Oilers beat Panthers 4-3 in OT in Game 1 of Stanley Cup rematch
Canada's last remaining NHL playoff team takes early lead in the series with home-ice advantage
The Edmonton Oilers won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final against the Florida Panthers Wednesday after Leon Draisaitl netted his second of the night with 31 seconds remaining in overtime on a setup from Connor McDavid.
Draisaitl also opened the scoring just over a minute into the game Wednesday at a raucous Rogers Place, as the Oilers kicked off the Cup rematch on home ice.
Sam Bennett evened things up for Florida midway through the first period, tipping a Carter Verhaeghe shot while bumping goalie Stuart Skinner on a play that Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch challenged for goaltender interference and lost, leading to a delay of game penalty.
Brad Marchand scored on the ensuing power play to give the visitors a lead at the 12:30 mark, shifting the momentum.
That sent the Oilers to the dressing room down a goal after 20 minutes, despite outshooting the Panthers 15-6.
There was no slowing down in the second frame, with Bennett adding his second goal of the night just two minutes into the period, widening the Panthers' lead to 3-1.
But the Oilers were quick to respond, with Viktor Arvidsson firing a slapshot through traffic and past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Panthers dominated the shot clock and Skinner made some clutch stops in a physical second period.
The Oilers came out strong in the third with Ekholm, who missed most of the playoffs due to injury, notching his first goal of the post-season six minutes in and ultimately sending the hard-hitting game to OT on a feed from McDavid.
Edmonton had 36 shots to the Panthers' 26 after three periods.
The Panthers came out aggressive in OT, peppering Skinner early on before the Oilers applied heavy pressure on the opposite end, with scoring chances including breakaways by winger Kasperi Kapanen and defenceman Evan Bouchard.
The tense period looked destined to end scoreless before Panthers winger Tomas Nosek flipped the puck over the boards, earning a delay of game penalty with less than two minutes on the clock.
Draisaitl's power-play one-timer, with assists to McDavid and Corey Perry, clinched a nail-biting first game for the Oilers.
Rematch hotly anticipated after 2024 final
Last season ended in heartbreak for the Oilers after they clawed their way back from a seemingly insurmountable three-game deficit against the Florida Panthers, only to drop the final in Miami.
But the Oilers are getting a second kick at the cup this year.
And unlike last year, Edmonton has home-ice advantage, with the puck drop at Rogers Place for the first two games, before the series shifts to Florida.
The Panthers are in the final for a third consecutive year, having lost to Las Vegas in 2023 before their franchise-first win in 2024.
The speedy team has dominated in the post-season since head coach Paul Maurice took over and winger Matthew Tkachuk arrived in a trade from Calgary. They've also now added the firepower of Seth Jones and Brad Marchand to the core led by Tkachuk and captain Aleksander Barkov.
Oilers superstars McDavid and Draisaitl are still at the top of their games, and now bring the experience of having played for the Cup. With Trent Frederic, John Klingberg and Jake Walman, this year's team is bigger and more seasoned.
The fact that this year's Stanley Cup final is a rematch — only the fifth since the league expanded in 1968 — has added to the heated competition between the tightly matched clubs.
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With files from The Associated Press