The Oilers were keen to turn the page. Then they had to pivot.
Edmonton was filtering out for practice Tuesday afternoon — less than 24 hours after getting thumped 6-1 by Florida in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final — when ice quality concerns forced the team onto a different pad at the Panthers’ training facility.
With that brief hiccup out of the way, a group looking to move past a night where they not only lost on the scoreboard to fall behind 2-1 in a rematch of last season’s title series, but were also second-best on both the discipline and composure fronts, got down to business on what had initially been pencilled in as a day off.
“It was not the game we wanted to bring,” Oilers centre Leon Draisaitl said. “It was certainly far away from our best. Just flush it out a little bit and start getting ready.”
Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Co. will need a lot more for Thursday night back in Sunrise, Fla., following a 48-hour break in the action.
“You can’t dwell on things,” Oilers winger Corey Perry said of moving past Monday’s debacle. “The next one’s the biggest one. That’s how we think about it, get ready for the next one. Move on.”
Edmonton got into the gamesmanship weeds against a Florida group that does it better than anyone, with the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand leading the way.
The Oilers took four penalties in the opening 20 minutes — three in the offensive zone and another for too many men. Edmonton didn’t like some of the officiating decisions, but the defending Cup champions, as they so often do, put the referees in a position to make a judgment call.
The Panthers, it should be noted, also went to the box four times in the first period. Unlike the visitors, however, they capitalized on one of their chances in a start that lacked flow and rhythm.
After a pair of lightning-quick games ended in overtime to open the series, Game 3 was more Florida’s style.
Draisaitl went back and forth with Bennett on one shift, while Evander Kane took two minors inside the game’s first eight minutes. There were also numerous scrums after whistles — not something Edmonton is known for and a hallmark of Florida’s approach.
Things then got out of hand in the third period with the score 5-1 in a line brawl that included a long fight between Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse and Panthers winger Jonah Gadjovich.
“It’s an emotional time,” Draisaitl said, pushing back against a question about Edmonton coming unglued. “It’s two teams that want to win, two teams doing it their own way, but I don’t think anybody is going crazy here. They’re good at what they do.”
Oilers fans react to 6-1 Game 3 loss
The Oilers have found themselves in worse spots. They were down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings in the first round earlier this spring after falling behind the Panthers 3-0 in last year’s Cup final before rallying to force Game 7.
“Our team is really good at reacting and answering performances like [Monday],” Draisaitl said. “We’ve always been a good team at coming back out with a strong effort.”
“We have a great chance in two days to show what our team is all about.”
Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who was a game-time decision Monday with an undisclosed injury, missed practice after also skipping Sunday’s session.
A key member of the power play, penalty kill and a winger on McDavid’s line, the 32-year-old has five goals and 13 assists in 19 post-season games this spring for a team that’s been without grinding, heart-and-soul winger Zach Hyman (dislocated wrist) since Game 4 of the Western Conference final.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch declined to name his starting goaltender for Thursday. He pulled Stuart Skinner in the third period after Florida’s fifth goal on 23 shots, but was quick not to lay blame Tuesday.
“Stu maybe wasn’t on his ‘A’ game, our team wasn’t on it’s ‘A’ game in front of him,” Knoblauch said. “I don’t think there are any bad goals.”
However, Skinner has a .886 save percentage in the series compared to a .928 mark from Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky.
Calvin Pickard, who won six straight decisions after replacing a shaky Skinner in the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings before getting hurt, allowed one goal on eight shots in mop-up duty Monday.
“Maybe an extra save,” Knoblauch added of Skinner’s Game 3 showing. “But it doesn’t matter how well Stu played, it wouldn’t have made any difference in the game most likely. I’m not holding anything against Stu on that performance.”
