Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist, leading the host Florida Panthers to a 6-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final Monday in Sunrise, Fla.
The win gives the Panthers a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 set for Thursday (5 p.m. PST), also in Florida.
Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad also scored for the defending-champion Panthers, with Eetu Luostarinen adding two assists.
Corey Perry scored for the Oilers.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves to get the goaltending win; Stuart Skinner made 18 saves on 23 shots before being replaced by Calvin Pickard, who made seven saves.
SAM BENNETT WITH THE MOVES FOR THE BUDDIES!!!!
— x - Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers)
Marchand opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the first period with his eighth goal of the playoffs, pouncing on a loose puck in the slot and firing a shot past Skinner.
Verhaeghe made it 2-0 at 17:45, scoring his seventh of the post-season on a power-play, beating Skinner with a perfect shot high to the blocker side.
Perry pulled the Oilers back within 2-1, also on the power play, with his ninth goal at 1:40 of the second, knocking a rebound past Bobrovsky. Perry joined Igor Larionov (2002) as Mark Recchi (2011) as the only 40+ year-olds to score in back-to-back games in the Final.
Just 80 seconds later, Reinhart restored Florida’s two-goal advantage, converting a feed from Verhaeghe and beating Skinner from the left-wing faceoff circle. Reinhart has five goals in the post-season.
Bennett made it 4-1 at 7:26, scoring his 14th of the playoffs on a breakaway, beating Skinner after a nifty deke.
Edmonton held a 24-19 shots on goal advantage after two periods.
Ekblad made it 5-1 on the power play at 3:27 of third, taking a nice behind-the-back pass from Reinhart and beating Skinner, who had received a delay-of-game penalty for clearing the puck over the glass. After the goal, Skinner was pulled and replaced by Pickard.
With a two-man advantage, Rodrigues made it 6-1 ripping a blocker-side shot past Pickard with 3:50 to play.
NOTES: Heading into the game, when a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final is tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 held an all-time series record of 23-7 (.767). Teams that win Game 3 of any best-of-7 series in that scenario have gone on to win the series 66.3 percent of the time (244-124)… Forward A.J. Greer returned to the lineup for the Panthers after missing the first two Final games because of an undisclosed injury… Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 42 saves in both Games 1 and 2 to become the first goalie to have back-to-back games with at least 40 saves to open a Cup Final… Florida’s Jonah Gadjovich and Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse engaged in a spirited scrap with 10:29 to play.
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