Verhaeghe breaks tie in 3rd, Panthers top Oilers in Stanley Cup Final rematch

EDMONTON -- Carter Verhaeghe scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and had an assist for the Florida Panthers in a 6-5 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Monday.

It was the first game between the teams since last season’s Stanley Cup Final; Florida won the best-of-7 series in seven games.

Niko Mikkola and Sam Reinhart each had a goal and an assist, Anton Lundell had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for the Panthers (19-11-2), who had been shut out in each of their previous two games.

“It was a weird one tonight, but I’m fine with it,” said Panthers coach Paul Maurice. “It’s not what you give up, it’s the way you give it up. But I think we really dug in.

“It was a mentally tough game, you get down a couple, we haven’t had comebacks this year and it was dangerous in front of both nets all night long. I’m really happy with that one, I’m really proud that we were able to stay with it, dig in.”

Zach Hyman scored twice, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and Connor McDavid had three assists for the Oilers (18-11-2), who had won five in a row and eight of their previous nine. Stuart Skinner made 22 saves.

“It’s disappointing, obviously. It felt like we had it in control. We have to find a way to win that one,” said McDavid. “Playing a team that was shut out twice in a row, you knew they were going to be hungry defensively and obviously they were. We’ve got to be better.”

Verhaeghe put the Panthers ahead 6-5 at 13:05 of the third period with his 10th goal of the season.

“It was a good forecheck and ‘Mikks’ made a good play there to keep it into ‘Benny’ (Sam Bennett),” Verhaeghe said. “They made a good play, and I just tried to shoot it as quick as I can. I was happy it went in.”

Jesper Boqvist scored on a short-handed breakaway to go ahead 1-0 at 2:42 of the first period, beating Skinner stickside after stealing the puck from Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard, who fell down as the Oilers won an offensive zone face-off.

Hyman tied it 1-1 at 15:13, taking a pass into the slot from McDavid and sending a wrist shot past Bobrovsky’s blocker.

Matthew Tkachuk put the Panthers ahead 2-1 on the power play, deflecting in a wrist shot from Verhaeghe off his skate and through Skinner’s legs with 28 seconds left in the period.

Hyman tied it 2-2 at 6:20 of the second period, with a falling McDavid poking the puck ahead to send him in on a breakaway, where he deked a backhand high stick side on Bobrovsky.

It was Hyman’s seventh goal in six games since returning from an undisclosed injury Dec. 5.

Just 43 seconds later, Connor Brown put Edmonton ahead 3-2 at 7:03, one-timing a shot from a sharp angle at the bottom of the left circle that bounced in off Bobrovsky’s right arm.

Brown scored for the third straight game with his 100th NHL goal.

“I feel good. It’s obviously nice when they go in,” he said. “I’ve been getting some good looks, some good passes. I feel like I am building as well. I’m just trying to get better and better.”

Draisaitl made it 4-2 at 9:24 with his NHL-leading 23rd goal, one-timing a no-look McDavid pass with a sharp-angle shot of his own from the bottom corner of the right circle that beat Bobrovsky shortside.

It was Draisaitl’s fourth straight game with a goal. He also extended his multipoint streak to six games (15 points; six goals, nine assists).

Gustav Forsling made it 4-3 at 17:55, sending a wrist shot from the point that Skinner got in front of, only to have it bounce off up and over him into the net.

Mikkola tied it 4-4 at 6:53 of the third period, taking a cross-crease feed from Lundell and snapping it over Skinner’s right shoulder.

Just 30 seconds later, Reinhart gave Florida a 5-4 lead at 7:23 by banking in a shot off the side of Skinner’s mask from below the goal line.

“In tight, that’s probably the only way I’m putting it in there,” Reinhart said. “So, just trying to find a hole.”

Kasperi Kapanen tied it 5-5 at 8:02, putting the puck away at the side of the net after it bounced off the high glass of the end boards.

“It was a lot of back and forth there,” Verhaeghe said. “We obviously don’t like giving up five goals, there’s some stuff to clean up, especially off the rush. But getting six to win the game is nice. I think we were gripping it a little bit after getting shut out twice in a row, so it was definitely nice to get a couple.”

NOTES: McDavid pushed his point streak to six games (two goals, 11 assists). … At 8:52 of the second period, Hyman was hit in the face when a one-timer from the point by Bouchard deflected off of Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen. Hyman skated to the bench holding his face in his hands. He returned for the third period with a full shield facemask and a cut on his nose.