Panthers on verge of repeat after blowing out Oilers in Game 5 - ESPN
EDMONTON, Alberta — Brad Marchand scored twice, Sam Bennett had his NHL playoff-leading 15th goal and the Florida Panthers moved to the verge of a second consecutive Stanley Cup title by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 5 on Saturday night.
The Panthers improved to 10-3 on the road this playoffs. They can hoist the Cup again as soon as Tuesday night if they win Game 6 on home ice in Sunrise.
Florida this time established a multigoal lead and built on it, unlike a couple of previous games in the Final. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced, making some important saves when needed, and was aided by lockdown defense that took ice away from the Oilers.
Marchand, Bennett and Sam Reinhart provided the offense. Marchand joined Mario Lemieux as the only players in the past half-century to score five-plus goals in a Final multiple times, and his 13 career goals in the Final are the most among active players.
For the 15th time this postseason the Panthers have scored at least four goals, tied for second in Stanley Cup Playoff history behind only the 1991 Penguins.
Edmonton's Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the series after the Oilers fell behind 3-0. Reinhart's came 46 seconds later to restore the Panthers' three-goal lead, and by the time Corey Perry scored with 3:13 left, it was too late.
Eetu Luostarinen sealed it with an empty-netter with 1:19 left, silencing the once fired-up crowd one last time.
Edmonton's power play went 0-for-3, a by-product of the Panthers' aggressive penalty kill knocking McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the top unit out of their usual rhythm.
Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard lost for the first time in eight starts this spring, allowing four goals on 18 shots. He got