Well, here we are again. For the second straight year, the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers meet for a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Last June, both the Panthers and Oilers gave hockey fans around the world a treat in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. In a wild battle, Florida took the first three games of the best-of-seven series.
They were on the verge of sweeping the set until Edmonton came roaring back. The Oilers won the next three contests to force a do-or-die Game 7 in Sunrise. In Game 7, the two teams played a close game, and in the third period, Sam Reinhart broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Cats a 2-1 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
The meeting had overtime written all over it, but at the final buzzer, players jumped off the Florida bench. The crowd inside Amerant Bank Arena was as loud as it's ever been, and the Panthers claimed the first Stanley Cup title in the franchise's arduous history. Now, the Oilers will look to be on the other side of the handshake line after this year's Final.
Florida eliminated Tampa Bay in the first round after five games. Then, in the second round, the Panthers took down the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 inside Scotiabank Arena. For the Eastern Conference Final, the Cats had an easier time dispatching the Carolina Hurricanes. Three of their four wins in that series were decisive. This is the third straight year the Panthers are in the Stanley Cup Final.
On the other hand, the Edmonton Oilers have completed their 'revenge tour' in a sense by making it back to the Final for the second consecutive year. In their playoff voyage, Edmonton once again defeated the Los Angeles Kings, this time in six games. They were down 0-2 in the series before winning four straight. The Oilers took down the Kings for the fourth straight postseason.
In the second round, they defeated the Pacific Division champion Vegas Golden Knights in five games. Edmonton stole the first two on the road and won Games 4 and 5 after dropping a heartbreaker in Game 3. Games 2 and 5 were overtime winners for the Oilers. In the Western Conference Final, they took down the Dallas Stars in five games as well.
Now, the stage is set. This time around, it'll be the Oilers that will have the home-ice advantage for the entirety of the series. The world is eagerly anticipating who will be getting that Stanley Cup ring. Can the Panthers go back-to-back, or will the Oilers win the franchise's first Cup since 1990? Only time will tell.
How To Watch Stanley Cup Final, Game 1
Date: Wednesday, June 4 Time: 8:00 PM ET Venue: Rogers Place TV: TNT, Tru TV, MAX
Panthers vs. Oilers Odds, Spreads, and Total
Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
Puck Line
Florida +1.5 (-218), Edmonton -1.5 (+180)
Total
6.5 (over +105/ under -125)
Moneyline
Florida +110, Edmonton -130
Florida Panthers Injury Report:
A.J. Greer, LW: Day-To-Day (Lower Body)
Edmonton Oilers Injury Report:
Connor Brown, RW: Day-To-Day (Illness); Zach Hyman, LW: Out (Upper Body); Alec Regula, D: IR-NR (Knee)
Florida Panthers Projected Lines:
- 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 Vanacek
Edmonton Oilers Projected Lines:
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins- Connor McDavid- Corey Perry
- Evander Kane- Leon Draisaitl- Kasperi Kapanen
- Trent Frederic- Adam Henrique- Jeff Skinner
- Vasily Podkolzin- Matthias Janmark- Viktor Arvidsson
- Mattias Ekholm- Evan Bouchard
- Darnell Nurse- Brett Kulak
- Jake Walman- John Klingberg
- Stuart Skinner
- Calvin Pickard
Panthers Keys To The Game
The reigning Selke Trophy winner will have his hands full once again. Playing on Florida's top line means one thing: he'll be face-to-face with Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid. While Matthew Tkachuk might be the one chirping with the best player in the league, it will be the responsibility of the longest tenured Panthers player to shut down McDavid.
Well, shut down almost sounds impossible when speaking of the guy wearing 97 in Edmonton blue. However, if there is one guy who can come close to doing so, it'll be the Finnish native wearing 16 in Florida white. While completely stopping him seems like a fantasy, that's not what's expected of Barkov.
All he needs to do is slow him down. If he's going to score a goal or assist on one, make him work for it. Make him grind. The more he has to work for everything, the more he'll get worn down as the series progresses. This will be the most physical team that Edmonton faces in these playoffs. Barkov is bigger and stronger than most of the players he faces on the opposite side. He needs to be at his best defensively. Speaking of being physical...
