Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.
Jun 13, 2024, 11:35 PM ET
The scene changed for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, but the end result similar to Games 1 and 2, as the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers4-3 and are now one win away from the franchise’s first championship.
After Florida opened the scoring in the first, Edmonton tied the game at 1, followed by three straight tallies by the Panthers. The Oilers got within a goal with about five minutes left, but thanks to some clutch defensive play and saves by Sergei Bobrovsky, the hosts could not get the equalizer.
Here are our grades for both teams, along with takeaways that stuck out the most, key players to watch for Game 4 and the big questions left unanswered prior to Saturday night’s potential Cup clincher (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+).
Panthers grade: A-
Florida came dangerously close to letting Game 4 slip away.
The Panthers let Edmonton chip away at their 4-1 third-period lead until it was an almost uncomfortable one-goal win — protected primarily by Bobrovsky’s save on Ryan McLeod in the final minutes of a frantic third period.
But that final score is all that matters; Florida is now a single victory away from the franchise’s first championship.
It wouldn’t be the case if not for a fantastic performance (again) by Bobrovsky, an all-in effort from Florida’s entire lineup and a penalty kill that has continued to hold the Oilers’ vaunted power play at bay. Even while Edmonton clawed its way back, it never seemed like the Panthers were panicked. There is something about this team that allows the players to remain calm even when circumstances begin to seem dire. It’s a superpower Florida will try to wield again when it attempts to raise the Cup with a win in Game 4.
Oilers grade: C-
Even with their late third-period push, all the questions surrounding the Oilers’ struggles with the Panthers during the Stanley Cup Final were answered in Game 3.
Scratch that. All the questions surrounding the Oilers’ struggles during the Stanley Cup Final were answered in the second period of Game 3.
Even with a heavy amount of shots on goal, they couldn’t generate the sort of quality of shot that placed Bobrovsky under constant threat. They kept getting beat, which is what led to them having breakdown after breakdown. That led to the Panthers scoring as many goals in the second period as the Oilers had scored in the first eight periods of this series. The third-period rally made things exciting but was ultimately fruitless.
Edmonton’s stars have not shown up on the scoresheet in this series. Florida hasn’t had that problem — especially when it comes to Barkov. The Panthers’ captain was not only his team’s best forward, but the top skater overall in Game 3.
His effort to dig a puck out along the wall led to Sam Reinhart‘s opening goal. And the individual effort Barkov put in to score late in the second period and essentially seal the victory for Florida — in no small part by entirely deflating the Oilers’ chances of a comeback — was sensational. Barkov’s health had been in question following the high hit from Leon Draisaitl in Game 2, but there was no question Barkov was feeling just fine given the performance he put on Thursday.
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Aleksander Barkov pads Panthers’ lead with quick goal
Aleksander Barkov evades two Oilers defenders and finishes at the net with another Panthers’ goal.
Florida could help Sergei Bobrovsky a bit, too
The Panthers have done so much right in this series. Their penalty kill is elite — it can’t get any higher, at 100%. Their entire lineup is contributing with an impressive depth on full display. Their commitment to team defense continues to be a catalyst in their success. And Bobrovsky has been playing lights out in net while Florida holds Edmonton’s top shooters off the board (his save on Draisaitl in the first period was particularly eye-popping).
However, the Panthers were outshot in Game 3 for the first time in this Cup Final, and Bobrovksy had to do more heavy lifting than in previous victories — and this one reached nail-biter territory given how the Oilers pushed back in the third. Florida had just one shot on goal through the first half of the final frame when they were already on the wrong side of the ledger there, 29-18.
The Panthers were masterful at suppressing the Oilers’ chances against Bobrovsky in Games 1 and 2, and that’s what they need to show again in Game 4 if they want to complete the sweep.
The Oilers are getting secondary scoring
It started with Warren Foegele. It continued with Philip Broberg and again with Ryan McLeod tallying a goal with 5:17 left in the third period.
One of the biggest questions facing the Oilers going into the Stanley Cup Final was whether they could receive a consistent amount of secondary scoring. So far, they have. The Oilers’ first five goals of the series have all come from secondary and tertiary sources, which is what allowed them to take Game 3 from what was once a three-goal hole to one that became dangerously close to overtime.
