It was a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Final between both teams. The Panthers captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history over the Oilers in seven games.
Florida had their 29-game playoff streak snapped when leading after two periods. The Panthers were 31-0 leading after the first or second period in their last three postseasons with Paul Maurice as their head coach entering tonight. The Oilers have been victorious in four of their last five Stanley Cup Final contests against Florida.
Edmonton rocketed out to a 1-0 lead just 1:06 into the first period. Jake Walman shot the puck from the left point which was saved. Kasperi Kapanen took a short shot from the left of the crease and it was stopped. Leon Draisaitl snapped a shot from the low right circle past Sergei Bobrovsky for his eighth goal of the playoffs. It turned out to be Draisaitl's 45th career postseason goal. The Oilers scored the first goal in a playoff contest for the ninth straight time.
Florida tied it up 1-1 with 9:12 left in the first. Matthew Tkachuk angled a pass from right point. Carter Verhaeghe released a snap shot from the high slot and Sam Bennett redirected it from the blue paint by Stuart Skinner for his 11th goal in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs and 36th career playoff tally.
The Panthers made it 2-1 on the power play with 7:30 remaining in the period. Evan Rodrigues passed the puck back from the left point and Nate Schmidt sent a diagonal pass from the left point. Brad Marchand scored his fifth playoff goal on a wrist shot from the right side of the crease. It ended up being Marchand's 61st career postseason goal.
In the second period, the Cats increased their lead to 3-1 at the 2:00 mark. Verhaeghe cleared the puck out of his zone. Schmidt raced through the neutral zone into the Oilers zone and slid a cross-ice pass from the left point. Bennett snapped a shot for his second tally of the contest and 12th postseason. He set a Florida Panthers franchise record with the most goals by a player in a single postseason passing Verhaeghe who had 11 playoff goals last year.
The Oilers cut it to 3-2 at 3:17 of the second. Evan Bouchard pushed a pass from deep in his own defensive zone. Vasily Podkolzin dropped a pass inside the Panthers blue line. Viktor Arvidsson fired a slap shot from above the left circle for his second goal of the postseason.
Edmonton evened it up 3-3 at the 6:33 mark of the third period. Kapanen advanced puck from the right wing and Connor McDavid backhanded a pass from the end wall. Mattias Ekholm collected his first postseason tally with a snap shot from the inner left circle.
In overtime, the Panthers were called for a delay of game penalty when Tomas Nosek flipped the puck over the glass from his own defensive zone with 1:43 to go.
The Oilers won the game 4-3 on a power-play goal with 31 seconds left in overtime. Corey Perry backhanded a pass from the left wing. McDavid connected a pass from the left goal line and Draisaitl one-timed a forehand shot from the right inner circle for his second goal of the game.
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