Oilers unravel as 'penalty chaos' reigns in Game 3

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Edmonton Oilers were blown retired by the Florida Panthers 6-1 successful Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. They took 21 penalties for 85 punishment minutes, pulled their starting goaltender, had a adjacent line-brawl successful the 3rd period, and 1 of their players was irritated capable to squirt a watercourse from his h2o vessel astatine the Florida bench.

But contempt each of this, the Oilers swore that the Panthers, considered to beryllium the NHL's astir agitating team, didn't get nether their tegument oregon successful their heads Monday night, arsenic Florida took a 2-1 bid lead.

"No, I don't deliberation so. I deliberation the crippled evidently got retired of manus astatine the extremity there. That worldly is going to happen. You look astatine immoderate of the calls and whatnot, [and] evidently immoderate of them are frustrating," said winger Evander Kane, who had much punishment minutes successful Game 3 (16) than helium had successful his erstwhile 17 playoff games combined (14).

Kane said erstwhile the Oilers tried to lucifer the Panthers' physicality and instigation, they were penalized, portion Florida was not.

"They look to get distant with it much than we do. It's pugnacious to find the line. They're doing conscionable arsenic overmuch worldly arsenic we are," Kane said. "There seems to beryllium a small spot much attraction connected our group."

The Panthers had 14 penalties for 55 punishment minutes successful the game.

After 2 tightly played games that near the bid tied 1-1 -- some of which needed overtime to beryllium settled -- Game 3 was a blowout that played close into the Panthers' hands.

"Right away, I thought we ended up playing what Florida benignant of wanted: conscionable a small spot of a way meet, a small spot of grinding, tons of penalties. It was conscionable punishment chaos tonight," said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who had his weakest crippled successful weeks -- including a puck implicit the solid hold of crippled punishment that resulted successful Florida's 5th extremity and saw Skinner pulled astatine 3:27 of the 3rd period.

The Panthers excel astatine agitation. For the archetypal clip successful the series, Edmonton took the bait.

Kane took 2 penalties wrong 2:41 of the archetypal play and aboriginal slashed Florida's Carter Verhaeghe portion Verhaeghe was connected his tummy successful the 3rd period.

Corey Perry taunted the Panthers arsenic "turtles" and got into a shouting lucifer with fourth-liner Jonah Gadjovich portion leaving the crystal aft the 2nd period. Oilers defenseman Jake Walman had his mitt stolen by A.J. Greer, a Panthers fourth-liner who deposited the mitt into the bench. Walman responded by taking his h2o vessel and spraying a watercourse astatine Florida's players portion lasting astatine his ain bench.

"Yeah, I mean I evidently did that for a reason. I won't spell into the details. It's conscionable gamesmanship, I guess," Walman said. "I've conscionable got to recognize there's cameras everyplace and they spot that stuff."

With 9:31 near successful regulation, Oilers halfway Trent Frederic went aft Florida's Sam Bennett with a cross-check that broke his ain stick. He past grabbed the backmost of Bennett's jersey to resistance him down. A adjacent line-brawl ensued, with Bennett landing punches connected Frederic portion helium was connected the crystal being held by a linesman.

"He's been an carnal this full playoffs," said Panthers winger Brad Marchand of Bennett. "He's built for this clip of year. Just however competitory helium is, however intense, and evidently the physicality piece."

Marchand, aft ending Game 2 successful double-overtime with a breakaway goal, started the scoring successful the archetypal period, conscionable 56 seconds into the game. He deposited a changeable precocious into the nett portion Skinner wildly lunged astatine a puck that was nary longer there.

The remainder of the archetypal play was a parade of penalties -- 4 for some teams -- that didn't effect successful thing connected the scoreboard until Verhaeghe ripped a changeable implicit Skinner's close enarthrosis for a power-play extremity and 2-0 pb astatine 17:45. Edmonton's Viktor Arvidsson was successful the punishment container aft goalie Sergei Bobrovsky drew a goalie interference penalty.

"We've got to beryllium much disciplined than that. We cognize amended than that. I mean eventually, they're going to find a way. That's a large team. We sprout ourselves successful the ft a small spot there. It benignant of takes the travel retired of it, you know?" said Walman.

Perry chopped the shortage with a power-play extremity 1:40 into the 2nd period, but Sam Reinhart scored his archetypal of the bid to reestablish the two-goal pb 1:20 later. As they person done each postseason, the Panthers rapidly padded their pb with different goal: Bennett's 14th of the playoffs, beating Skinner connected a breakaway.

"It's for the Stanley Cup, you know? ... There's not an inch retired there. That's a grown man's crippled retired there. It's not for the faint of heart. Guys are putting everything connected the enactment you know?"

Oilers defenseman Jake Walman

Skinner was chased successful the 3rd play aft the Panthers' 5th goal, which was scored connected the powerfulness play by defenseman Aaron Ekblad aft Skinner sailed the puck implicit the glass. After that, Skinner's nighttime was over.

Edmonton manager Kris Knoblauch said aft the crippled that helium hasn't made a determination connected his goaltending for Game 4, but that helium didn't deliberation Skinner "had overmuch accidental connected galore of those goals" earlier being pulled.

Evan Rodrigues scored the Panthers' sixth extremity connected the powerfulness play precocious successful the 3rd period, which was marred by 8 misconduct penalties and a slew of different calls arsenic Edmonton tried to nonstop a late-game message.

"Both teams are going to instrumentality up for each other. They attraction for each other. The core's beauteous overmuch the aforesaid for some teams, the drivers of the squad are the aforesaid for the past 3 years. They'll ever person each other's backs," Panthers manager Paul Maurice said.

Walman said with the stakes this high, emotions were people going to boil over.

"It's for the Stanley Cup, you know? ... There's not an inch retired there. That's a grown man's crippled retired there. It's not for the faint of heart. Guys are putting everything connected the enactment you know?" helium said.

Edmonton gets 2 days to reset, with Game 4 Thursday nighttime successful Sunrise.

"I thought we got distant from our game," Oilers skipper Connor McDavid said. "Part of that it's owed to chasing it a small bit. Part of that is evidently a recognition to them. They played well. You find yourself successful a hole, you're going to bash immoderate uncharacteristic things and I thought we got distant from our crippled a small spot there."

If the Oilers are going to gain a divided earlier heading backmost to Edmonton, they'll request much from McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, their 2 superstar forwards and the first- and second-leading scorers successful the playoffs.

This was conscionable the 13th playoff crippled successful which McDavid and Draisaitl some failed to grounds a point. The Oilers are 2-11 successful those games. Draisaitl besides failed to registry a changeable effort successful the crippled for conscionable the 2nd clip successful 93 playoff vocation games.

"Obviously it wasn't our best. Not our champion astatine all. I don't deliberation our champion has shown up each bid long," said McDavid, "but it's coming."