Panthers vs. Oilers, Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final: Instant reaction

The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Thursday. The Panthers lead the best-of-7 series 3-0.

Here are some immediate takeaways from the game by NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers:

Star of the game

Aleksander Barkov was outstanding in Game 3, in particular for the impact he had on what the Panthers did offensively. He took control of the puck from Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard to set up Sam Reinhart’s goal at 18:58 of the first period and scored on a 2-on-1 with Evan Rodrigues at 15:31 of the second.

Goal of the game

Oilers forward Ryan McLeod got Rogers Place hopping again at 14:43 of the third period when he had a nifty redirection of defenseman Brett Kulak’s shot to cut the game to 4-3.

Save of the game

Yep, it goes to Sergei Bobrovsky again, and it’s a combination. He first stopped Oilers forward Zach Hyman’s snap shot at 8:33 of the second before denying Connor McDavid’s backhand attempt off the rebound one second later.

What’s next

The Oilers will try to stave off elimination when they host the Panthers at Rogers Place in Game 4 on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, CBC).