Brad Marchand has made a career of looming large in the biggest of moments, and the Florida Panthers are thankful for it after he netted the double-overtime winner in a 5-4 road victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday to even the Stanley Cup Final.
In a back-and-forth affair, Marchand’s second breakaway goal of the game at 8:05 of the second overtime period was the difference-maker in his team’s victory that tied the best-of-seven series at one win apiece.
It was Marchand’s fifth career Stanley Cup playoff overtime goal, fewer than only Joe Sakic (eight) and Maurice Richard (six) in NHL history, and his 10th career tally in the finals.
“It’s incredible to be part of these moments,” Marchand, who won a Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011, told Sportsnet. “There are memories for the rest of your life.”
Both games went to overtime after the Panthers surrendered third-period leads.
The series moves to Sunrise, Fla., for Game 3 on Monday.
Seth Jones collected one goal and one assist while Sam Bennett and Dmitry Kulikov both notched singles for the Panthers. Nate Schmidt and Anton Lundell each added a pair of assists for the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 42 saves, his biggest against a Kasperi Kapanen chance off a rush minutes before the winner.
Evan Bouchard scored once in a three-point game for the Oilers, while Leon Draisaitl netted one goal and one assist and Evander Kane and Corey Perry scored once. Connor McDavid posted three assists, and goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 37 shots.
It was the first overtime loss in this year’s postseason for Edmonton after four OT victories.
“You go home and, yeah, you can think about it, but get some rest, get on the plane and get ready for Game 3,” said Perry, whose late goal forced overtime. “They’re a good team and they’re going to push us to the max and we’re going to push them to the max.”
Just like the series opener, both teams staked and lost a lead. Bennett kicked off the wild first period with his league-high 13th goal of the playoffs at the 2:07 mark.
The Oilers responded with a pair of tallies 100 seconds apart before the midway point of the frame, with Kane putting the hosts on the board at 7:39, and Bouchard giving Edmonton its first lead with a shot from the high slot.
Jones evened the score at 11:37 of the period, but Draisaitl made it a 3-2 game exactly one minute later with a tap-in power-play goal.
Kulikov again tied the clash at 8:23 of the second period, and Marchand’s short-handed breakaway goal gave the Panthers a 4-3 edge at 12:09 of the second period.
With the goalie pulled for the extra attacker, Perry chipped a loose puck into the net with 17.8 seconds remaining in regulation, the latest tying goal in finals history.
The Panthers showed their championship pedigree by recovering after Perry’s goal.
“It was the opposite of what you guys probably thought we were like,” Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said of the team’s morale after watching a late lead disappear. “We were upbeat, joking around, having some fun, picking guys who we think was going to score, and I think a lot of guys probably had Marchy.”
And now the Oilers, who have relinquished home-ice advantage, must take their turn recovering.
“We’re going with a split, and that’s fine with us,” said Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch, whose team has won six of nine road games this postseason. “We’re comfortable playing on the road and won a lot of games in the regular season and playoffs.”
–Field Level Media
