Panthers maul Oilers in stormy clash to lead Stanley Cup Final

MIAIM: The Florida Panthers thrashed the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 in a stormy Stanley Cup Final game-three clash on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

An ill-tempered battle between the two rivals was punctuated by several brawls in the closing stages as the Oilers´ frustration boiled over. The Panthers and Oilers had fought two nail-biting overtime duels in games one and two to leave the series finely balanced at 1-1. The defending champion Panthers looked determined to avoid another overtime battle after making a flying start at their Amerant Bank Arena when Brad Marchand fired the home team into the lead after just 56 seconds of the opening period.

Carter Verhaeghe doubled the Panthers´ lead on a power play with 2:15 left in the first period to leave Florida with a comfortable two-goal cushion. Corey Perry threatened to reignite Edmonton´s challenge after rifling the puck past Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky early in the second quarter. Florida hit back inside two minutes with Sam Reinhart beating Stuart Skinner high on the short side to make it 3-1.