Panthers steal home-ice advantage with overtime victory over Oilers in Game 2

With the win, the Panthers were able to steal home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final. The series will now shift to Florida for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Thursday of next week.

The Oilers will need to beat the Panthers in Florida at some point in order to win the Stanley Cup. They dropped Games 1 and 2 in Florida last year and then picked up a road win while facing elimination in Game 5. The Panthers were ultimately able to hold court at home in Game 7 after Edmonton clawed back from three games down. All told, the Oilers went 1-3 on the road in last year’s Cup Final.

What they said…

Kris Knobluach on the Oilers heading to Florida tied 1-1 in the Stanley Cup Final…

“Obviously when you win the first one you’re disappointed when you don’t follow up and win the second one. But we’re going there with a split and that’s fine with us. We know we’re comfortable playing on the road. We’ve won a lot of games so far in the regular season and playoffs. So we’ll get ready for Game 3.”

“There’s going to be some disappointment, but we’ve had the mentality that no matter what happens — a bad game, a close game or whatever it is — that we put it behind us and get ready for the next one. In the playoffs, sometimes it works out in your favour and sometimes it doesn’t. I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job of responding and putting whatever happens in the past to get focused on the next game.”

Corey Perry on the Oilers having to let go of a frustrating loss…

“We lost with 0.4 seconds left a couple of series ago. Those are tough. You can go home and think about it, but tomorrow, you get some rest and get on the plane and be ready for Game 3… They’re a good team. They’re going to push us to the limit, and we’re going to push back. It’s frustrating right now, but we’re in the Final for a reason.”

Matthew Tkachuk on the Oilers tying the game in the final seconds of regulation…

“You know our group. We’re coming in here, we’re hooting and hollering, we’re having some fun. Bad break. What are you going to do? The guys played so hard in that 5-on-6 before that. Just a tough bounce there. It was the opposite of what you guys probably thought we were like in the locker room. We were upbeat, joking around, having some fun.”

Brad Marchand on scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime…

“Pure excitement and adrenaline, for our whole group. It’s obviously a very important game for our team. We all knew we were one shot away, and luckily it went our way. You could tell the excitement that our group had.”

“You draw from your experiences. You just focus in the moment. A lot of guys have been through big moments and there’s a lot of leaders on this team.”

Sam Bennett on setting an NHL record with 12 road goals in the playoffs…

“I don’t think there’s any difference between home or on the road for me. Right now, they seem to be going in. I’m getting some great passes from my teammates, great set-ups. There’s nothing I’m doing differently, it’s just going in.”

“We’ve been great on the road all playoffs long. We’re a confident group on the road. We enjoy being on the road. You get to spend more time together.”

Paul Maurice on the play of the two goaltenders in the Stanley Cup Final…

“I don’t think we talk about the two goalies enough in this series. There were some good saves made a both ends, high-end saves. There’s some world-class shooters here. … Both goalies have been outstanding.”