Stanley Cup Final Game 3 Preview: How To Watch, Odds, Injuries, Notes, and Keys

The Florida Panthers dramatically tied up the Stanley Cup Final at a game apiece on Friday night. In another all-time classic, Sam Bennett scored his 13th goal of the postseason on the power-play just 2:07 into the contest. Starting at the 7:39 mark, there would be four goals scored in nearly five minutes.

Evander Kane and Evan Bouchard would light the lamp to give the Edmonton Oilers a 2-1 lead. Then, Panthers defenseman Seth Jones would tie the game at the 11:37 mark. A minute later, the hosting Oilers would get the lead again off a Leon Draisaitl power-play goal. That tally concluded a wild opening period that had tons of controversy surrounding it.

For some reason, the referees decided to call this contest as if it were a regular-season game in October. A combined total of 11 minors were called. Interestingly, six of those were called against Florida. Take that as you will. In the second half, the officials blew the whistles less frequently, as only three penalties were called.

Florida regained the lead in the middle frame as well. Dmitry Kulikov scored from the point to tie the game. Then, at the 12:09 mark, Brad Marchand would give an omen of things to come, as he scored on a breakaway goal, shorthanded. The Cats, even though they shouldn't, sat on the lead throughout the entire third period. The team generated little on the offensive end.

Unfortunately, with a win in hand, Florida failed to escape after regulation for the second straight game. With 18 seconds remaining, they failed to get a clear, and Corey Perry made them pay. He scored to knot the score up at four. No puck found the back of the net after 20 minutes of overtime. In double overtime, Brad Marchand became the hero of the night again.

After Matthias Ekholm missed the net on a one-timed slap shot, the puck rolled around the boards. The third line of Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, and Marchand happened to be on the ice at the right time again. Using their signature quick-witted minds, Anton Lundell reacted quickly enough to get the puck as it was coming around.

Marchand then started to rush immediately. Next thing you know, the 37-year-old was on another breakaway and came in clutch once again. He snuck the puck past Stuart Skinner, and Florida got the much-needed split in Alberta. It was the second overtime winner that the DQ-loving 'rat man' scored in these playoffs, and he might've just changed the outlook on a series once again. However, now the Panthers set their sights on getting the series advantage in Game 3 back home in Sunrise.

How To Watch Stanley Cup Final, Game 3

Date: Monday, June 9 Time: 8:00 PM ET Venue: Amerant Bank Arena TV: TNT, Tru TV, MAX

Panthers vs. Oilers Odds, Spreads, and Total

Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook

Puck Line

Florida -1.5 (+180), Edmonton +1.5 (-218)

Total

6.5 (over -102/ under -118)

Moneyline

Florida -142, Edmonton +120

Florida Panthers Injury Report:

A.J. Greer, LW: Day-To-Day (Lower Body)

Edmonton Oilers Injury Report:

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C: Game-Time Decision (Undisclosed); Zach Hyman, LW: Out (Upper Body); Alec Regula, D: IR-NR (Knee)

Florida Panthers Projected Lines:

• Evan Rodrigues- Aleksander Barkov- Sam Reinhart

• Carter Verhaeghe- Sam Bennett- Matthew Tkachuk

• Eetu Luostarinen- Anton Lundell- Brad Marchand

• Jesper Boqvist- Tomas Nosek- Jonah Gadjovich

• Gustav Forsling- Aaron Ekblad

• Niko Mikkola- Seth Jones

• Nate Schmidt- Dmitry Kulikov

• Sergei Bobrovsky

• Vitek Vanacek

Edmonton Oilers Projected Lines:

• Jeff Skinner- Connor McDavid- Corey Perry

• Evander Kane- Leon Draisaitl- Kasperi Kapanen

• Trent Frederic- Adam Henrique- Connor Brown

• Vasily Podkolzin- Matthias Janmark- Viktor Arvidsson

• Darnell Nurse- Evan Bouchard

• Brett Kulak- Jake Walman

• Matthias Ekholm- John Klingberg

• Stuart Skinner

• Calvin Pickard

Panthers Keys To the Game

Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch needed to make some changes to his lineup. On Sunday afternoon, it was announced that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could miss Game 3 for an undisclosed reason. He wasn't at practice today, and Jeff Skinner took his place on the top line on the left wing. However, Knoblauch also shook up his defensive pairings.

