Panthers hold off Oilers to move 1 win away from 1st Stanley Cup title

Connor McDavid's dream of hoisting a Stanley Cup this spring is turning into a nightmare.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves as the Florida Panthers held on to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Thursday and take a 3-0 chokehold in the best-of-seven title series.

Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart, with a goal and an assist each, Vladimir Tarasenko and Sam Bennett scored for Florida, which has smothered McDavid and the Oilers' attack through nine periods.

And whenever the Oilers have had a look — except for brief surges like Thursday's third period after trailing 4-1 — Bobrovsky has been close to perfect.

Warren Foegele, Philip Broberg and Ryan McLeod replied for Edmonton. Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots. McDavid had two assists.

The Panthers can clinch their first Cup on Saturday back at Rogers Place. Game 5, if necessary, would be Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena.

WATCH l Oilers come up short against Panthers in Game 3:

Florida, which lost to the Vegas Golden Knights last spring, is looking to become just the third team in the NHL's post-1967 expansion era to hoist hockey's holy grail after losing the final the previous year, joining the Oilers (1984) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009).

The Oilers, meanwhile, will hope to avoid becoming the first team swept in the championship round since the 1998 Washington Capitals.

Barkov suited up after taking a forearm to the jaw from Oilers centre Leon Draisaitl in the third period of Florida's 4-1 victory Monday. Edmonton was without winger Evander Kane (sports hernia), but defenceman Darnell Nurse (suspected hip injury) was good to go.

Tied 1-1 after Foegele, who was ejected from Game 2 for kneeing, scored his second goal of the playoffs under Bobrovsky's glove at 1:49 of the