An OT Thriller: Oilers Rally, Beat Panthers in Game 1 of Cup Final

The Edmonton Oilers broke through a usually stingy Florida Panthers defense on Wednesday night for a comeback victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Panthers led by a pair of goals in the second and went into the third with a lead.

OnlyLeon Draisaitl scored his second of the night with 31 seconds left in overtime to give the Oilers a 4-3 win and a 1-0 series lead.

Last year’s Stanley Cup Final — won by the Panthers in 7 games — did not have a single game go to overtime.

Florida led 3-2 going into the third but Mattias Ekholm tied the score with 13:27 remaining. The Oilers outshot the Panthers 14-2 in the period.

The Panthers had been 31-0 in playoff games under Paul Maurice when they had a lead after the first or second period.

They are now 31-1.

Sam Bennett scored twice for the Panthers, with Brad Marchand getting the other goal.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 42 saves after Florida was outshot 24-6 from the third period on.

Draisaitl, held without a goal in last year’s Final between these two, scored off a rebound at 1:06 of the first to give the Oilers the initial lead.

In overtime, the Panthers were on the penalty kill after Tomas Nosek put the puck into the stands on a clear attempt with 1:33 left allowing Draisaitl to open and close the scoring.

After being outplayed to start, the Panthers settled down and tied the score on Bennett’s first when Carter Verhaeghe’s slot shot clipped him on his way down onto the ice.

Edmonton challenged that Bennett interfered with goalie Stuart Skinner — only replay showed that Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak tripped him into the goalie.

Brad Marchand scored on the ensuing power play to make it 2-1.

Bennett got his second off another slick pass from Nate Schmidt 2 minutes into the second before the Oilers closed within a goal again.

Skinner ended with 30 saves including six in overtime.

The Panthers iced the puck seven times in overtime.

CUP FINAL GAME 1: PANTHERS at OILERS

• With 12 goals this postseason, Bennett set the franchise record for most in one playoff year. Matthew Tkachuk had 11 in 2023, Verhaeghe last year.
• Bennett has scored 11 of them away from Sunrise — tied for the most road goals in one NHL playoff since Mark Scheifele did it for Paul Maurice in 2018.
• Wednesday was Florida’s first overtime game in the Final since Game 3 of 2023 against Vegas. Edmonton’s last OT game in the Final came in Game 5 in 2006 against the Hurricanes.
• Marchand has eight goals in Stanley Cup Final games, tied for the most among active players — including Edmonton’s Corey Perry.
• With 50 road goals this postseason, the Panthers passed Wayne Gretzky’s 1993 Los Angeles Kings for most in a single playoff.
• The Panthers were 1-2 in Finals games at Edmonton last year; the Oilers were 1-3 in Sunrise.
• Draisaitl, held without a goal in last year’s Final, scored 66 seconds in — the fastest opening goal of a Final in nearly 50 years and the sixth-fastest all time.

SCORING: PANTHERS / OILERS

• Edmonton 1, Florida 0 (1:06 1st): Sergei Bobrovsky stops two shots, but Leon Draisaitl hops on the second rebound and puts it home.
• Florida 1, Edmonton 1 (10:49 1st): Sam Bennett gets a piece of a shot from Carter Verhagehe as he falls to the ice and into goalie Stuart Skinner. Edmonton challenges, but Brett Kulak tripped him giving the Panthers a goal — and a second power play chance.
• Florida 2. Edmonton 1 (12:30 1st PP): Nate Schmidt sends a pass across the offensive zone to a waiting Brad Marchand at the bottom of the right circle and he one-times it over Skinner’s glove.
• Florida 3, Edmonton 1 (2:00 2nd): Carter Verhaeghe gets the Panthers on the rush with a nice pass to Schmidt from the defensive zone. Schmidt rolls up the ice with speed and comes up with another slick pass to Bennett — who goes backhand/forehand and beats Skinner.
• Florida 3, Edmonton 2 (3:17 2nd): Viktor Arvidsson lets one fly from the top of the left circle and gets under the glove of Bobrovsky.
• Edmonton 3, Florida 3 (6:33 3rd): Mattias Ekholm one-times a shot through traffic from the left circle to tie things up.
• Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (19:25 OT PP): Draisaitl scores from the left side of the cage to end it.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF GAME 1

• 1. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton
• 2. Sam Bennett, Florida
• 3. Stuart Skinner, Edmonton

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 2

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ EDMONTON OILERS

Edmonton Leads Best-of-7 Series 1-0

• When: Friday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton
• National TV: TNT/truTV 
• National Streaming: Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys), SiriusXM
• Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
• Series Schedule (all games at 8 p.m., TNT) — Game 1: @Edmonton 4, Florida 3 OT; Game 2: @Edmonton Friday; Game 3: @Florida Monday; Game 4: @Florida, Thursday June 12; Game 5*: @Edmonton, Saturday June 14; Game 6*: @Florida, Tuesday June 17; Game 7*: @Edmonton, Friday June 20.
• Regular Season (Panthers won 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 4, Oilers 3 (Feb. 27). At Edmonton: Panthers 6, Oilers 5 (Dec. 16).
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5), Dallas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties