Why India refused to join SCO condemnation of Israelâs attacks on Iran
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Marchand, Bennett too hot for Oilers to handle in Game 5 of Stanley Cup final |
The Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand helped the team take a 3 games to 2 lead over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals.
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Driving the Florida Panthers attack in the playoffs is a player in his NHL prime and another acting like he is.
28-year-old Sam Bennett and 37-year-old Brad Marchand continued to be too much for the Oilers to handle in the Stanley Cup final in Floridaâs 5-2 win over Edmonton on Saturday to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Marchand scored twice Saturday â Floridaâs first and third goals â to reach half a dozen goals in the Cup final.
Floridaâs second goal of the game was Bennettâs fifth of the Cup final and his NHL-leading 15th of the post-season.
The Panthers can close out the series at home Tuesday and become the first back-to-back Stanley Cup champions since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
A new ingredient for the Panthers this post-season, however, is the five-foot-nine, 180-pound Marchand, who Florida acquired at the trade deadline after his almost 16 years with the Boston Bruins.
Marchandâs six goals was the most by any player in the championship series since Esa Tikkanen in 1988.
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Marchand, from Halifax, seeks the second Stanley Cup of his career after lifting the trophy with the Boston Bruins in 2011 at the age of 23. He reached another two Cup finals with Boston before he was dealt to Florida this winter.
When asked what the 2011 edition of Brad Marchand would say to his 2025 version, he replied âman, that guyâs good looking.â
âSometimes you get bounces, sometimes you donât but definitely youâd be grateful to be in this opportunity and have another opportunity to be in the finals and be part of a really good team for sure,â Marchand continued.
Bennett, from Holland Landing, Ont., pushed his road goal streak to six straight games when he wired a rebound past Edmontonâs Calvin Pickard to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead in the first period.
A front-runner for this yearâs Conn Smythe Trophy that goes to the NHLâs playoff MVP, Bennett ranks second in post-season in hits (103) to Edmontonâs Zach Hyman (111).
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âWeâve talked about it so much,â said Bennettâs teammate Sam Reinhart. âItâs just his game translates so well to this time of year. He creates so much room for himself.â
Marchand and Bennett each with five, or more, goals apiece in the Cup final are the first teammates to do so since Montrealâs Frank Mahovlich and Yvan Cournoyer in 1973.
âTheyâre just certainly capable of processing the context of the game,â Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. âThey donât get too high, they donât go too low. Their energy level is high, and theyâre very focused on the game.
âThereâs a mental toughness there, a mental capacity to stay within the game and not try to break it open. Just wait. Patience.â
The ageless Marchand scored both his goals off draws that Edmonton won, but he got to the puck first and beat Oilers to the net to score twice.
âWhat he can do under duress in a small area is world class,â Maurice said.
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 June 15, 2025 However, we know that Kent Hughes and the organization have said theyâre open to acquiring a forward, [âŠ] %23tvasport)