The Oilers are a physical team themselves. It's not easy to notice when McDavid and Leon Draisaitl grab all the headlines with their graceful play. However, if you look down the Edmonton lineup, you'll start to see some names that can bring the heat as well. Evander Kane, Corey Perry, Trent Frederic, Vasily Podkolzin, and Darnell Nurse are the main players who bring the physical play to the roster.
Florida has more than enough to match that. Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Eetu Luostarinen, Brad Marchand, Jonah Gadjovich, Niko Mikkola, and Dmitry Kulikov are known for the toughness that they bring. That and then some has to be there for the Panthers to have a chance, not just in this game but in the series. Anytime they give a shove or a stick, Florida has to give it back.
The players must not hesitate or be afraid to enforce their will throughout the series. The Cats have to bring their feistiness with them into Game 1. This should not be a problem for them, considering how this team has a bunch of 'dawgs' that play as if they are trying to escape from something. These guys are always on edge and always have each other's backs. However, this is important to emphasize.
It's time to discuss the dreaded issue once again. Despite how great this team is, the Florida Panthers have two major flaws in their game. The first is showing up flat and lifeless at times. The second is staying out of the penalty box. If you watch this team on a nightly basis, you'll know exactly what we're talking about. Sometimes this team takes stupid penalties at the worst times, and it's happened this spring.
Does anybody remember the delay-of-game penalty taken by Gustav Forsling in the second period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final? Carolina scored on that power-play. How about Sam Bennett taking a bad slashing minor late in Game 5? That gave the Hurricanes a chance to tie it late, which thankfully didn't happen for the Panthers.
They can't afford to take bad and dumb penalties against this red-hot Edmonton power-play unit. Through 16 postseason games, the Oilers have converted on 40% of their power-play opportunities. That ranks fourth among all the teams that saw action in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. There are offensive weapons everywhere for the Oilers. Forget McDavid's slick playmaking ability.
Forget Leon Draisaitl's outrageous scoring touch. They also have Evan Bouchard at the point. Corey Perry has proven to be a solid contributor on the man advantage. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins can put the puck in the back of the net as well. I also didn't mention other names like Evander Kane. Just don't take penalties if you're the Panthers. The Oilers will make them pay if they do so.
Notes:
- Teams that win Game 1 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final hold an all-time series record of 65-20 (.765), including a 52-10 (.839) mark when starting at home and a 13-10 (.565) clip when starting on the road.
- The winner of Game 1 has gone on to capture the Stanley Cup in each of the last four Finals (2024 FLA, 2023 VGK, 2022 COL, and 2021 TBL) after a streak of three straight years where the eventual champions rallied from a 1-0 series deficit (2020 TBL, 2019 STL, and 2018 WSH).
- Reigning Stanley Cup champions hold an all-time series record of 24-11 (.686) in a best-of-seven Final. Teams that lost in the Final during the previous season are 8-12 (.400).
- This is just the second Stanley Cup Final rematch in the past 40 years and the 11th in NHL history, a list that includes one instance of the same teams meeting in three straight championship series.
- In the previous Stanley Cup Final rematches, the reigning champions are 7-4 (including Detroit winning and losing during the three years from 1954 to 1956). However, the runner-up has won each of the two rematches since the 16-team playoff format was introduced.
- The Panthers return to the Stanley Cup Final with 14 players from their 2024 Stanley Cup-winning roster(Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Sergei Bobrovsky, Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Jonah Gadjovich, Dmitry Kulikov, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola, Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Matthew Tkachuk, and Carter Verhaeghe).
- Brad Marchand(7-5—12 in 20 GP) and Corey Perry(8-7—15 in 28 GP) each rank among the top five for Stanley Cup Final goals among active players. The only others with as many are Ondrej Palat(8-7—15 in 23 GP), Evgeni Malkin(8-10—18 in 25 GP), and Patrick Kane(7-9—16 in 18 GP).
- Sergei Bobrovsky(5-7) has the fifth-most Stanley Cup Final wins among active goaltenders. The only others with more are Andrei Vasilevskiy(11-8), Jonathan Quick(8-3), Matt Murray(8-4), and Marc-Andre Fleury(7-11).