scoresheet on this collection. Florida hasn’t had that downside — particularly in terms of Barkov. The Panthers’ captain was not solely his group’s finest ahead, however the high skater general in Sport 3.

His effort to dig a puck out alongside the wall led to Sam Reinhart’s opening objective. And the person effort Barkov put in to attain late within the second interval and primarily seal the victory for Florida — in no small half by totally deflating the Oilers’ possibilities of a comeback — was sensational. Barkov’s well being had been in query following the excessive hit from Leon Draisaitl in Sport 2, however there was no query Barkov was feeling simply advantageous given the efficiency he placed on Thursday.

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Aleksander Barkov pads Panthers’ lead with fast objective

Aleksander Barkov evades two Oilers defenders and finishes on the web with one other Panthers’ objective.

Florida may assist Sergei Bobrovsky a bit, too

The Panthers have carried out a lot proper on this collection. Their penalty kill is elite — it could possibly’t get any greater, at 100%. Their total lineup is contributing with a powerful depth on full show. Their dedication to group protection continues to be a catalyst of their success. And Bobrovsky has been enjoying lights out in web whereas Florida holds Edmonton’s high shooters off the board (his save on Draisaitl within the first interval was notably eye-popping).

Nonetheless, the Panthers had been outshot in Sport 3 for the primary time on this Cup Closing, and Bobrovksy needed to do extra heavy lifting than in earlier victories — and this one reached nail-biter territory given how the Oilers pushed again within the third. Florida had only one shot on objective by the primary half of the ultimate body after they had been already on the improper aspect of the ledger there, 29-18.

The Panthers had been masterful at suppressing the Oilers’ possibilities in opposition to Bobrovsky in Video games 1 and a pair of, and that is what they should present once more in Sport 4 in the event that they need to full the sweep.

The Oilers are getting secondary scoring

It began with Warren Foegele. It continued with Philip Broberg and once more with Ryan McLeod tallying a objective with 5:17 left within the third interval.

One of many largest questions going through the Oilers going into the Stanley Cup Closing was whether or not they may obtain a constant quantity of secondary scoring. To this point, they’ve. The Oilers’ first 5 objectives of the collection have all come from secondary and tertiary sources, which is what allowed them to take Sport 3 from what was as soon as a three-goal gap to 1 that grew to become dangerously near additional time.

However even with these objectives from Broberg, Foegele and McLeod, it raises a posh dialogue in regards to the Oilers: Whereas it reveals the Oilers can certainly get objectives from different sources, is it a viable technique at a time wherein Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins haven’t scored as soon as on this Cup Closing?

Unhealthy issues proceed to occur in threes for the Oilers

It occurred within the first spherical, when the Los Angeles Kings scored three objectives within the first interval of Sport 2. The identical goes for when the Vancouver Canucks scored three objectives within the third interval of Sport 1 in a second-round collection. Then there’s the three objectives the Dallas Stars scored in Sport 3 of the Western Convention finals.

So what the Panthers did by scoring three unanswered objectives within the second interval, whereas jarring, was removed from a shock contemplating it has occurred, nicely, three earlier occasions this postseason.

Gamers to look at in Sport 4

Gustav Forsling, D, Panthers

The eye on this collection has squarely fallen on forwards and goaltenders. Forsling deserves what highlight has come his method — and it is solely going to burn brighter in Sport 4.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice referred to as Forsling the perfect defenseman on this planet “in his type,” and that time is frequently laborious to argue whenever you see what Forsling has been in a position to do. He is had Edmonton’s quantity in his collection, by how shortly he can learn the play and have an effect.

When Forsling is on the ice, he is a major risk in all three zones and it is apparent how the remainder of Florida’s defensive effort funnels by him. When the Panthers try to clinch in Sport 4, it will probably be in no small half due to Forsling and the way he is in a position to set a tone and constantly be top-of-the-line defenders on the ice.

Connor McDavid, C, Oilers

Whereas McDavid has but to attain within the collection, his two third-period assists had been essential when it got here to the Oilers making it shut. Nobody participant makes a group. Or within the case of the Oilers, no two generational facilities make a group.

That stated, the truth that the Oilers scrambled to attain two third-period objectives — with none of them being scored by Bouchard, Draisaitl, Hyman, McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins — reveals that the Oilers can get contributions from their supporting forged, however that in addition they want objectives from their stars as nicely.

That has to begin with the celebrity carrying a “C” on his sweater.

Large questions for Sport 4

Is Florida prepared to complete?

The final victory is the toughest to get for a purpose. It’ll take all the pieces Florida has on the ice to carry off the Oilers from being swept out of a Cup Closing in their very own constructing, and seal the deal.

There is a landslide of things that may affect how a group approaches a sport the place the stakes are this excessive, and Florida is low on expertise in being there. Sure, they’ve closed out a number of collection within the final two years, however by no means one the place names are etched into hockey historical past on the finish. Reaching that time requires greater than only a full buy-in to construction. It is weathering adversity on each shift, and matching urgency in methods Florida will not have been by at some other pinnacle earlier than.

Are the Panthers able to ship that remaining blow?

May that third interval be the beginning of one thing for the Oilers? Or was it the start of the top?

This is the factor about how the Oilers carried out within the third interval. Getting two objectives in that body, in an evening that noticed them get three objectives whole, was huge when you think about how this collection began. They scored one objective mixed within the first two video games, so to get three objectives on this one could possibly be an indication that they might have discovered a solution within the offensive zone.

However may or not it’s sufficient? Even with the three objectives they scored in Sport 3, the Oilers nonetheless allowed 4, which additionally comes with this explicit significance: The Oilers allowed 14 objectives in six video games in opposition to the Stars within the Western Convention finals; they’ve allowed 11 objectives to the Panthers in three Stanley Cup Closing video games. They will want to enhance on each ends to get a win, a lot much less make this a collection.