After 2 overtime games, Panthers and Oilers relish days off as Stanley Cup Final shifts to Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE Fla AP After Brad Marchand scored the winning goal in Contest of the Stanley Cup Final he and Florida Panthers teammate Sam Bennett were required how they kept their bodies going during another long and intense matchup against the Edmonton Oilers I think Marchand grabbed a Blizzard I think it was Oreo at present Bennett quipped referring to a viral moment during the Eastern Conference finals when Marchand joked that he enjoyed a chocolate chip cookie dough treat from Dairy Queen between periods which was later revealed as a spoonful of honey Nice plug Marchand responded with a chuckle I like that They were joking of program but there was a point in Friday night s double-overtime tournament that Marchand spent time between periods pedaling on an exercise bike to stay loose as players from both teams shuffled their tired bodies on and off the ice for hours The first two games of the Stanley Cup Final have gone to overtime only the sixth time in NHL history that s happened and first since Competition went on until Leon Draisaitl s power-play goal into the extra period Marchand put Contest to an end with a breakaway goal into the second overtime With the series tied - both teams will embark on a cross-continent trip from Canada to Florida enjoying an extra day s rest between games to recover after an intense start to their championship series Championship is Monday night in Sunrise Florida Obviously a long contest a lot of back and forth mentioned Florida defenseman Seth Jones who led the Panthers in ice time at minutes seconds on Friday Jones who is averaging a team-high on the ice in the postseason played more than minutes in both of the first two games of the series He scored in the first period on Friday his fourth goal of the postseason and assisted on Dmitry Kulikov s goal in the second We came here for a split and got it Jones added and just going to recover now Panthers coach Paul Maurice declared heading back to Florida with the series tied instead of being down - does make a minor mental difference but one of his organization s strengths is its tunnel vision approach It s mathematically major Maurice mentioned I d like to think that we d be dragging here the present day this morning if we had lost that championship having had the lead for so long But I think we re really good at cutting it off It s the same morning this morning at the meal room as it was two days ago after the Competition loss It s just on to the next day We understand how to leave our days the good ones and the bad ones in the past and handle the day we have right now The Oilers are moving forward in the series with an equally short memory after missed chances in Championship Corey Perry whose goal with seconds left in the third period forced overtime disclosed the back-and-forth nature of the series was to be expected from the two teams but there s no use in getting hung up on what-ifs What s it going to do Perry declared It s not going to do anything for you now Get on the plane on the morrow and get particular rest and be ready for Contest Insufficient players have spent more time on the ice in the series than Connor McDavid The Edmonton star played in Meeting and just over minutes in Challenge more than anyone else in the tournament That s nearly minutes more than his postseason average of McDavid s impact was certainly felt on Friday He had three assists including one in which he zipped through Florida s penalty kill to set up Draisaitl s power play goal in the first Draisaitl noted after the competition there s only one sportsman in the world that can make such a highlight-reel play but stressed the importance of using the two days off to recalibrate At this time of year you ve got to move on he declared There s not time thinking about it too long Obviously it stings right now but we have to move on