The Panthers played their style on Monday night. The Edmonton Oilers got away from theirs. The result was a lopsided 6-1 win for Florida, which gave the defending champions a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

"We gotta play our game," stressed Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch. "That’s with the puck, good defensive hockey. Some guys thrive on those extra-curricular activities, things that happen after the whistle, but I think some of our guys got distracted with that."

The Oilers and Panthers combined for 140 penalty minutes on Monday, which was the fourth highest total in a game in Stanley Cup Final history. Edmonton accounted for 85 of those minutes.

Since Paul Maurice took over behind the bench at the start of the 2022-23 season, the Panthers have been penalized more than any other team. They like to play with an edge. Key players like Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and now Brad Marchand relish the chance to get under the skin of the opposition.

"That’s their brand," said Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm. "That’s what they do. That’s what they do really well. But, at the same time, we’ve won four games against them in these finals in the last two years. I think you look at those games, we’re a very focused group. We play our game. We don’t let that creep in a little bit. So maybe we lost that a little bit last night, but we know what to do."

The Oilers will get a chance to show that on Thursday night in Game 4.

It will be up to the team's leaders to help right the ship. Star centre Leon Draisaitl was held off the scoresheet on Monday night and finished the game without a shot for only the third time in 19 playoff games this year.

What is it about the Panthers that drives teams crazy?

"I'm not going crazy," Draisaitl countered. "I don’t know if anybody’s going crazy. It’s an emotional time. It’s two teams that want to win. Two teams that are doing it their own way, but I don’t think anybody is going crazy........

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