Bill Zito appeared to embody every Florida Panthers fan on Tuesday night during their Game 5 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, keeping the Stanley Cup Final series alive.
With the Panthers down 4-3 in the third period, Oilers star Connor McDavid scored an empty-net goal with 19 seconds remaining in the game. It put Edmonton up 5-3 and the victory brought the series to 4-3.
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Zito, the Panthers’ general manager, was seen in the suite at the Amerant Bank Arena throwing a water bottle in frustration.
“I’m not pumping tires. I’m not rubbing backs. I don’t think we need that at all,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said after the game. “Everybody feels probably exactly the way I do right now. I’m not feeling deflated. Neither’s the hockey team. They’re not feeling deflated. Little grumpy.”
Florida lost Game 4 in Edmonton over the weekend, 8-1. Coming back home felt like an opportunity to raise the cup in front of the home crowd.
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But the good feelings began to slip away as Corey Perry put the Oilers up 4-1 at the 11:54 mark in the second period. Evan Rodrigues scored to cut the deficit in half later in the period and Oliver Ekman-Larsson made it a one-goal game early in the third.
Florida couldn’t score again.
“We’re going to turn the page,” Rodrigues said. “We’re going to learn from this one.”
Game 6 is set for Friday night back in Canada.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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