The Panthers completed a five-game homestand. The Oilers were at the end of a seven-game road trip.
Edmonton(10-9-5) rapidly got out to a 1-0 lead just 25 seconds into the first period. Evan Bouchard zipped a pass from the right point. Jack Roslovic picked up his eighth goal with his new team on a wrist shot from the right wing past Sergei Bobrovsky.
Florida(11-9-1) evened it up 1-1 at the 6:30 mark. Mackie Samoskevich skated around the net from the right corner and made a wraparound pass from the left goal line. Anton Lundell steered the puck into the cage from the blue paint by Stuart Skinner for his sixth goal of the season. Seth Jones was credited with a secondary assist on the sequence.
The Oilers reclaimed the lead 2-1 at 7:16 of the period. Bouchard angled a pass from the high slot and Roslovic placed in a forehand shot from the low right circle for his second tally of the contest.
It became 3-1 for Edmonton with 6:02 remaining in the first. A Darnell Nurse slap shot from the top of the zone was blocked by his teammate Adam Henrique in the low slot. Mattias Ekholm put in a wrist shot from the slot area for his second goal this year. It was the first time this season that an opponents scored three goals against the Cats in the first period.
In the second period, the Oilers expanded their lead to 4-1 at the 6:45 mark. Bouchard sent a long bank pass from his own zone and Leon Draisaitl pushed the puck from the Panthers blue line. Vasily Podkolzin hustled down the left wing and scored his fourth goal in 2025-26 on an acute-angle shot from the left goal line. Bobrovsky was replaced in net by Florida backup goalie Daniil Tarasov after the goal.
The Panthers responded and cut it to 4-2 with 9:56 to go in the second. Sam Bennet cycled the puck from the right wing. Uvis Balinskis connected a diagonal pass from the right point and Samoskevich blasted a one-time slap shot from the left circle for his third goal of the campaign. Samoskevich matched a career high with two points in one game.
The Cats closed the gap to 4-3 on a power-play goal with 6:30 left in the period. Sam Reinhart carried the puck into the Oilers zone and passed to Lundell on the right wing. His shot was saved by Skinner, but Reinhart backhanded the puck into the cage for his 12th goal of the season. Brad Marchand had the secondary assist on the play.
Florida pulled their goalie for an extra skater with 2:50 to go in the third period. Connor McDavid got to the puck at the Oilers blue line. He outskated everyone down the ice and released a forehand shot from the inner left circle into an empty net with 2:40 remaining for his 10th goal this season.
The Oilers expanded it to 6-3 just 27 seconds later. Matt Savoie was able collect an empty-net goal with a wrist shot from above the right circle.
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