Marchand makes history in Panthers' Game 5 win

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Brad Marchand didn't just lead the Florida Panthers to within one win of lifting the Stanley Cup with his Game 5 heroics on Saturday night. He made NHL playoff history.

Marchand became the first player to score at least five goals in two separate Stanley Cup Final series with two different teams. He scored five goals in seven games for the Boston Bruins in their 2011 Stanley Cup championship win over Vancouver. His two vital goals in the Panthers' 5-2 win in Game 5 against the Edmonton Oilers gave him six goals in five games in this Stanley Cup Final.

What would 2011 Brad Marchand think of 2025 Brad Marchand, doing this at 37 years old?

"Man, that guy's good-looking. That'd probably be it," he said after the game, drawing laughter. "Sometimes you get bounces, sometimes you don't. But definitely grateful to have another opportunity to be in the finals and be part of a really good team."

Marchand now has 10 goals and 10 assists in 22 playoff games for the Panthers.

He made even more history in the Panthers' Game 5 win. He's just the seventh player in NHL history to have five or more goals in multiple Stanley Cup Finals, with Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux (1991 and 1992) the last one to accomplish the feat. His six goals are the most in the Stanley Cup Final for any player 35 or older and the most by any player since Esa Tikkanen with Oilers in 1988. His five goals on the road are the most in a Stanley Cup Final since Jack Adams of the Vancouver Millionaires scored six in 1922.

"Yeah, he's amazing. He's been a leader for us. He's been scoring big goals for us. Tonight, he made the hell of an effort by himself," said Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

Marchand opened the scoring at 9:12 of the first period with a great individual effort, corralling a loose puck, shielding it from Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm and firing it past Calvin Pickard, who got the start over Stuart Skinner in Game 5.

Sam Bennett scored his 15th goal of the playoffs late in the first period to make it 2-0, which remained the margin until Marchand struck again in the third period on an even more impressive individual effort. Linemate Eetu Luostarinen poked the puck ahead to Marchand, who deked defenseman Jake Walman to the ice with a move to the net before tucking the puck through Pickard's 5-hole for the 3-0 lead.

Bennett was left astonished by the second Marchand goal.

"I mean, they're both unbelievable, but that second one, I don't know how he did that," he said. "We're going to have to watch that clip a couple times and ask him to teach me something."

Florida coach Paul Maurice said he knew Marchand was skilled before the Panthers acquired him from the Boston Bruins at the NHL trade deadline in March, as the winger is 20 points away from 1,000 points in his 16-year NHL career. But until he got on the ice with him, Maurice didn't realize how great Marchand was with the "small area things" that he does, like on his two goals in Game 5.

"What he can do under duress in a small area is world-class. It's as good as I've seen," Maurice said.

The Panthers are now one victory away from back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, bouncing back from a Game 4 overtime loss on home ice that evened the series at 2-2. Again, it's Marchand who has led the way whenever the Panthers stumble. The veteran winger has points in every game after a Florida loss, with seven goals and four assists in those games. He also has two game-winning overtime goals after losses, including Game 2 of this series.

"I've said it a ton of times, we're just enjoying the moment. It's a special time, special memories we're going to have forever ... not really nervous, just excited," said Marchand.

The Panthers continued to be one of the most successful road teams in NHL playoff history with a dominant, suffocating effort against the Oilers. Florida built a 3-0 lead with a relentless forecheck, great penalty killing on three Edmonton power plays and a strong 19-save effort from Bobrovsky. The Oilers, with a chance to take control of the series on home ice, were held scoreless for the first 47:24 of the game.

Having previously blown multi-goal leads in the series, they remained poised as the Oilers scored twice in the third period on goals by Connor McDavid and Corey Perry to cut the lead to 4-2. Sam Reinhart scored 2:12 to re-established a 3-goal lead and Luostarinen iced it with an empty netter after Perry scored.

The Panthers are 10-3 on the road, tying the single playoff-year record held by six other teams -- five of whom won the Stanley Cup. To break the record, the Panthers would have to return to Edmonton for a Game 7.

They're rather not have the chance.

"The more times you're in situations like this, the more comfortable you're going to be. We've been staying in the moment very well all postseason," said forward Sam Reinhart.

Florida has a chance to close out the Oilers for the Stanley Cup on Tuesday night at home, but that's not been a guarantee for Florida. They failed to eliminate Toronto in Game 6 of their second-round series, needing a seventh game to beat the Leafs. They also lost a close-out game against Carolina in the Eastern Conference finals -- not to mention the three elimination game losses they suffered against the Oilers in last season's Stanley Cup Final before winning in Game 7.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Oilers is ready to rally again.

"We're never going to quit on each other," he said. "We're going into Florida with a job to do and we'll do everything we can to do it."

Bennett said the Panthers have grown since nearly squandering the championship a year ago.

"It's extremely tough. It's a moment you think about your whole life and it's in the back of your head. I think we can learn from that experience from last year," he said. "I think we were already looking ahead before we were ready to put in the work to get the job done. We know what we have to do now."