Florida survived a two-goal effort by Edmonton All-Star Connor McDavid

An appearance from the Comeback Cats would be necessary on Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena.

Hosting the extremely potent Edmonton Oilers, the Florida Panthers fell into an early 2-0 hole before clawing their way back and claiming another big two points in the standings.

The Panthers received contributions from up and down the lineup, erasing the Oilers lead for good in the second period and skating to a 5-3 victory in front of a packed house of 19,628 fans.

Edmonton’s superstar Connor McDavid has gotten off to a very slow start this season, but he looked every bit his usual, elite self when he beat Sergei Bobrovsky from an extremely sharp angle to give the Oilers an early 1-0 lead.

About three minutes later Evander Kane got loose in the slot and put a shot under Bobrovsky’s glove to make it 2-0 Oilers.

Similarly to McDavid, the Panthers power play has also left something to be desired in the early parts of the season.

Florida’s first power play of the game ended on a high note thanks to a high blocker snipe by Carter Verhaeghe.

A second power play soon after would end without a goal, but a great follow-up shift by the Panthers third line was capped off by a sneaky wrist shot off the stick of Niko Mikkola.

McDavid created another great look early in the second period, but Gus Forsling chopped him down on the way to the net which resulted in McDavid being granted a penalty shot.

He beat Bobrovsky over the blocker to put the Oilers back in front 3-2, but the lead wouldn’t last.

Mikkola was credited with his second of the night after his cross-ice pass was blocked and subsequently deflected past Calvin Pickard, into the net.

Another great shift by Florida’s third line ended with Kevin Stenlund scoring his fifth goal of the season, giving the Panthers their first lead of the night.

Edmonton applied quite a bit of pressure during the third period, at one point drawing consecutive power plays.

To the Panthers credit, they tightened up considerably while down a man, allowing the Oilers zero shots on the two third period power plays.

The win would be Florida’s seventh in their past eight games. Next up is Boston on Wednesday night.

Here are some thoughts and observations from Monday’s tilt with the Oilers:

Bobrovsky was big down the stretch, stopping all 13 third period shots sent his way by Edmonton.

Florida’s second line was dominant at even strength. The trio of Sam Bennett centering Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe held an 8-2 advantage in scoring chances and outpaced the Oilers on high danger chances 7-1.

Monday’s game was the 200th game of Ryan Lomberg’s NHL career. He finished with a plus-2 on-ice rating and two penalty minutes. Congrats to the Lomborghini on the impressive accomplishment.

Stenlund’s career high in goals is six, which he reached last season in 54 games with Winnipeg and in 2019-20 in 32 games with Columbus. He’s up to five already this season through the Panthers first 18 games.

Mikkola’s career high in goals is three, hitting the mark in 54 games with St. Louis in 2021-22. He’s matched that total in his first 18 games with Florida. 

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