But even with those goals from Broberg, Foegele and McLeod, it raises a complex discussion about the Oilers: While it shows the Oilers can indeed get goals from other sources, is it a viable strategy at a time in which Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have not scored once in this Cup Final?
Bad things continue to happen in threes for the Oilers
It happened in the first round, when the Los Angeles Kings scored three goals in the first period of Game 2. The same goes for when the Vancouver Canucks scored three goals in the third period of Game 1 in a second-round series. Then there’s the three goals the Dallas Stars scored in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
So what the Panthers did by scoring three unanswered goals in the second period, while jarring, was far from a surprise considering it has happened, well, three previous times this postseason.
The attention in this series has squarely fallen on forwards and goaltenders. Forsling deserves what spotlight has come his way — and it’s only going to burn brighter in Game 4.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice called Forsling the best defenseman in the world “in his style,” and that point is continually hard to argue when you see what Forsling has been able to do. He has had Edmonton’s number in his series, through how quickly he can read the play and have an impact.
When Forsling is on the ice, he’s a significant threat in all three zones, and it’s obvious how the rest of Florida’s defensive effort funnels through him. When the Panthers attempt to clinch in Game 4, it’ll likely be in no small part because of Forsling and how he’s able to set a tone and consistently be one of the best defenders on the ice.
While McDavid has yet to score in the series, his two third-period assists were crucial in keeping the game close. No one player makes a team. Or in the case of the Oilers, no two generational centers make a team.
That said, the fact that the Oilers scrambled to score two third-period goals — with none of them being scored by Bouchard, Draisaitl, Hyman, McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins — shows that the Oilers can get contributions from their supporting cast, but that they also need goals from their stars as well.
That has to start with the superstar wearing a “C” on his sweater.
Big questions for Game 4
Is Florida ready to finish?
The last victory is the hardest to get for a reason. It’s going to take everything Florida has on the ice to sweep the Oilers out of a Cup Final in their own building.
There’s a landslide of factors that can influence how a team approaches a game when the stakes are this high, and Florida is low on experience. Yes, the Panthers have closed out multiple series in the past two years, but never one in which names are etched into hockey history at the end. Reaching that point requires more than just complete buy-in. It’s weathering adversity on every shift and matching urgency in ways Florida hasn’t experienced at any other pinnacle before.
Are the Panthers ready to deliver that final blow?
Could that third period be the start of something for the Oilers? Or was it the beginning of the end?
Getting two goals in that third period, on a night when they had three goals total, was massive after they scored one goal combined in the first two games. Scoring three goals in this one could be a sign they might have found an answer in the offensive zone.
But could it be enough? Even with the three goals they scored in Game 3, the Oilers still allowed four, which also comes with this particular significance: The Oilers allowed 14 goals in six games against the Stars in the Western Conference finals; they’ve allowed 11 goals to the Panthers in three Stanley Cup Final games. They’ll need to improve on both ends to get a win, much less make this a series.
ESPN reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski devised logical trades that could happen before the deadline and benefit all teams involved, keeping salary cap implications in mind.
Let’s start with a deal that could substantially shift the balance of power in the Western Conference.
AUSTIN, Texas — Christopher Bell is making the most of his late-race chances to seize victories.
Bell passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go, then held off Daytona 500 winner William Byron to win NASCAR’s first road course race of the season Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas.
The late-race drama produced his second consecutive victory after his overtime win in Atlanta a week earlier.
Once Bell cleared Busch, the Oklahoma driver had to make a desperate bid to keep his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in front of the hard-charging Byron in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and the Toyota of 2023 race winner Tyler Reddick of 23X1 Racing.
Bell raced to his 11th career victory and is a multiple-race winner for the fourth consecutive season. Busch, who led 43 of 95 laps in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, faded to fifth as his winless streak stretched to 60 races dating to 2023.
“These road course races are just so much fun,” Bell said. “[Busch] was doing such a good job running his race. He bobbled and allowed me to get out front. When he did, I just said, ‘Don’t beat yourself.'”
The furious nip-and-tuck finish could have ended in a crash that ruined someone’s race and jumbled the field with a late caution flag. Busch and Bell have a heated history of collisions in Austin, notably last year when Busch confronted the younger driver over contact in a race where Bell finished second.
