Stanley Cup Final live updates: Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers, Game 1
We’re finally here.
The Florida Panthers.
The Edmonton Oilers.
The Stanley Cup Final.
Florida four wins away from a repeat against the same team it beat to win its first championship.
Edmonton four wins away from its first title since 1990 — and the first overall for superstar Connor McDavid.
Let’s get this thing going... again.
Puck drop for Game 1 from Edmonton’s Rogers Place is at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on TNT and truTV and is available via stream on Max.
Follow along throughout the game for live updates, news, analysis and commentary. I’ll be reporting live from Edmonton, while Herald sports intern Kaitlyn Pohly is in Sunrise at the Panthers’ watch party at Amerant Bank Arena.
Draisaitl scores in overtime, Edmonton wins Game 1, 4-3
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, who scored just 1:06 into the game, scored a power play goal 19:29 into overtime to give the Oilers a 4-3 win in Game 1.
READ MORE: Draisaitl scores in overtime as Oilers beats Panthers in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final
Just after Oilers defensman Evan Bouchard blew past Gustav Forsling and got turned away by Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky on a solo rush that recalled Edmonton assistant coach Paul Coffey in his swift 1980s Oilers days, the Panthers Tomas Nosek flipped the puck over the glass while still in the defensive zone.
That’s a delay of game penalty.
On the power play, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Corey Perry threw the puck down the left boards to Corey Perry, who quickly turned it to McDavid. The two passes put the Panthers aggressive penalty killers out of position, and McDavid fed Draisaitl as the latter steamed thorugh the right circle. Draisaitl’s one-timer ended the game and gave him three overtime goals this playoff season, tying an NHL record.
Overtime
The Panthers had two shots in the entire third period. They had four in the first minute of overtime.
Though the Panthers led 2-1 after the first and 3-2 after the second, Edmonton had the better of the play in the first and third period, the Panthers in the second when there’s a “long line change” — the bench closer to the offensive zone — as there is in the first overtime. The game winner could come off a poor line change or from a group worn out in their defensive zone.
Indeed, after a poor line change dump-in by the Panthers’ Sam Bennett, Edmonton’s Kaspari Kapanen got stopped with a left pad save on a counter assault. Kapanen is the son of Sami Kapanen, who played for Panthers coach Paul Maurice when Maurice coached Carolina in the 2002 Cup Final.
Stanley Cup Final overtime? Both franchises know about that
The Panthers and Edmonton went seven games last year without going to sudden death overtime. They took only one game this year to add to each franchise’s Stanley Cup Final sudden death overtime history.
Two years ago, the Panthers got their first Cup Final win in franchise history when Carter Verhaeghe struck 4:27 into overtime against the Vegas Golden Knights. Alas, it would be the Panthers only win of the series, which ended in five games.
Then, there are the marathons.
The Panthers’ first trip to the Stanley Cup Final ended at 1:06 a.m. on June 10, 1996, when Colorado’s Uwe Krupp blasted a point shot by Panthers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck 4:31 into the third overtime period at Miami Arena. That completed the series sweep for Colorado.
Six years earlier, in the Boston Garden, Edmonton and the Bruins went into the third overtime of Game 1 after Boston defenseman Glen Wesley blew a backhander at a wide open net in the second overtime. Petr Kilma had been stapled to the Oilers bench but scored on his second overtime shift, 15:13 into the third overtime, ending the longest Stanley Cup Final game ever.
Edmonton went on to win the last of its five Stanley Cups in five games.
To overtime we go
3-3 after 60 minutes.
Let’s do overtime, shall we?
Tie game
The Oilers tied the game 6:33 into the third period on a Mattias Ekholm shot from the left circle. The Panthers had numbers back, but when McDavid started to circle the net, Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe dropped down to the front of the net. McDavid saw Ekholm in the left circle and served up a lovely pass from the right post.
3-3.
Gonna be a wild finish here in Edmonton.
Panthers owning offensive zone face-offs, up 3-2 after two
Official NHL stats have the Panthers winning 10 of 15 face-offs in the Edmonton zone over the first two periods. While they haven’t scored directly off the draws despite executing some nice plays for shots from the circle, the Panthers got their best sustained offensive zone pressure off the face-off wins and had a 17-7 shot advantage in the second period.
Hard for the Oilers to score at the other end when they’re busy trying to get the puck out of their own end.
The Panthers had a 3-2 lead and a 24-22 shot advantage after two periods. They’d also won 59% of all face-offs.
Gadjovich returns
Jonah Gadjovich returned from the dressing room during the final TV timeout of the second period.
Watch party update
Things seem to be pretty lively at Amerant Bank Arena for the Panthers’ Game 1 watch party.
Kaitlyn Pohly has a full dispatch here.
Gadjovich not on bench
Panthers fourth-line winger Jonah Gadjovich has been missing from the Florida bench for a good chunk of the second period. His last shift ended 2:20 into the second period.
Panthers, Oilers each strike early in second period
Florida and Edmonton each scored a goal in the second period.
Sam Bennett pushed Florida’s lead to 3-1 two minutes into the middle frame after scoring on a pass from Nate Schmidt.
But the Oilers quickly responded when Viktor Arvidsson beat Sergei Bobrovsky after receiving a drop pass from Vasily Podkolzin to cut the Panthers’ lead to 3-2 3:17 into the frame.
Panthers lead after one
Despite being outshot 15-7, the Panthers have a 2-1 lead over the Oilers after one period.
Sergei Bobrovsky was stellar down the stretch after giving up the early goal, stopping 4 of 5 high-danger shots on goal he faced.
Panthers set an NHL record for playoff road scoring
The first period goals by Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand gave the Panthers 50 road goals in this year’s playoffs, breaking the NHL record of 49 set by the Los Angeles Kings in 1993. That team, led by Wayne Gretzky, won the first game of the Stanley Cup Final in Montreal, then lost three consecutive overtime games before dropping Game 5 back in Montreal.
That was the last Stanley Cup won by a Canadian-based team.
The next three teams on the list — 2013-14 Los Angeles, 2017-18 Washington, 1989-90 Edmonton — won the Stanley Cup.
Marchand gives the Panthers the lead
Aaaaannd now it’s 2-1 Panthers over the Oilers
Brad Marchand on the power play.
7:30 left in the first
Tie game
Sam Bennett tied the game with 9:11 left in the first.
Edmonton challenged for goaltender interference, but the goal stood after refs determined that Bennett was pushed into Stuart Skinner in the crease by an Edmonton skater.
1-1.
That’s Bennett’s 11th goal of the postseason, tying the Panthers’ record for most in a single playoffs. Matthew Tkachuk set the mark in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs and Carter Verhaeghe matched it in 2024.
Edmonton opens scoring early
It didn’t take long for Edmonton to open scoring, with Leon Draisaitl scoring on a rebound 1:06 into the game. That’s Draisaitl’s eighth goal of the playoffs.
1-0 Oilers, with 18:54 left in the first period.
Draisaitl’s goal 66 seconds in was the seventh fastest goal scored in Game 1 in Stanley Cup Final history. It was the fastest since Philadelphia’s Reggie Leach scored 21 seconds into Game 1 of the 1976 Cup Final.
Philadelphia went on to get swept by Montreal.
TNT crew makes their picks
As the lights behind them dropped to darkness and the anticipatory roar rose with the Edmonton fans’ longing fo the Oilers first Cup since 1990, the TNT analyst crew made their series predictions: two for the Panthers, two went Edmonton and Wayne Gretzky remained as slippery on the desk as he was on the ice.
Former Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist liked Edmonton in six: “I love how they’ve approached the playoffs so far. they’re on a mission and it starts with No. 97.”
Former NHL player Anson Carter, who played almost three seasons in Edmonton, said he wants to see Connor McDavid get his first title, but picked the Panthers. “They’re a team that’s even better than last year and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky will be the difference.”
Liam McHugh said ““I don’t feel comfortable with any picks,” but agreed with Carter: Florida.
Paul Bissonnette, a big Toronto fan before and after his NHL career (the guy who suggested Florida’s lack of state income tax boosted the Panthers and Tampa Bay) said, “I have enough hate coming in from Florida” and chose Edmonton.
Gretzky, who spent one World Hockey Association season and eight record-destroying NHL seasons in Edmonton, compared the teams to 1989 Triple Crown combatants Sunday Silence and Easy Goer. Then, he didn’t make a pick, but said, “My brother’s an assistant GM for Edmonton (Keith Gretzky), so you know who I’m pulling for to get his name on the Cup.”
Excited crowd in Sunrise
As each player from the starting lineup appears on the jumbo-tron above the rink at Amerant Bank Arena, the crowd erupts in cheers. The screams are deafening for goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The crowd’s boo echoes as Connor McDavid’s face flashes on the massive screen.
Connor Brown returns for Oilers
Based on Edmonton’s warmups, forward Connor Brown appears to be back. Here’s how they looked...
Forward lines
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Corey Perry
Evander Kane-Leon Draisaitl-Kasperi Kapanen
Trent Frederic-Adam Henrique-Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin-Mattias Janmark-Viktor Arvidsson
Defense pairs
Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse-Brett Kulak
Jake Walman-John Klingberg
Goaltenders
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Panthers in warmups
Florida’s lineup looked as follows during warmups...
Forward lines
Evan Rodrigues-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Brad Marchand
Jesper Boqvist-Tomas Nosek-Jona Gadjovich
Defense pairs
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt-Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Early watch party scene
Two hours before puck drop, tents are up and fans are already tailgating in the parking lot of Amerant Bank Arena for the Panthers’ watch party. Even with the opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals happening over 2,500 miles away, the fans in South Florida appear to be ready.
Series schedule
▪ Game 1: Tonight
▪ Game 2: Friday, June 6, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Edmonton’s Rogers Place
▪ Game 3: Monday, June 9, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 4: Thursday, June 12, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 5 (if necessary): Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Edmonton’s Rogers Place
▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Tuesday, June 17, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Friday, June 20, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Edmonton’s Rogers Place
Pregame reading
Need to catch up ahead of Game 1? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past few days.
▪ The Panthers’ driving force to win another Stanley Cup: The newcomers who haven’t won yet
▪ One Panthers regular out for Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final. How the lineup should look
▪ No state tax is why the Florida Panthers are succeeding? Not exactly, Bill Zito says
▪ ‘I bleed for the Florida Panthers,’ Aaron Ekblad says, but free agency looms after Cup Final
▪ How do the Panthers beat the Oilers to repeat as champions? Here are the keys
▪ With a chance at second Stanley Cup, Matthew Tkachuk’s rise to stardom with Panthers continues
▪ Trash talk, shooting rats, eating DQ: How Panthers are dealing with playoff pressure
▪ Why Paul Maurice says the Florida Panthers are ‘the best team I’ve ever coached’
▪ The team with the player of the generation won the last two Stanley Cup rematches
This story was originally published June 4, 2025 at 6:30 PM.
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