Draisaitl scores in overtime as Oilers beat Panthers in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final
The Florida Panthers were in what should have been their comfort zone Wednesday. They had a lead after two periods. That usually means they’re about to lock things down defensively, impose their will on the opponent, slowly and methodically wear things down until the final horn sounds. They’ve done it so many times during these Stanley Cup playoffs to get to this point, to get to a rematch with the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Oilers had other plans.
Mattias Ekholm tied the game 6:33 into the final frame on just Edmonton’s second shot of the period before Leon Draisaitl scored the game-winner on the power play with 31 seconds left in overtime to lead the Oilers to a 4-3 win over the Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at Edmonton’s Rogers Place.
“They pushed,” veteran Panthers forward Brad Marchand said. “They obviously are a very good team, and doesn’t take much for them to score. So not surprising, the push they did. They’re a great team. We just gotta keep going.”
The Oilers got their power play when Florida center Tomas Nosek got called for a delay of game when he sent the puck over the glass with 1:43 left in overtime. The Panthers’ penalty kill had been great all game, going 3 for 3 in regulation, including killing off 1:36 of a four-on-three Edmonton advantage in the first period.
Florida held Edmonton at bay for the first minute of their man advantage before Connor McDavid sent a feed to Draisaitl just at the edge of the right circle. Draisaitl sent a one-timer past Sergei Bobrovsky to end it.
“You can’t put a number on it,” McDavid said of Draisaitl. “He’s invaluable, clutch.”
It’s the first time the Panthers have lost a postseason game over the past three years when they led after either the first or second period (they were up 2-1 after the first and 3-2 after the second). They were 31-0 in those situations entering Wednesday.
So what went wrong for the Panthers late? Why did the third period unfold the way it did, with the Oilers being able to tie it up and dominate the frame overall with a 14-2 edge in shots on goal?
“We’ve been really good all year at not sitting back with the lead,” Panthers center Sam Bennett said, “and for whatever reason we sat back tonight.”
Added Panthers coach Paul Maurice: “These games are tight. I don’t think that you have domination of the third period in tight games. We were in pretty good shape at 3-1. I think we had some real good pressure. They get it back and then there were some plays we didn’t complete. Not really particularly worried about those. Just the ebbs and flows of the game.”
Florida’s loss came after the Panthers had dug themselves out of an early hole with three goals — two from Bennett, one from Marchand — in a span of 11:11 spanning the end of the first period and the start of the second.
The Panthers were down 1-0 early when Draisaitl scored on a rebound just 66 seconds into regulation — the seventh-fastest goal to begin a Stanley Cup Final in NHL history.
Then the comeback was on.
It started with Bennett deflecting a Carter Verhaeghe shot past Stuart Skinner while being tripped into Skinner by Edmonton’s Brett Kulak to tie the game at 1-1 with 9:11 left in the opening frame.
The Oilers challenged for goaltender interference but the goal stood because Kulak initiated the contact with Bennett that led to Bennett falling into Skinner.
Florida scored on the ensuing power play from the failed Edmonton challenge, with Marchand sending a wrist shot past Skinner to make it 2-1 Panthers with 7:30 left in the frame.
The first-period goals by Bennett and 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.
Bennett then pushed Florida’s lead to 3-1 two minutes into the second period after taking a cross-ice feed from Nate Schmidt, moving the puck to his forehand and firing a snap shot from up close that beat Skinner.
With the multi-goal effort, Bennett now has 12 goals this postseason, a new franchise record for a single playoffs.
But the effort was for naught.
Edmonton cut its deficit back to one goal shortly afterward when Viktor Arvidsson took a drop pass from Vasily Podkolzin and fired a slap shot from just above the left circle that beat Sergei Bobrovsky.
And then Ekholm tied the game with 13:27 left in the third on a shot from the left circle. Bobrovsky kept Florida in the game from there — stopping the final 12 shots he saw in the third period and another nine in overtime — before Draisaitl sealed it in overtime.
“It’s hockey. Everything could happen,” said Bobrovsky, who had 42 saves, including 11 of 14 on high-danger shots. “They’re a good team. ... They scored in overtime. It’s a tight game and we’re going to get ready for the next one.”
The next one, Game 2, is at 8 p.m. Friday from Edmonton.
This story was originally published June 4, 2025 at 11:48 PM.
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