Panthers win again on road in Game 5, move closer to Stanley Cup repeat

EDMONTON -- The Florida Panthers are one win from repeating as Stanley Cup champions, but they’re still learning, still improving.

They showed it in a 5-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Saturday, taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.

They hope to show it again with the Cup in the building in Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

“It’s a great opportunity,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. “We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. It’s going to be the hardest game, and I think we know that. Yeah, the job’s not done yet, and a lot more work to do.”

Florida took a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 4 and blew it, losing 5-4 in overtime.

Instead of flying across North America with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to eliminate the Oilers in Game 5, the Panthers traveled with the series 2-2 and walked into a hostile arena.

Unfazed, they took care of business.

Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky withstood an early barrage, and forwards Brad Marchand and Bennett gave them a 2-0 lead in the first period. This time, they held the lead, killing two penalties in the second period and finishing 3-for-3 on the PK.

Marchand made it 3-0 at 5:12 of the third. Although Oilers captain Connor McDavid cut it to 3-1 at 7:24, Panthers forward Sam Reinhart responded just 46 seconds later to make it 4-1. And after Oilers forward Corey Perry scored with the goalie pulled at 16:47, Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen iced it with an empty-net goal at 18:41.

“I think it was just more composure -- not thinking ahead, just thinking shift by shift,” Bennett said. “We did a much better job tonight. We knew they were going to push. They pushed, and our PK did a phenomenal job. Yeah, just more composed tonight.”

Why were they more composed?

“You just learn,” Bennett said. “We’ve learned a lot through the last three seasons and especially this year. We learn from our losses, and that’s pretty much all you can do. You take the good after the wins, and you learn after the losses. We learned from that last game, and it paid off tonight. …

“We really just try to play the same game every night. It’s a hard, heavy game. Sometimes with the lead, it’s human nature to take your foot off a little bit. But we didn’t take our foot off tonight, and that was the difference.”

The Oilers entered the game 7-2 at home in the playoffs. But the Panthers have gone 25-11 on the road in the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the past three years. They’re 10-3 on the road in the playoffs this year, tying the NHL record for road wins in a single postseason.

They have scored 61 road goals, 12 more than any other team in a single postseason.

“We just try to go out there and have fun,” Panthers forward Anton Lundell said. “I know the pressure builds around us, and we all know where we are. … Everybody’s ready to step up and give everything, and I think we battle very hard.”

Florida is only 5-4 at home. Can the Panthers close it out in front of their fans Tuesday?

They took a 3-0 lead in the Cup Final last year, only to watch the Oilers come back and tie the series 3-3. But they closed it out with a 2-1 win in Game 7 at home, and now that experience might have been a good thing.

You just learn.

“I feel like last year we learned a lot,” Lundell said. “I think the biggest thing is to stay in the moment, not think too much ahead or think behind. Just stay in the moment and rest and prepare for a new game, because we know it’s going to be the hardest one.”

Panthers coach Paul Maurice often says to “just handle your day.” He said it again after the game Saturday, but even before he spoke, you could hear his players echo that philosophy.

“The more times you’re in a situation like this, the more comfortable you’re going to be,” Reinhart said. “We’ve been staying in the moment all postseason, and it’s just about handling your day. We did what we set out to do today, and now it’s about recovering and getting back at it in a couple days.”

We’ll see how much they’ve learned then.

“It’s extremely tough,” Bennett said. “I mean, it’s a moment you think about your whole life, and it’s in the back of your head, I think. I think we can just learn from that experience from last year. I think we were already looking ahead before we were ready to put in the work to get the job done. We know what we have to do now.”