CNN
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Brad Merchand made NHL history in his 37-year-old mature old age in the Stanley Cup final, and his Florida Panthers look good on their way to their second consecutive championship after a dominant 6-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, who were plagued by wild brawls late in the game.
The Panthers currently lead two games in the Best of Seven series into one.
Although Game 3 took less than a minute on Monday night, Marchand dented the scoreboard again and began scoring the Panthers. The 2016 NHL veteran has scored four goals in three games so far in the series.
Merchand also put his name in the record book by becoming the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of the Stanley Cup final. Marchand has scored eight goals this postseason, scoring a total of 17 points.
Carter Verhaeghe scored a Florida power play goal late in the first period, doubling the Panthers’ lead 2–0 before the first break.
Edmonton was quickly cut to a Florida lead as Corey Perry scored just 1:40 after play resumed. However, the Panthers responded with a pair of goals from Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett, expanding their lead as the second period ended 4-1 in Florida.
Bennett now scores 14 league-leading goals this postseason, tallying teammate Marchand in all three games with his fourth goal in the final.
The Panthers continued to build up in the third season, this time with another power play goal from Aaron Eckblad.
The Oilers’ frustration surged as the game was out of reach. Several Edmonton players took shots with Bennett before Edmonton’s Trent Frederick was punished for breaking a stick across the center’s rib.
The gloves were then removed and the goalkeeper mixed in in a neutral zone brawl that lasted several minutes. By the time all players were able to separate, staff were handing out 80 minutes of penalty time in close proximity.
Chippy play from the Oilers continued as Evander Kane was issued a 10-minute cheating few minutes later.
In the subsequent Panthers power play, the Canadian team turned their attention to Matthew Tokachuk as a pair of Eulers wrapped in wingers behind the Edmonton net touched another round of push and push.
In the subsequent Panthers’ power play, Florida added another goal, this time from Evan Rodriguez. The Panthers’ power plays are very good in this series, with the team having scored five times in the final so far.
There was yet another skirmish between the two teams, despite being over 2,500 miles away when the final horns rang out and plastic mice rained from the crowds at Amerant Bank Arena.
Both sides met last year in an epic 7-Game Championship series where the Panthers won. It’s once again deja vu, for the Oilers, who have yet to find a formula to beat the Panthers when Florida took a 2-1 lead in this year’s series.
After spending their first 15 or more NHL seasons with the Boston Bruins, the Florida trade deadline acquisition is at the heart of the Panthers’ pursuit of a back-to-back championship. Although Merchand was injured during the trade, the Panthers were willing to send a future first-round draft pick to Boston in exchange for the prospect of Marcando’s veteran leadership coming out of the bench in the playoffs.
Florida’s strategic patience appears to be rewarded with the gust of Merchand’s goal against the Oilers in the series. With his contract expired at the end of this season, Merchand hopes to enter free agency in the second Stanley Cup in the trophy case along with the championship he won with the Bruins in 2011.
The Panthers, who are appearing in the finals of their third season, will have the opportunity to get inches closer to lifting the Stanley Cup once again when they meet the Oilers for Game 4 in Sunrise, Florida on Thursday.