The Florida Panthers established a significant advantage in the Stanley Cup Final after defeating the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 in Game 3. After the game on Monday, Oilers forward Evander Kane voiced his opinion that the Panthers are penalized less frequently than the Oilers.
“They appear to face fewer penalties than we do,” Kane commented. “It’s challenging to know where the line is. They are doing similar things to us. There seems to be a bit more scrutiny on our team.”
In Game 3, Edmonton incurred 21 penalties totaling 85 minutes, while Florida received 14 penalties for 55 minutes. The Panthers successfully converted their power-play opportunities, scoring three of their six goals with a man advantage.
Kane himself was called for two penalties in the first period of Game 3: a cross-checking minor and a high-sticking minor.
Only one penalty occurred in the second period, but the third period saw a surge in misconducts. A scrum midway through the final frame resulted in misconduct penalties for several players, including Sam Bennett, Mattias Ekholm, and Darnell Nurse. Later, Kane received another misconduct penalty for slashing Carter Verhaeghe.
While tensions clearly escalated in the third period, Kane did not attribute this to the Panthers getting under the Oilers` skin.
“No, I don’t believe that was the case. The game certainly got out of control towards the end,” Kane added. “These things happen. Looking at some of the calls and so forth, some of them are understandably frustrating.”
Interestingly, the Panthers were called for more penalties than the Oilers in the first two games of the series.
With their Game 3 victory, the Panthers have now won consecutive games to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Florida winger Brad Marchand, who netted two goals in the 5-4 overtime win in Game 2, scored the opening goal in Game 3, helping the Panthers get off to a strong start.
The Panthers will aim to extend their lead to 3-1 in Game 4 on Thursday.
