The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 at home on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers had their first six shots of the game and had a great chance to score first when Warren Fogel was given a five-minute major suspension for kneeing Ettu Lostarinen. However, Mathias Janmark was tripped by Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the penalty kick. The two teams played four-on-four and Mathias Ekholm beat Sergei Bobrovsky on a two-on-one to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead with 8:43 left in the first period. It was the Oilers' first shot of the game.
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The Panthers dominated much of the second period and tied the game on a Niko Mikkola field goal with 10:26 left in the period. Stuart Skinner saved a shot from Matthew Tkachuk on a two-on-one. He blocked a Sam Bennett shot from the black spot on a Panthers power play. Florida outscored Edmonton 13-3 in the second period.
Early in the third period, Evan Rodriguez intercepted Evan Bouchard's clearance and beat Skinner. Rodriguez added another goal with 7:34 left to make it 3-1 and end the Oilers' streak of 34 consecutive penalty kills.
With 5:53 left, the Oilers replaced Skinner for an extra possession, and soon after, Ekman-Larsson shot the ball through the glass, and the Oilers began to force their attack. However, the Oilers were unable to break through the defense. With 2:28 left, Aaron Ekblad shot the ball into the empty net.
Darnell Nurse barely played in the first period after being hit by Rodriguez. Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov did not return after being elbowed by Leon Draisaitl midway through the third period.
The Panthers defeated the Oilers 28-19.
The Oilers will host Game 3 on Thursday (630 CHED, 4 p.m. kickoff show, game at 6 p.m.).
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