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Brad Marchand had the potential game-winning goal for quite some time – when it was snatched away from him, he made up for it.
The reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers evened up the final on Friday night with Marchand’s double-overtime goal, giving the Cats a 5-4 win in Game 2 against the Edmonton Oilers.
After scoring three goals during the first 12:37 of the game, Edmonton could no longer find the back of the net.
In desperation mode and down 4-3, the Oilers pulled Stuart Skinner from the net with 2:33 left in regulation, which seemed early, but with the puck in the other zone on a faceoff, they could take advantage. And they did.
With 17.8 seconds left, a puck was loose in front, and 40-year-old Corey Perry jammed it home to tie the game at four. After allowing a goal on three of his first seven shots faced, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped each of the next 24 before allowing the one that sent the contest into overtime.
Both teams had their chances in overtime, especially the Panthers, who hit the post on one shot and had a breakaway saved, but both teams were blanked. With just over eight minutes into the second overtime period, Marchand did it again, squeaking one by Skinner on a breakaway and giving Florida a tremendous win.
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Much like Game 1, the scoring began early – this time with the Florida Panthers scoring first.
Sam Bennett, who fought his own teammate Matthew Tkachuk’s brother in the 4 Nations while teaming up with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, found the back of the net just two minutes into the game, but roughly five minutes later, Evander Kane scored an equalizer.
Edmonton got on the power play and scored again, but Florida answered right back to tie the game at 2 at 11:37. During another power play, Leon Draisaitl scored to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead, capping off five goals in the game’s first 13 minutes.
While the Oilers’ offense cooled off in the second, Florida’s did not. Dmitry Kulikov tied it up 8:23 into the period, and Marchand gave Florida the lead with a short-handed goal four minutes later. The 4-3 Panthers lead held until Perry’s miraculous goal late in the third.
The hero in Marchand was a trade deadline acquisition, almost quite literally being traded from his former longtime Boston Bruins down south in the final minutes. The trade was worth it.
Game 3 will take place Monday night back in Florida, which has hosted a Cup Final game for three consecutive years.
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