EDMONTON -- The Florida Panthers should have been gutted.

They were just 18 seconds away from a 4-3 victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, just 18 precious seconds from tying the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final 1-1 heading back home to Sunrise, Florida for Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Then Oilers forward Corey Perry stomped on that dream, scoring the tying goal at 19:42 of the third period to send the game to overtime deadlocked at 4-4.

How did the Panthers respond to that aching heartbreak as they gathered inside their dressing room to regroup before the start of extra time?

“It was the opposite of what you guys probably thought was going on in the locker room,” Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “We were upbeat, jokin

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