Stanley Cup final: Marchand plays hero for Panthers in Game 2 win over Oilers
Brad Marchand slipped a puck under Stuart Skinner’s pad on his own rebound.
That effort off the stick of the Florida Panthers winger dribbled through Edmonton’s crease and touched the post before being cleared to safety.
That agonizingly close call in Friday’s first overtime period came after Marchand connected on a short-handed breakaway in the second period.
The 37-year-old didn’t miss on his next chance.
Marchand scored on another breakaway — this time in double OT — as the Panthers beat the Oilers 5-4 to even the Stanley Cup final 1-1.
“Pure excitement and adrenalin for the whole group,” he said in describing the moment before getting mobbed by teammates inside a stunned Rogers Place. “We all knew we were one shot away … luckily it went our way.”
Florida, which beat Edmonton in seven games in last year’s final for the franchise’s first title, recovered after Corey Perry tied the game with 17.8 seconds left in regulation.
“We’ve always had a very calm team,” Marchand said. “You draw from your experiences. We do a really good job of focusing on the moment.”
His ninth and 10th goals all-time in Cup final play gave him the lead among active players. Marchand’s performance came exactly 14 years after he scored short-handed in the 2011 final against the Vancouver Canucks.
Roberto Luongo — the opposing netminder at the time and now special adviser for the Panthers — posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter: “Favourite player of all time.”
“Lu is awesome,” said the Halifax product. “He’s an incredible person. Happy to be on the team.”
Marchand was acquired from the Bruins, who were eliminated by the Panthers from the 2023 and 2024 playoffs, at the trade deadline buzzer back in March.
The fit has been seamless for a player that has made plenty of enemies throughout his career.
“Brad’s an honest man,” said Florida head coach Paul Maurice, whose group dropped the series opener to Edmonton 4-3 in OT. “He loves the game. He loves the people around him. He’s very open, very gregarious. He (was) completely accepted. An incredibly positive human being. He’s up and down our bench all the time just pumping tires, stays in the fight. He is going to be the same way at breakfast (Saturday) morning. He’s just going to be jacked, high-fiving everybody at the table.”
“He enjoys the moment,” Panthers winger Evan Rodrigues added. “He doesn’t shy away from it.”
Marchand’s parents were in the stands Wednesday, with his mother was caught on camera celebrating her son’s heroics.
He was asked post-game to describe Lynn Marchand as a hockey mom.
“She is one that you need to put a muzzle on,” he said to laughter from reporters. “She gets pretty amped up at the games. They’ve always been so supportive. I don’t think any player in this league could say that their parents are not the main reason why we’re here.”
Marchand, who won the Cup in 2011 and also played in the 2013 and 2019 finals, has shown no signs of slowing down at age 37 in his 16th NHL season.
“He could play till he’s 47 the way he’s going,” Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “Unreal player, unreal competitor.”
Marchand’s fifth career playoff OT goal tied Perry, Patrick Kane and Panthers teammate Carter Verhaeghe for the most among active players. The veteran forward also became the seventh player in NHL history to reach that number.
“He just finds a way,” said Florida defenceman Nate Schmidt, who had a couple of run-ins with Marchand earlier this season when he was still captaining Boston. “I don’t think it gets too big for him. He was one of our most vocal guys throughout the third and the intermissions. It doesn’t seem like he ever gets too riled about it, which is something you need.
“He is a veteran presence guy that’s got a ring. We’re really lucky to have him.”
Maurice called Marchand “a unique human” that has found a new home as the best-of-seven series now shifts to South Florida.
“In the northern parlance,” said the coach, “he’s a beauty.”
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