Evan Rodrigues had two goals in the third period, Niko Mikkola and Aaron Ekblad also scored and the Florida Panthers beat the visiting Edmonton Oilers 4-1 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 shots for Florida, which was 1-8 all-time in Cup final games before this series started B次元官网网址� and now is two wins away from capturing its first championship.
But the win came with a price for Florida as the when Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl launched toward him midway through the third period and hit him in the head. Barkov remained down for some time, needed help getting to the bench and went down the tunnel for the Florida locker room for further evaluation.
Mattias Ekholm scored and Stuart Skinner stopped 24 shots for the Oilers, who now have to buck some serious history.
Edmonton has only successfully rallied from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series once B次元官网网址� against San Jose in Round 2 of the 2006 playoffs. And teams that start the Stanley Cup Final down 2-0 have come back to win only five times in 54 previous situations.
The series resumes with Game 3 in Edmonton on Thursday night.
EKKY MAKES IT 4-1 FOR YOUR FLORIDA PANTHERS
B次元官网网址� Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers)
Draisaitl was given only a minor penalty for roughing on the hit that knocked Barkov from the game. to make it 3-1, the first power-play score Edmonton allowed in its last 34 times being down a man.
Connor McDavid had a chance to get Edmonton within one on a breakaway with about 6 minutes left. He got stopped by Bobrovsky, and then tussled a bit along the boards after the play B次元官网网址� the Panthers still steaming over the hit on Barkov.
Emotions were high all night. EdmontonB次元官网网址檚 Warren Foegele was ejected in the first period for a knee-on-knee hit that knocked FloridaB次元官网网址檚 Eetu Luostarinen from the game briefly; that ejection, plus an injury to Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse left them with only 11 forwards and five defensemen for much of the game.
Rodrigues scored early in the third off a turnover for a 2-1 lead, setting the tone for yet another Florida comeback. The Panthers B次元官网网址� who trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes B次元官网网址� are now an NHL-best 5-2 when trailing after one period in these playoffs.
Ekblad sealed it with an empty-netter with 2:28 left.
Just like Game 1, one team cashed in on its first shot. It was Florida on Saturday, and Edmonton this time.
There wasnB次元官网网址檛 much to it: Ekholm skated nearly the full length of the ice with the teams playing 4-on-4, taking that got between BobrovskyB次元官网网址檚 leg pads and squirted into the back of the net. McDavid B次元官网网址� playing in the building where he got drafted in 2015 B次元官网网址� got one of the assists on the goal, his 27th assist of this postseason.
Midway through the second, the Panthers knotted it up. Mikkola had two shots on a shift; one was at the wrong net, and the other more than atoned for that near-blunder.
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Moments after he inadvertently wheeled a backhand toward Bobrovsky B次元官网网址� who was alert enough to save his teammate from the embarrassment of an own goal B次元官网网址� Mikkola handled a delivery from Anton Lundell and blasted it past Skinner to pull Florida into a 1-1 tie.
Shots were 22-7 Florida after 40 minutes, the Oilers B次元官网网址� who led the league in shots on goal this season B次元官网网址� being held to a season-low entering the third. Bobrovsky was tested a ton more in the third than he was in the first two periods, but was up to the task again.
And Florida, for the first time, is two wins from the Cup.
AP NHL playoffs: and
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
