The Edmonton Oilers were rattled against the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. Goalie Stuart Skinner allowed five goals on just 23 shots during this game. And the team just continuously took bad penalties despite the growing deficit. In the end, head coach Kris Knoblauch watched his team drop Game 3 by the score of 6-1.

Things reached a fever pitch in the third period on Monday night. Edmonton and Florida dropped their gloves as a line brawl broke out. By the end of the game, the Oilers racked up 85 penalty minutes. Physicality is to be expected in the Stanley Cup Final. This, however, was something completely different.

“Definitely the third period’s an unraveling,” Knoblauch said of his team's breakdown in the final frame, via The Athletic. “I think the game was out of hand, I don’t think we would’ve acted or played like that had the game been a one-goal or a two-goal game. I think our guys were just trying to, I don’t know, boys being boys — just trying to make investments for the next game.”

How Oilers failed to break Panthers in Game 3

Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand (63) celebrates scoring against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) during the first period in game three of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena.
Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
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The Oilers taking the fight to the Panthers certainly makes some sense. Florida prides itself on its physicality and getting in their opponents heads. Edmonton giving it right back is a good way to show they aren't going to be pushed around, in theory.

However, Florida did nothing out of the ordinary in this game. They played their same physical brand of hockey that has them on the cusp of another Stanley Cup. Sticking to their gameplan is what allowed the Panthers to keep the Oilers from dragging them into the fight more than necessary.

“I think we just stuck with our game,” captain Aleksander Barkov said, via The Athletic. “We wanted to play a full 60 minutes. We just kept doing that over and over again, and I think we got rewarded by that.”

The Oilers need to find another strategy before Game 4. They are two losses away from having their season end with nothing to show for it. Game 4 is as close to a must win as they can get without facing elimination in this series.