This time, everyone kept it clean to the end.
“Amazing to have such respectful, clean, hard racing. It was a beautiful way to end a race,” Bell said.
That didn’t mean Byron wasn’t pushing him hard. And Byron battled with Reddick, who was looking for an opening to attack the front.
“I couldn’t never get beside [Bell]. We’ve always raced well together, I didn’t want to move him blatantly,” Byron said.
Even Busch complimented Bell’s driving.
“I’ll give Christopher credit,” Busch said. “He ran me really hard.”
Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, said the consecutive wins on a superspeedway oval and a road course show the team can fight for wins every week, starting with the next two races in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
“We don’t think there’s a track that we go to that we don’t have a chance to win,” Stevens said. “We have everything we need to win every single weekend.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott started third and quickly dropped to the back when he spun by Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain in the first turn, but fought back through the field to fourth.
Connor Zilisch had a wild day in his Cup Series debut for Trackhouse. Zilisch, 18, started 14th and dropped back after contact in the first lap. He recovered to get back in the top 15 by the start of the third stage.
That’s when his day ended. Zilisch couldn’t avoid a spin by teammate Daniel Suarez in Lap 50, smashed into the wall, and had to scramble out of his car when it caught fire.
ELLIOTT’S ROAD DROUGHT
Elliott leads active drivers with seven road course victories, but hasn’t snared one since 2021 when he won twice. He also has never won a road course or street race with a Next Gen car.
Elliott made up 17 positions in the final stage but was still upset about a possible race win snuffed out by the bump from Chastain.
“It was the first lap of the dang race,” Elliott said. “Who knows? I would have loved to have been in the mix. Easy to say when you’ve had a bad day.”
SERIES FUTURE AT COTA
NASCAR has to decide if it will return to Austin in 2026. The track has proven popular over the years with drivers, and has hosted F1 since 2012 and MotoGP since 2013. Speedway Motorsports rents the facility for race week, and track president Bobby Epstein has said he’d like to continue the partnership.
“We’ll take a look at ticket renewals, feedback from the fans who attended the race and the overall results before we talk with NASCAR about next year’s schedule,” said Mike Burch, chief operating officer for Speedway Motorsports. “One of the biggest factors will be how the drivers compete on the new National Course, a move we made to put more action and laps in front of the fans.”
UP NEXT
The Cup Series returns to ovals next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
Pitt freshman football player Mason Alexander was killed Saturday night in a car accident in his hometown of Fishers, Indiana.
Alexander, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, he was a passenger in a 2016 BMW driving south on Florida Road. The driver of the car tried to pass a 2015 Toyota before a hillcrest and swerved to avoid a head-on collision with another car traveling in the northbound lane. The BMW traveled off the road and eventually hit a tree, catching on fire.
Alexander starred at cornerback for Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, near Indianapolis, and was an ESPN 300 recruit in the 2025 class. He signed with Pitt in December, enrolled early and was set to join the team for the start of spring practice this month.
“I received a call this morning that no parent, teacher or coach ever wants to get — the news of the sudden loss of a young and promising life,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said in a statement. “Our entire program is shocked and deeply saddened to learn of Mason Alexander’s passing.
“Mason had just enrolled at Pitt in January following his early graduation from Indiana’s Hamilton Southeastern High School. Even during that short time, he made a great impression on all of us. Mason was proud and excited to be a Panther, and we felt the same way about having him in our Pitt family. He will always be a Panther to us. The Alexander family and Mason’s many loved ones and friends will be in our prayers.”
Peyton Daniels, a high school teammate of Alexander’s who plays at Butler, posted about his friend on X, writing, “Mason lit up every room he was in. Brought joy and playfulness to everything and everyone. He could change the entire direction of your day with one interaction. Mason is the embodiment of exceptional. Rest Easy 15. Love forever.”
It’s hard to find the words to say right now. Mason lit up every room he was in. Brought joy and playfulness to everything and everyone. He could change the entire direction of your day with one interaction. Mason is the embodiment of exceptional. Rest Easy 15. Love forever.š¤ pic.twitter.com/FptDR74MSN