The Florida Panthers had the Edmonton Oilers right where they wanted them.
The score of Game 2 was tied entering the third period, where the Panthers have been downright dominant during the playoffs. Monday was no different, as Florida pulled away from Edmonton in the final frame to take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.
Through two games, the Panthers have outscored the Oilers 4-0 in the third period, bringing their post-season total to 28-11. Florida’s plus-17 goal differential in that period is tied for the fifth-highest in a single playoff year in NHL history, behind the 1984 Oilers (22), 1983 New York Islanders (22), 1944 Montreal Canadiens (19) and 2003 New Jersey Devils (18).
It is easy to draw a line between the Panthers’ late-game dominance and their bruising style of play.
“We like to wear teams down,” Panthers forward Kyle Okposo told reporters. “We like to grind it out and try to impose our will on the opposition, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that throughout the playoffs. We like to get it in and bang and grind it out and keep a tight gap and not let the other team breathe.”
After getting out-chanced 19-13 (12-8 in high-danger chances) through two periods of Game 1 on Saturday, the Panthers stifled the Oilers’ offence, holding Edmonton to six scoring chances and two high-danger chances in the third period.
The Oilers generated just seven high-danger chances in their 4-1 loss Monday, the best of which was Connor McDavid’s 4-on-4 breakaway attempt in the third period.
“I think how we played in the third period of the first game, we just kept going with that,” Panthers defenceman Niko Mikkola told reporters. “That’s the way we usually play.”
History is not on the Oilers’ side as they head home for Games 3 and 4. Only five of 54 teams (9.3 per cent) have overcome a 2-0 series deficit to win the Stanley Cup Final since the league adopted a best-of-seven format in 1938-39. It has not happened since 2011, when the Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games. (Since then, there have been seven instances of a team going up 2-0 in the final.)
Not only that, but the Panthers are 8-0 when leading after two periods and 5-1 when tied at the second intermission. The Oilers, on the other hand, are a combined 1-7 when entering the third period trailing or tied.
The Oilers’ only hope is to take a lead into the third period. They are 11-1 when doing so, and the Panthers have only one third-period comeback win in the playoffs in five attempts.
“It’s another opportunity for our group to come together and dig our way out,” McDavid told reporters. “It’s supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to be difficult, and I’m excited to see what our group is made of.”
All stats via Sportlogiq