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.

One shift in Game 3 encapsulated everything that the veteran center can do on the ice. Here's how he got here.

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.