The Edmonton Oilers aim to take a two games to zero lead over the Florida Panthers on Friday night. Game One of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final saw the Oilers prevail in an overtime thriller. Consequently, the best the defending champion Panthers can do is salvage a split to take back to Sunrise.
What happened last game
The Oilers recovered from a 3-1 deficit to outplay the Panthers overall during the final 39:29 of the game. Scoring his second goal of the game, Leon Draisaitl’s power play tally lifted Edmonton to a 4-3 win in Game One.
Path to the Stanley Cup Final
Western Conference Quarterfinal: Edmonton defeated Los Angeles, four games to two
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal: Florida defeated Tampa Bay, four games to one
Western Conference Seminal: Edmonton defeated Vegas, four games to one
Eastern Conference Semifinal: Florida defeated Toronto, four games to three
Western Conference Final: Edmonton defeated Dallas, four games to one
Eastern Conference Final: Florida defeated Carolina, four games to one
Stanley Cup Final schedule
Game 1 at Edmonton (June 4, 2025): Oilers 4 – Panthers 3 (OT) summary
Game 2 at Edmonton (June 6, 2025)
Game 3 at Sunrise (June 9, 2025)
Game 4 at Sunrise (June 12, 2025)
Game 5 at Edmonton (June 14, 2025) – if necessary
Game 6 at Sunrise (June 17, 2025) – if necessary
Game 7 at Edmonton (June 20, 2025) – if necessary
Special teams playoff comparison
Power Play: Edmonton 13-for-44, 29.6 percent, Florida 14-for-58, 24.1 percent
Penalty Kill: Edmonton 37-for-49, 65.3 percent, Florida 54-for-62, 87.1 percent
Game Two projected lineup: Edmonton
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Corey Perry
Evander Kane – Leon Draisaitl – Kasperi Kapanen
Trent Frederic – Adam Henrique – Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin – Mattias Janmark – Viktor Arvidsson
Mattias Ekholm – Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse – Brett Kulak
Jake Walman – John Klingberg
Stuart Skinner
[Calvin Pickard]
Game Two projected lineup: Florida
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Jesper Boqvist – Tomas Nosek -Jonah Gadjovich
Gustav Forsling -Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt – Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
[Vitek Vanecek]
Three keys to victory
- Contain McDavid and Drasaitl: Easier said than done. Edmonton’s two superstars — and their team speed in general — proved to be major advantages in Game One. The Panthers need plays like Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov to match Sam Bennett’s gritty and highly effective Game One performance.
- Get to the greasy areas: The Panthers took a 2-1 lead to the first intermission of Game One. Florida was the better team in the second period before Edmonton dictated much of the rest. The disputed Bennett deflection goal was prime Panthers hockey. If Florida can maintain a similar approach, they could take Game Two.
- Discipline and special teams: The Panthers only had two power play in Game One, with Marchand scoring a goal. The Oilers (1-for-4 on the power play) canceled out any Florida advantage by staying out of the penalty box for the most part except for Corey Perry. The failed coach’s challenge on Bennett’s first goal proved costly but the team as a whole stayed disciplined. Edmonton’s PK problems aren’t going away. Avoiding the box remains a must for Kris Knoblauch’s team.
