SUNSHINE SWEEP

Panthers take two on home ice, Oilers look for answers with series heading to Edmonton

- KEVIN MCGRAN

The Florida Panthers social media slogan is #TimeToHunt. And boy, do these Cats look hungry.

The Panthers were relentless in attacking the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night, and were rewarded with a 4-1 win and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final.

Toronto-born Evan Rodrigues-who spent one off-season as a Maple Leaf on paper - broke a 1-1 tie with a wrist shot that beat Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner early in the third, and added a power-play goal late in the period. Aaron Ekblad also scored into an empty net with 2:28 to go.

The result puts the Panthers two wins away from their first Stanley Cup.

Rodrigues is a bit of a Swiss Army knife for the Panthers: sometimes an effective scorer in Florida's top six, other times an effective checker in the bottom six.

"His game is very good," Florida coach Paul Maurice said of Rodrigues after the morning skate. "He's become a very versatile player for us."

And Rodrigues was Johnny on the spot when Evan Bouchard's clearing attempt deflected off Mattias Ekholm and on to his stick for his fifth goal of the playoffs to break the tie, and again with a deflection on a rush with Anton Lundell - the first power-play goal by either team in the series.

Another former Leaf, Carter Verhaeghe, had been Florida's scoring hero in Game 1. The Leafs owned Rodrigues' rights thanks to a trade with the Penguins after the 2019-20 season, but he re-signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent prior to the 2020-21 season.