Flip A Coin When It Comes to Panthers and Oilers in Cup Final

FORT LAUDERDALE — Aside from a Florida blowout in Game 3, the Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and Oilers has been a rollercoaster ride of emotion with the outcome of the series, and history, hanging in the balance. 

Three of the first four games between the Panthers and Oilers have gone to overtime, the first time in 12 years that a Cup Final series has had that many games go to extras.

Two of the games have been sent to overtime with goals in the final 20 seconds. 

That has never happened before in the long history of the Stanley Cup Final. 

What is it like to be in the middle of all of that stress?

“You’re as wired as probably every fan is, right?” Paul Maurice said before the Panthers flew back to Edmonton for Game 5 of the Cup Final.

“I think it’s actually easier for the players. They get to go out and burn it off on the ice.”

Added Gus Forsling: “It’s so fun. You try and enjoy it as much as you can and stay focused, but there’s nothing better than overtime. It’s very exciting. Yeah, we like it. Your heart rate goes up and down, and you think it’s over and then it’s not. It’s a lot of fun for playoffs and I think for the fans, too.”

Thursday night, these two were at it again. 

Down 4-3 in the final minute, Florida sent all it had toward Calvin Pickard and the Oilers with the Panthers forcing OT on a goal from Sam Reinhart with 19.5 seconds left. 

Both teams had fantastic scoring chances in the overtime, with one unbelievable sequence coming when Sergei Bobrovsky was down on the ice without his stick, the loose puck hit the skate of Trent Frederic and headed right to the empty net.

Only the puck hit the cage and scooted out to safety.

Later in OT, Sam Bennett rifled a shot that Pickard got a piece of with his glove, only the puck flew past him. It hit the crossbar, and play continued. 

That allowed Leon Draisaitl to win in when he charged in and sent what looked like a one-armed desperation pass toward Corey Perry who was crashing the net.

Instead, the puck clipped Niko Mikkola and went past Bobrovsky. 

All of a sudden, this Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and Oilers is a best-of-3. 

Edmonton, meanwhile, became the first road team in 106 years to rally from a three-goal deficit and win a Stanley Cup Final game.

“There are two good teams playing against each other, and both teams are playing with their strengths,’’ Sasha Barkov said.

“We’ve had good moments. They’ve had good moments. All we’ve got to do is learn from, for example, [Game 4]. We’ve got to learn from that game a lot and take the good things to the game tomorrow and learn from the things that we can do a little better.”

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 5

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ EDMONTON OILERS

Best-of-7 Series Tied 2-2

• When: Saturday, 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: Florida 5, @Edmonton 4 (2OT); Game 3: @Florida 6, Edmonton 1; Game 4: Edmonton 5, @Florida 4 (OT); Game 5: @Edmonton Saturday; Game 6: @Florida Tuesday; Game 7*: @Edmonton, Friday June 20.
• 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
• Regular Season: Panthers won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties