The Florida Panthers are going on the road with a comfortable 2-0 series lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. Before each team attempts to win a pivotal Game 3, let’s take a look at some stats, facts, and notes for the matchup.
Related: Projected Lineups for Oilers vs Panthers – Game 3 Stanley Cup Final
In the history of the Stanley Cup Final, there have been 15 overtimes in Game 3. The last time this occurred was in the 2023 series between the Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights—Carter Verhaeghe scored the winning goal. Expanding beyond just Game 3s, 2024 can be the sixth Final in a row to feature at least one overtime contest.
From 1999 to 2023, no Stanley Cup Final has resulted in a sweep—the last 24 Final series. 18 of those (75 percent) have required six or more contests.
If the Oilers win at least one game, it would mark the 14th series out of 15 that has not resulted in a sweep in these playoffs. This would be the first time since the expansion era began in the 1967-68 season that there have been less than two best-of-seven sweeps in back-to-back playoff seasons—the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs only had one sweep, too.
Getting to some individuals, Sam Bennett can be the third player in Panthers history to have a point streak in the postseason of six or more contests. Only Dave Lowry and teammate Matthew Tkachuk have ever reached this mark—neither of them has had an eight-game streak.
On their home ice at Rogers Place, the Oilers have a 6-3 record and are averaging 4.00 goals per game in these playoffs. They are just the fifth team in the last 30 years to average this many goals per game at home in a single postseason run among teams with seven or more games played overall. The 2023 Golden Knights, 2022 Colorado Avalanche, 1997 Avalanche, and 1996 Avalanche are the only teams to record more average home-ice goals in this span.
In the Oilers’ last 320 playoff games, there has only been one run where they have been held to one or zero goals in three consecutive contests—they went four games without scoring at least two goals from 1998 to 1999. Being held off of the board entirely in Game 1 for this series and only scoring once in Game 2, they are in jeopardy of hitting this number again.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Final Hub
Out of the 54 best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final series that have had one team take a 2-0 series lead, 49 of the teams that have taken said lead have gone on to win the Stanley Cup. With a 90.7 percent series win rate, the Panthers are in good hands. Only the 2011 Boston Bruins, the 1971 Montreal Canadiens, the 1966 Canadiens, and the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs have ever overcome such a deficit.
Teams that have a 2-0 deficit in best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final series have a 26-28 record in Game 3s. However, the club that is facing the 2-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final has won Game 3 in 11 of the past 14 contests (78.6 percent win rate).
Of the 28 teams to take a 3-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final, only one of them has ever ended up losing. In 1942, the Detroit Red Wings were reverse-swept by the Maple Leafs. In the last 24 postseasons, only three teams have had a 3-0 series lead in the Final—the 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2014 Los Angeles Kings, and the 2012 Kings.
Stats and facts courtesy of NHL PR
