The Florida Panthers are going to have to come back if they want to win their second straight Stanley Cup.
Florida blew a 3-1 second period lead in Game 1 against the Edmonton Oilers, falling in overtime 4-3.
It was just 66 seconds into the game that Edmonton sent their already rabid fans into a frenzy.
Leon Draisaitl jumped on a rebound of a Kasperi Kapinen shot and fired the puck into a yawning cage, giving the Oilers an early 1-0 lead.
Midway through the period, Carter Verhaeghe picked up a loose puck toward the top of the Edmonton zone and fired a shot that deflected off Sam Bennett in front and past Stuart Skinner to tie the game at one.
The Oilers challenged the play for goalie interference, but officials ruled that Bennett, who appears to make contact with Skinner after falling to the ice, was tripped into the goaltender by defenseman Brett Kulak.
Officials confirmed the play was legal, and Florida was given a power play for the failed challenge by Edmonton.
The Cats took advantage of the man advantage as Nate Schmidt sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Brad Marchand at the side of the net. His shot sailed past a sprawling Skinner to give Florida their first lead of the series.
It didn’t take long during the second period for the Panthers to extend their lead.
Streaking through the neutral zone, Schmidt sent Bennett in along on Skinner, beating him over the blocker to put the Panthers up 3-1.
Edmonton responded quickly though, as Viktor Arvidsson fired a slapshot past a screened Sergei Bobrovsky just 1:17 later to close the gap back to one and get the fans energized again.
The Oilers tied the game 6:33 into the third period after Florida had been finding success keeping Edmonton from generating much of anything offensively.
From behind the net, McDavid found Mattias Ekholm creeping down from the point, and his shot went over a screened Bobrovsky’s glove to knot the game at three.
That’s how the score would remain through the rest of the third period, sending Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final to overtime.
Bobrovsky came up with big saves during overtime on Kasperi Kapanen, Trent Frederick and Evan Bouchard, but a power play goal by Draisaitl late in the OT session gave Edmonton the victory.
Tomas Nosek sent the puck over the glass with under two minutes to go, giving the Oilers’ power play a chance, and then Florida, which had gone a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, suddenly became extremely aggressive while down a man.
Alas, it’s just one game, and as we all leaned last season, you’ve got to win four before you win anything.
On to Game 2.
QUICK THOUGHTS
Bennett has six goals and nine points over his past six games.
Similarly, Matthew Tkachuk has eight points in six games. He picked up an assist on Bennett’s goal first.
Since returning from an injury for Game 7 against Toronto, Evan Rodrigues has nine points in the seven games since.
Draisaitl didn’t score a single goal during last season’s seven-game Final, but this year it barely took him a minute to light the lamp, and now he’s got two.
Schmidt logged his third multi-point outing of the playoffs with a pair of primary assists.
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Photo caption: Jun 4, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers right wing Vasily Podkolzin (92) reacts after a goal against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the second period in game one of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images)
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