6/4/2025
EDMONTON, ALBERTA
Leon Draisaitl scored with 31 seconds left in overtime to hand the Edmonton Oilers an exciting 4-3 OT win over the Florida Panthers in game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Edmonton rallied from a 3-1 deficit to complete the comeback. The Oilers captured their first Stanley Cup Final Game 1 win since they won a triple overtime thriller against the Boston Bruins in 1990, incidentally the last time the Oilers won the Stanley Cup.
Leon Draisaitl tallied a pair for Edmonton with Viktor Arvidsson, and Mattias Ekholm also scoring for the Oilers. Sam Bennett on two occasions and Brad Marchand, lit the lamp for the Panthers.
The series is the first rematch of a Stanley Cup Final since 2009 when Pittsburgh exacted revenge on the Detroit Red Wings. The Panthers took a 3-0 series lead on the Oilers last season before Edmonton forced a Game 7. Florida eventually won the series claiming Game 7 by a score of 2-1. This year the series begins in Edmonton, where the Oilers seek to win their first Stanley Cup since 1990 and Canada’s first Cup since 1993.
Florida made their way to the final by ousting the Tampa Bay Lightning in round 1 in five games. Down 2-0 in their second round series trailing game 3 3-1, Florida won games 5 and 7 by a combined score of 12-2. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Panthers took a commanding 3-0 lead against the Carolina Hurricanes before wrapping the series up in five games.
Edmonton had to rally down 2-0 in the opening round against the Los Angeles Kings. Edmonton went on to win four straight with Calvin Pickard in net to defeat the LA. The second round against Vegas had Edmonton go through a goaltender switch after the injury to Pickard opening the door for Stuart Skinner to head between the pipes. Kasperi Kapanen scored the overtime winner in game 5 to take the series for the Oilers. In the conference finals, Edmonton responded winning four straight to win the Western Conference final.
As no surprise, Sergei Bobrovsky started in goal for Florida while Stuart Skinner started between the pipes for Edmonton. It only took 66 seconds for Leon Draisaitl to bury a rebound from a Kasperi Kapanen shot. Edmonton captured the early momentum. Florida countered on a goal from Sam Bennett at 10:49. Edmonton challenged the goal for goalie interference, a challenge the Oilers lost. On the ensuing power play, Brad Marchand finished a Nate Schmidt pass to give the Panthers the lead at 12:30. The Panthers led 2-1 after one period. Edmonton outshot Florida 15-5, but trailed on the scoreboard where it counts.
The second period began with Florida extending their lead. Nate Schmidt found Sam Bennett breaking towards Stuart Skinner to put the Cats up by two at 2:00. Moments later, Viktor Arvidsson sniped a howitzer by Bobrovsky at 3:17 to put the Oilers down by one again. Although the Panthers outshot the Oilers 19-7, the lead remained at one for the Cats.
Mattias Ekholm suffered an undisclosed injury late in the regular season. Kasperi Kapanen set up the Oilers d-man at 6:33 of the third, on a wrist shot from the right slot. It was the Oilers defenseman’s first goal since March 18. Ekholm’s tally was the lone goal of the third. Florida only put two shots on Skinner. The Stanley Cup Final’s first duel deadlocked at three, needed overtime to decide a winner. The victor in Game 1 historically has won the series 76% of the time, adding further importance to the next goal.
Florida controlled the tempo early in overtime, outshooting Edmonton 5-0 to start sudden death. Late in overtime, Thomas Nosek took a penalty for delay of game for flipping the puck over the glass. On the power play, Connor McDavid found Leon Draisaitl alone in the right slot. The presumptive MVP of the league sniped the overtime winner by Bobrovsky to hand the Edmonton Oilers the win at 19:29.
For Draisaitl, he had gone into this year’s playoffs having never scored an overtime winner. Wednesday night’s game winner marks his third overtime goal of the playoffs tying a postseason record.
Oiler captain Connor McDavid, who assisted on the overtime goal, emphasized experience to why the Oilers stayed disciplined. “We just hung in there…I think that is experience, just knowing that we’ve got to open it up. We need to hold them at three and find a way to get one, and fortunately we did.”
Florida head coach Paul Maurice reflected back to when Florida trailed 2-0 to Toronto during postgame media availability.
Game 2 is scheduled for 5 p.m. on TNT on Friday.
Stay tuned to ESN for continued updates on the Stanley Cup Final.
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