Brad Marchand Double OT Hero in Edmonton, Panthers Even Up Stanley Cup Final

The Panthers prevented heartbreak on Friday night in Edmonton.

Over four hours after opening puck drop, Brad Marchand scored the double-overtime winner, leading the Panthers to a 5-4 win over the Oilers in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, tying the series at 1-1.

Marchand, who was acquired at the trade deadline, has 63 career goals in the playoffs — with 10 of those coming in the Stanley Cup Final. He now is tied for 3rd all-time (alongside teammate Carter Verhaeghe) for most career playoff overtime goals with five.

Florida went to the power play just 37 seconds into the game after Evander Kane was called for a high-stick.

On the man-advantage, Sam Bennett, who entered Friday as the Panthers’ all-time goal leader in a single postseason (12 goals), opened the scoring 2:07 into the first with his 13th goal of the playoffs.

After taking the penalty which led to Florida’s first goal, Kane got his redemption 7:39 into the period after he beat Bobrovsky blocker-side with a shot off the rush to tie the game at 1-1.

Less than two minutes after tying the game, Evan Bouchard gave Edmonton a 2-1 lead when he beat an unsuspecting Bobrovsky with a wrist shot from the slot during 4-on-4 action.

After conceding two unanswered goals, Seth Jones helped the Panthers stop the bleeding, tying the game at 2-2 with his fourth goal of the playoffs 11:37 into the first.

On the shift after Jones’ goal, Bennett collided with Skinner — due in large part to Mattis Ekholm driving him into the crease — knocking the Oilers goalie to his back. Bennett would be called for goaltender interference, putting Edmonton back on the man-advantage.

With the power play, Leon Draisaitl put the Oilers ahead again with his third goal of the series after Connor McDavid danced past both Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad before threading a cross-seam pass to Draisaitl, who put Edmonton up 3-2 exactly one minute after Florida had tied the game.

The home town Oilers took a 3-2 lead to the dressing room after a wild, back-and-forth opening 20 minutes in Edmonton.

Florida tied the game once again 8:23 into the second thanks to Dmitry Kulikov’s point-shot hitting Bouchard before finding its way past Skinner to even things up at 3-3.

Marchand put the Panthers up 4-3 with a shorthanded breakaway goal 12:09 into the second, beating Skinner five-hole for his sixth goal of the postseason.

With time ticking down, Corey Perry heroically tied the game with just 17.8 seconds left in regulation. Tangled up in front of Florida’s goal, Perry was able to get enough lumber on the puck to beat Bobrovsky, tying the game at 4-4 to force a second straight overtime game in this series.

Now tied at one-game a piece, the series transitions to South Florida for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 will be at 8 p.m. EST on Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.