Panthers hold off host Oilers, are one win away from their first Stanley Cup

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov returned to the ice after suffering an injury that kept him out of the end of Game 2, but he got his revenge in Game 3 and helped put his team one win away from lifting its first Stanley Cup.

The Florida captain scored the game-winning goal as the Panthers beat the Oilers 4-3 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Thursday night. With the win, Florida took a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers can clinch the franchise’s first title on Saturday night in Edmonton.

“Obviously, it’s there for us,” Barkov said. “But you don’t think about it. You can’t think about it. All you have to do is take one moment at a time. Right now, we’re going to enjoy this win. We know we battled really hard today, and we had a good win. Just enjoy this. Tomorrow, we need to recover and get ready for the game. That’s it. We never think too much ahead.”

Some bad blood from the Barkov hit and injury may have lingered into Game 3, as the Oilers and Panthers did get into a skirmish late in the first period after Sergei Bobrovsky was knocked over.

After the scrum, Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk and Edmonton’s Brett Kulak went to the penalty box for roughing, setting up a four-on-four.

The Panthers immediately took advantage of the open ice, scoring the game-opening goal. Sam Reinhart, Florida’s leading goal-scorer, put the Panthers ahead with a tip-in goal with 1:02 left in the first period.

Edmonton’s Warren Foegele got the Oilers level early in the second period, getting a breakaway and sneaking a wrist shot between his glove and left leg.

But after Foegele tied the game, it was all Panthers in the second period.

Vladimir Tarasenko got a pass from behind the net from Eetu Luostarinen and fired it past a reacting Stuart Skinner, putting the Panthers back ahead midway through the second period. Sam Bennett, assisted by Tkachuk, put another past Skinner with 6:03 left in the second period, giving the Panthers an insurance goal.

“It was big for us,” Bennett said. “Obviously, goals are tough to come by, especially in the Cup Final, so it was a big period for us.”

Barkov added a fourth goal, getting the assist from Game 2 star Evan Rodrigues, and it appeared the rout was on.

However, Edmonton cut its deficit to two goals with a score by Philip Broberg (courtesy of a ricochet off Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola) with 13:58 left in the game and scored again with 5:17 left in the third period when a shot from Kulak deflected off Ryan McLeod.

Bobrovsky made a stellar save to keep a potential game-tying goal out of the net, and the Oilers did not get the equalizer in the final minutes. Now the Panthers are potentially 60 minutes away from lifting the Cup for the first time.

“Like Barky said,” Bennett said, “the job’s not finished.”