Darnell Nurse was moved up to the top pairing with Evan Bouchard. Now, Nurse has been struggling with Brett Kulak on the second pairing. However, this change still doesn't make a ton of obvious good sense. The two haven't played much with each other during the year. In the regular season, the duo had some good results in a limited time together, combining for 10 goals for and six against.

However, they have also gotten some time in these playoffs, and it didn't look great. In the first round against the Los Angeles Kings, Nurse and Bouchard were on the ice for five Oilers goals, while the opposition lit the lamp 10 times. It was only when they were split up that Edmonton got its mojo back. This is something to keep an eye on if you're Florida. Knowing that this pairing has had a shaky past, paired along with another key player possibly being out, the Cats need to take advantage of this.

Connor McDavid is the best player in hockey. So naturally, he will always find a way to generate something offensively. However, the Panthers have done a good job of preventing him from taking over the game so far in this series. He has yet to find the back of the net and has five assists. As stated in the past, a team is not going to completely shut a guy of this caliber down.

However, you can still slow his normal production down. As long as McDavid isn't skating wherever he wants and as long as he isn't scoring and assisting on goals, Florida will always be in better shape to win. Leon Draisaitl has been the one popping off, and you can only let one get like that. Now, there could be more pressure on McDavid since Nugent-Hopkins could be out.

Continue to make him uncomfortable. Be physical with him and make it tough for him. In order to beat the best, you need to make those guys work to a level that they're now used to. The Panthers need to keep being that fly that keeps flying in McDavids' face. Take away his speed as much as possible.

The series has shifted settings. After getting the imperative split, the Panthers now come back home to their lovely confines of Amerant Bank Arena. A change in venues means a change in how the team gets its energy. The Cats need to use their home building and crowd to their advantage. The players need to feed off of that as much as possible. They need to turn that into aggression in their play.

Being aggressive is the best way to attack and beat the Oilers, and they need to do it the entire game. If the Panthers can get that first goal, it could do wonders for their momentum. We've seen how one goal started a crazy sequence in favor of the Panthers throughout the postseason. Playing at home is also a great opportunity for the top line to possibly get it going. They have been invisible on the ice offensively so far in this series.

Notes:

• Brad Marchand scored his fifth career playoff overtime goal to tie Corey Perry, Carter Verhaeghe, and Patrick Kane for the most among active players and become the seventh player in NHL history with as many. 

• Brad Marchand(5-3—8) became the 10th player in Stanley Cup Playoffs history with eight career overtime points and matched Patrick Kane(5-3—8) for the most among active players. 

• Brad Marchand(37 years, 26 days) became the fourth-oldest player in NHL history to score an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Final, behind Igor Larionov(41 years, 187 days; Game 3 in 2002), Steve Thomas(39 years, 322 days; Game 4 in 2003) and Ron Francis(39 years, 95 days; Game 1 in 2002). Marchand is the second-oldest with a multi-OT winner in the Final, behind Larionov (3OT). 

• Brad Marchand became the third player, age 37 or older, with a game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup Final in the past decade, following Corey Perry(Game 5 of 2024 SCF) and Brooks Orpik(Game 2 of 2018 SCF). 

• The Panthers set a franchise record with their ninth road win of these playoffs, one shy of the Stanley Cup Playoffs benchmark last achieved by the 2019 Blues. 

• Sergei Bobrovsky recorded his 58th career playoff win to surpass Tuukka Rask(57) for sole possession of 18th place in NHL history, and fourth among goaltenders born outside North America – he trails only Andrei Vasilevskiy(67), Dominik Hasek(65), and Henrik Lundqvist(61) on that list. If the Panthers win the Cup and Bobrovsky earns each of the remaining wins, he would move into a share of 15th place on the all-time list.  

• Paul Maurice claimed his 83rd career playoff win to surpass Toe Blake (82) and tie Barry Trotz (83) for 14th place on the NHL’s all-time list. If the Panthers win the Cup, Maurice will equal Ken Hitchcock (86) for 13th place. Maurice now has 999 career wins, including regular season (916), and is one shy of joining Scotty Bowman (1,467) and Joel Quenneville (1,090) as the only head coaches to reach quadruple digits.