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NHL / 2025 Stanley Cup Final: NHL Fans Respond To Brad Marchand, Florida Panthers’ Fast Game 5 Start At Rogers Place

2025 Stanley Cup Final: NHL Fans Respond To Brad Marchand, Florida Panthers’ Fast Game 5 Start At Rogers Place

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Updated –
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The Florida Panthers are proving to be fast-starters. The Edmonton Oilers continue to react slowly to the Stanley Cup Final challenge. 

During Game 5 Saturday night, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett scored first-period goals. The Oilers managed none.

What’s new? 

In the final’s past three matchups, the Panthers have outscored the Oilers, 7-0, through 20 minutes. 

One win from back-to-back NHL championships, the Panthers held off the Oilers, 5-2, at Rogers Place to take a 3-2 series lead. 

Game 6 is scheduled for Tuesday night.  

How will the Oilers start in Sunrise, Florida?

X (Twitter) fans reacted to the Oilers’ slow starts. Mattias Ekholm identified the issue … 

The pre-game scene at Rogers Place …

In his fourth Stanley Cup Final, Marchand opened the scoring with his first goal Saturday off a face-off at 9:12 of the first period …

Moments after a penalty kill, Bennett connected on his sixth goal in his past six playoff outings, giving the Panthers a 2-0 advantage with 1:54 remaining in the first frame …

A pending free agent this offseason, Bennett became the fourth active player to score 15 goals in a single postseason …

Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling (42) explains why the Oilers did not a shot on goal in the final 11 minutes of the first period. Through two periods, the Oilers’ forwards produced just five shots on goal …

Marchand again …

Two minutes 12 seconds after Marchand’s second goal, Oilers star Connor McDavid scored his first of the final series, giving the Oilers some third-period energy. The goal was McDavid’s 150th career point in 95 postseason games. He was the third quickest skater to reach that milestone, behind Wayne Gretzky (68 games played) and Mario Lemieux (86) …

The Oilers’ energy didn’t last long. Forty-six seconds after the Oilers pulled to within 3-1, Sam Reinhart put the Panthers back up by three …

In his 236th career playoff game, Oilers veteran Corey Perry connected on his 10th postseason goal, pulling the Oilers to within 4-2 with 3:13 remaining. It was his 64th career playoff marker …

Netting a 195-foot shot, Panthers’ Eetu Luostarinen scored into an empty net …

Final score: Panthers 5, Oilers 2 …

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He ed the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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