Verhaeghe gets tiebreaking goal in 3rd period as Panthers beat Oilers 6-5

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the defending champion Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 on Monday in the rematch of the Stanley Cup Final.

Niko Mikkola, Sam Reinhart, Jesper Boqvist, Matthew Tkachuk and Gustav Forsling also scored for the Panthers. Florida won despite star forward Aleksander Barkov missing his second consecutive game with an illness. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots.

Zach Hyman scored twice, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and Kasperi Kapanen and Connor Brown also scored for the Oilers, who snapped a five-game winning streak. Connor McDavid had three assists and Stuart Skinner finished with 22 saves.

Hyman went to the dressing room pouring blood after taking a puck to the face after Bouchard’s power-play blast deflected off of a Panthers player in the second period. He returned for the third period wearing a full face shield.

Panthers: Florida got a huge short-handed goal just 2:42 into the first period as Boqvist stole a puck from a stumbling Evan Bouchard and went in on the breakaway before sending his fifth of the season through Skinner’s legs. It was Florida’s second goal in 214 minutes, including shutouts in the two previous games. Florida leads the NHL with eight short-handed goals.

Oilers: Draisaitl had his sixth straight multi-point game, with 15 points in that stretch. He has 17 multi-point games this season and leads the league in goals (23), even-strength goals (18), and game-winning goals (seven).

Verhaeghe got a centering pass from Bennett from the left corner, got Skinner to go down and fired a shot over the goalie's shoulder into the top left corner to give the Panthers a 6-5 lead with 6:55 to go.

Hyman's goal in the second period was his 200th with McDavid getting an assist. Hyman now has seven goals in his last six games after returning from injury and has 10 on the season.

Panthers visit Minnesota on Wednesday to finish a five-game trip, and Oilers host Boston on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL