Anton Lundell’s three points leads Panthers past Oilers in Stanley Cup Final rematch
It wasn’t necessarily Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, but the first matchup between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena since Florida hoisted the Cup eight months ago had its share of intense moments.
It also had a familiar sight from that Game 7 by game’s end: Florida winning.
Anton Lundell had three points and Nate Schmidt scored the go-ahead goal with 8:52 left in regulation as the Panthers beat the Oilers 4-3 on Thursday night. Carter Verhaeghe scored the eventual game-winning goal with 6:09 left to play after having a power-play goal in the first period overturned after Edmonton successfully challenged that the play was offside.
Florida improves to 36-21-3. Edmonton falls to 34-21-4.
“The last time they were here, we played in the Finals and we had such good games against them,” Lundell said. “Obviously it brings all the memories back, and I feel like it’s one of those teams that it’s pretty easy to get ready for the game.”
But while the Panthers won, coach Paul Maurice wasn’t particularly pleased with how the team played for most of the night.
“We put a lot of pucks in feet, I thought we looped away from a bunch of pucks, and that’s not the way we play,” Maurice said. “I thought we chose not to be as physical as I think we could have been in that game. ... We’ve played games this year we’ve lost that I’ve been really happy with our game; I didn’t love our game.”
But they did enough right at the right time to pull out the win.
Schmidt’s go-ahead goal came on a perfectly executed sequence that started with Lundell entering the offensive zone toward the tail end of his shift, spinning away from a pair of defenders and passing the puck to A.J. Greer. Greer then sent a drop pass to Schmidt, who fired a wrist shot from just outside the left circle that got past Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner.
Lundell also had the primary assist on Florida’s opening goal — a wrist shot from Uvis Balinskis 12:28 into the first period — and scored a goal with 4:30 left in the second period.
It was Lundell’s first three-point game of the season and gives him 40 points for the season — 14 goals and 26 assists. The 26 assists ties his single-season career-high set during his rookie season in 2021-22. His 40 points are four points shy of his career-high.
“When he wants to be a man that like, when he has his body and his position, he can really take over and dominate a game,” Schmidt said. “That’s something that as a young player, he’s only learning to get better and better at, and that’s something that is going to be fun to watch his progression as a young kid, growing into a man in this league and understanding what he can do on a daily basis.”
Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves.
Brett Kulak and Leon Draisaitl scored game-tying goals for the Oilers in the first and second periods before Florida scored two goals in the third to take the lead for good.
Zach Hyman got the Oilers back within a goal with 3:25 left but Florida held on from there to seal the win.
“We grinded it out,” Verhaeghe said, “but we got the win. That’s what’s most important.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 9:50 PM.
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