Panthers-Oilers Game 3 ends in chaos as Florida takes series lead in Stanley Cup Final

The Oilers were doing a bit of message-sending as the Panthers trounced them, 6-1, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, as the two sides found themselves entangled in some fisticuffs as the final horn sounded. 

Corey Perry took a whack at Niko Mikkola just as time expired, and after engaging with several Panthers players, he eventually found himself in a brief fight with Tomas Nosek before the refs started to restore order. 

As the chaos was ensuing on the ice, fans at Amerant Bank Arena began throwing plastic rats onto the ice, a tradition in South Florida that dates back to the Panthers’ 1996 Stanley Cup Final run.

The light fisticuffs punctuated a very physical third period and a game that saw a combined 138 penalty minutes.

Things exploded in the third when a line brawl was ignited after Oilers forward Trent Frederic got into it with Sam Bennett. 

The line brawl sent Frederic, Bennett, Mattias Ekholm, Jonah Gadjovich and Darnell Nurse to the locker rooms early. 

The Panthers led for the entire night, scoring their first goal 56 seconds into the first period and scored five more times through the rest of the game with Brad Marchand, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Bennett Aaron Ekblad and Evan Rodrigues all finding the back of the net. 

Perry scored the Oilers’ only goal of the night, which came in the second period. 

Marchand’s goal less than a minute into the game made him the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of a Cup Final, and Bennett’s goal was his playoff-leading 14th.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 stops for the Panthers in the Game 3 win. 

The Panthers lead the series 2-1, and Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday in Sunrise.