Game 2 between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers was wild! The teams had us guessing who’d get that final puck in the net from the start, with the Oilers taking a lead early on. While Sam Bennett opened the scoring for Florida by scoring on a power play, the Oilers soon evened it out and then took the lead. However, it was when Florida tied things again at 2-2 that the game seemed to have taken a turn.

At the 12.13 mark of the first period, Sam Bennett crashed into Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner. Skinner fell to the ground and definitely seemed affected by the incident but managed to stay in the game. Though it seemed like it was Mattias Ekholm who crashed into Bennett, who then crashed into Skinner, Bennett was nonetheless given a two-minute minor penalty. The resulting power play moment led to another Oilers goal wherein Connor McDavid was able to assist Leon Draisaitl to put the puck in the net and up the Oilers score to 3-2 at the end of the first period.

In a recent postgame interview, Bennett was asked to comment on the moment, with the interviewer saying, “I’m not going to ask you about the goalie interference call, but there’s a large part of the Alberta population that doesn’t want to see you in front of the net. Anything you have to say to them?” To which Bennett responded with dry humor, “No, that’s where I’m gonna be for the rest of the series.” Clearly, the moment that angered many Oilers fans, as they felt it was intentional despite the Mattias Ekholm slide that started it off, was not taken as seriously by Bennett; perhaps that’s because he was more focused on the larger picture, i.e., scoring those goals and winning!

Sam Bennett who has set an NHL record for the Florida Panthers shares some praise for his teammates

Sam Bennett has been nothing short of a force for the Florida Panthers this season, scoring left, right and center and even breaking a new NHL record with his 12th road game goal as the opener for game 2 of the final series. However, while he certainly must be proud of his own efforts, he isn’t blind to those of his teammates. In the same postgame interview, Bennett speaks at length about the many ‘leaders’ on the Florida Panthers that help the team play at the level that they are playing. “There are so many leaders in our locker room, a lot of experience, a lot of great leaders.” Bennett said, with regard to how the team handled the many moments of pressure in game 2.

Bennett then went on to praise defenseman Gus Forsling, who wasn’t in his best form against Game 1 of the series but came back in Game 2. Forsling made a number of saves on what could have been extremely dangerous plays and stayed close to Edmonton’s main weapon, Connor McDavid, the whole game. Of Forsling, Bennett said, “[He] puts his body on the line every night, along with all our D men. He’s been incredible for us.” But the center didn’t stop there, and how could he? There was Brad Marchand, the man of the hour, to discuss.

While Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand collided in an early game of the Eastern Conference last year and had a bit of a rivalry going since then, ever since Marchand joined the Panthers and Bennett and he worked out an unmatchable rhythm on the ice, the two seem to be best friends. “He’s just an absolute dog,” Bennett said of the OT goal scorer. “His leadership, his energy, his battle. He just inspires the group.” So, aside from making the nearly fatal mistake of slamming into the goaltender, Bennett seems to have had an incredible game and looks to be unshaken as he prepares for number 3!