The Athletic has live coverage of Oilers vs. Panthers Game 4 from the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. As Sam Bennett’s playoff lore continues to grow with each playoff goal scored, his pending free agency only grows more fascinating.

Everything one needs to understand about Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett as a Stanley Cup Playoffs juggernaut was epitomized by one shift in their Game 3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. It began with a backcheck.

Bennett had the kind of shift in Game 3’s victory on Monday that tells the larger Panthers’ story. It’s as much the moment of this series as Panthers forward Brad Marchand’s breakaway goal to win Game 2, defenseman Aaron Ekblad’s hit that sent Connor McDavid spinning to the ice or McDavid’s brilliant “walk-on-water toe tap,’’ as Ekblad called it.