<p>The Florida Panthers have had a strong performance through two games to take their 2-0 series lead, but now the Edmonton Oilers have home ice advantage for the next two games and a chance to respond. If they can’t for Game 3, they face the nearly impossible task of coming back from down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final. Will we finally see the Oilers electric offense take over a game in this series, or will the Panthers tighten their grip on the series?</p>



<p>While nothing of note happened through most of the first period, it still wasn’t without it’s chances. Edmonton had a 12-7 edge in scoring chances, and a 6-4 edge in high-danger chances, so already it was close to being the most action-packed game in the series in terms of the play.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="135"></div>



<p>But despite the play favouring the Oilers, it was the Panthers that opened the scoring. <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/aleksander-barkov/2132" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aleksander Barkov</a> entered the boards and did an excellent job of working the boards against <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/evan-bouchard/4792" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evan Bouchard</a> to set up <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/gustav-forsling/2431" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gustav Forsling</a>, and then Forsling went for the tip pass with <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/sam-reinhart/2364" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sam Reinhart</a> to get the goal and make it 1-0 Panthers.</p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SAM REINHART OPENS THE SCORING ‼️ <a href="https://t.co/uINqQJ2XEm">pic.twitter.com/uINqQJ2XEm</a></p>— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1801420108239159515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2024</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>But the Oilers responded in short order in the second period. Just 1:49 into the middle frame, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/adam-henrique/945" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Adam Henrique</a> set up <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/warren-foegele/3911" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Warren Foegele</a> for a breakaway, and Foegele sniped it past <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/sergei-bobrovsky/1117" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sergei Bobrovsky</a> for the game-tying goal. It was also only the second goal of the playoffs for the struggling forward, who’s been up and down the lineup as of late.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="nl" dir="ltr">SNIPE SHOW, WARREN FOEGELE 🎯 <a href="https://t.co/FmBh9iWUUH">pic.twitter.com/FmBh9iWUUH</a></p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="131"></div>— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1801425920776921439?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2024</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>However, the Panthers took over for the rest of the period. Just before the halfway point of the second, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/stuart-skinner/4741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stuart Skinner</a> misplayed the puck behind the net, giving <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/vladimir-tarasenko/1983" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vladimir Tarasenko</a> an easy goal to give Florida the lead again.</p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Luostarinen-Lundell-Tarasenko outscoring opponents 4-0 in their minutes together now <a href="https://t.co/h2yzCNudTn">pic.twitter.com/h2yzCNudTn</a></p>— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) <a href="https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/1801430237437157798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2024</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>Almost five minutes later, the Panthers struck again, as <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/darnell-nurse/2139" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Darnell Nurse</a> made a lazy play that turned the puck over to <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/matthew-tkachuk/2635" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Matthew Tkachuk</a>, who then made a nice pass to <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/sam-bennett/2366" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sam Bennett</a> in front for the easy tap-in to make it 3-1.</p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">what a pass from Tkachuk to Bennett <a href="https://t.co/Gioe2Y7PdB">pic.twitter.com/Gioe2Y7PdB</a></p>— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) <a href="https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/1801431325913547000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2024</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>And then 1:34 after Bennett’s goal, Barkov and <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/evan-rodrigues/2620" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evan Rodrigues</a> got a slight 2-on-1 chance, and a well-place shot from the Panthers’ captain made it 4-1 going into the third period.</p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SASHA BARKOV MASTERCLASS. THE CATS ARE BUZZING IN GAME 3! <a href="https://t.co/wsQxp4iIn0">pic.twitter.com/wsQxp4iIn0</a></p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="141"></div>— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1801432742414192725?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2024</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>The third period was one of the weirdest periods of hockey I’ve seen, at least in terms of the momentum. The Panthers were grinding away at the Oilers, hemming them to the other side of the red line, but not necessarily generating chances themselves, just putting the game into a state of nothingness.</p>



<p>But, six minutes into the third, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/philip-broberg/30607" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Philip Broberg</a> threw the puck on net and it bounced off the back of <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/niko-mikkola/4770" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Niko Mikkola </a>to beat Bobrovsky and make it 4-2.</p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BROBERG WITH HIS SECOND CAREER PLAYOFF GOAL! 🫡 <a href="https://t.co/dQ9td04amN">pic.twitter.com/dQ9td04amN</a></p>— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1801443124792656311?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2024</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>And then with a bit over five minutes left, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/brett-kulak/2466" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brett Kulak</a> threw the puck on net and <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/ryan-mcleod/4810" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ryan McLeod</a> made the deflection to make it a one-goal game again.</p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">McLeod pulls Edmonton within one <a href="https://t.co/mK8R7JOGa8">pic.twitter.com/mK8R7JOGa8</a></p>— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) <a href="https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/1801447043543507337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2024</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>But that was all they could muster for the comeback. They generated a couple more chances, but went out with a whimper as the Panthers won the game 4-3 and took a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. Reinhart and Barkov both had a goal and an assist for Florida, while <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/connor-mcdavid/2471" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Connor McDavid was the </a>lone Oiler with multiple points with two assists.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="3" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="189"></div>


Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov