NHL insider offers key advice to Edmonton Oilers following embarrassing loss to Panthers in Cup Finals - "Going to be tough"

The Edmonton Oilers lost 6-1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday. The Panthers controlled the game with physical and disciplined play. This has been their style throughout the playoffs.

After the loss, NHL insider Chris Johnston shared advice for the Oilers on Monday's First Up episode. He said the Oilers need to reset and focus on playing their best hockey. Johnston believes the Oilers can still bounce back in the series if they stay focused and make better decisions.

"It's going to be a tough series," Johnston said (Timestamp: 2:05). "The challenge now for the Oilers, of course, is not to get too wrapped up in the emotions and everything, because that was a pretty emotional night."

The Panthers pushed the game into chaotic territory, and Johnston stressed that the Oilers must stay focused and not let Florida drag them into that style of play.

"Florida Panthers hockey is what it was," Johnston said. "They're so good as a team of getting an opponent off their game."

He added that Florida has done this in the playoffs, including similar big wins against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I don't say it as a bad thing," Johnston added. "I think that it takes a real level of commitment to play the way that Florida does."

He pointed out that the Panthers have elite players, but their real strength is their ability to play hard, ride the line, and pull teams away from their natural game.

Johnston also pointed out a key issue for Edmonton in Game 3.

"They took all those penalties," Johnston said. "In the first period, they only spent, you know, seven minutes, or whatever it was, killing penalties out of the first 20 minutes."

He added that this hurt the Edmonton Oilers badly because they could not build any offensive rhythm. Even though Edmonton scored early in the second period to make it 2-1, Johnston said that the Panthers' third goal, scored by Sam Reinhart, "killed them."

Kris Knoblauch calls Edmonton Oilers’ third period "unraveling" in Game 3 loss to Panthers

The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers now lead the series 2-1. The game had 35 penalties and 140 total penalty minutes.

"Oh definitely the third period is an unraveling," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said via NHL.com. "I don't think we would have acted or played like that had the game been a one-goal or two-goal game. I don't know, boys being boys I guess, just trying to make investments for the next game."

Knoblauch wants the Oilers to focus on getting a split in Game 4.