SUNRISE, Fla. — This is precisely what the Florida Panthers aim for.
They draw opponents into their chaotic, physical brand of hockey, and then dominate them on the scoreboard.
They provoke and check hard. They exchange verbal jabs (`chirps`) and deliver crushing hits. Then they defeat you convincingly on the scoreboard and even taunt you on their way off the ice.
“If you have to take a punch in the face, take a punch in the face,” says a happy Matthew Tkachuk, now just two wins away from a second Stanley Cup.
Game 3 in Sunrise was a clear display of the Florida Panthers` identity, and the Edmonton Oilers — who seemed unable to adjust to the time difference even after two days — were completely drawn into it.
The Panthers quickly took an early lead and overwhelmed their opponents with scoring depth from multiple lines. They also drew more penalties than they committed and had the better goalie. By the time fans threw plastic rats onto the ice in celebration, they had achieved their preferred lopsided score: 6-1.
Most importantly, the team widely considered the most irritating, relentless, and (for now) best in hockey is effectively getting under the skin of an Oilers team that sees itself as having matured.
“You look at some of the calls and things, obviously some of them are frustrating. They seem to get away with more than we do,” commented Evander Kane, who has accumulated 18 penalty minutes in the series. “It’s tough to find the line. They’re doing just as much stuff as we are.”
True. But whether it`s crowding the net, exaggerating fouls to draw penalties, or capitalizing on the absurd number of power plays awarded in these games, the Panthers are simply more effective at these tactics.
That `line` Kane talks about?
The Panthers act like they invented it, and they walk it skillfully, like a tightrope walker.
How frustrating must it be to face the reigning champions when they dictate the tough, heavy style and pace of the game?
“I don’t know. I haven’t played against the Panthers,” captain Aleksander Barkov says with a grin. “It’s fun to play. It’s hard to play. We were good today. We’re ready for anything.”
The Oilers, on the other hand, were the opposite of ready on Monday.
And as the game descended into misconduct penalties, cheap shots, and endless scrums—with moments like Jake Walman spraying water at the home bench, and an excited fourth-liner Jonah Gadjovich sticking out his tongue after getting into it with Darnell Nurse and earning a standing ovation from the home crowd, and starting goalie Stuart Skinner being mercifully pulled—the Oilers went from merely unprepared to completely falling apart.
“Definitely the third period is an unravelling,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “That game was out of hand. I don’t think we would have acted or played like that had the game been a one-goal or two-goal game.”
We would argue that no game is truly `out of hand` for the playoffs` top comeback team. But the Oilers stopped playing hockey and started playing for revenge.
So, it was interesting that Florida coach Paul Maurice mentioned the Canucks` recent crazy three-goal, last-minute comeback against the Stars after the game. The Oilers absolutely have the talent for that kind of offensive spark, but they were too caught up in being upset to unleash it.