Stanley Cup Final Game 5 live updates: Panthers win 5-2, can win the Cup Tuesday
The Cup will be in the house for the Panthers Tuesday
Panthers right wing Eetu Luostarinen, from the right boards in the Panthers zone, wristed the puck a couple of stories high and 175 feet down the ice into an empty net with 1:19 left to clinch the Panthers’ 5-2 Game 5 win.
Their NHL record-tying 10th road win of these playoffs gives the Panthers a 3-2 series lead. A win Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena means a second consecutive Stanley Cup for the Panthers, making them the first repeat champion since Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017.
READ MORE: Panthers one win from Stanley Cup repeat after beating Oilers in Game 5
Edmonton pulls the goalie with 4:57 left and it pays off
Down 4-1, Edmonton pulled goalie Calvin Pickard for an extra skater with 4:57 left. Corey Perry, who scored with the goalie pulled to send Game 2 into overtime, whacked a loose puck at the blue line through a double screen with 3:13 left.
Perry’s 10th playoff goal this season cut the Panthers lead to 4-2. The Oilers used their timeout with 1:39 left.
Marchand magic, McDavid slickness, Sam shoots: Panthers lead 4-1
Off a face-off in the left circle of the Panthers zone, Brad Marchand pressured Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard into a bad defenseman-to-defenseman pass that Eetu Luostarinen anticipated and tapped into the neutral zone. Marchand raced onto that loose puck, hopped to the inside past defenseman Jake Walman and shoved the puck by Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard despite the botherings of fellow oldster Corey Perry.
The last time a player had six goals in a Stanley Cup Final was Edmonton’s Esa Tikkanen in the Oilers sweep of Marchand’s former team, Boston, in 1988.
A 3-0 lead with 14:48 left seemed safe for the Panthers...until Bouchard off a big effort by Mattias Ekholm to keep the puck alive, found McDavid alone in the right circle. McDavid strolled in and stickhandled the puck around Sergei Bobrovsky’s extended right pad for his first goal of the series.
And, 46 seconds after that, a forecheck by the Panthers Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov gave Sam Reinhart an open shot in the right circle. One snap and the Panthers were back up by three, 4-1.
Panthers taking a 2-0 lead into the third period
Both teams flew in Florida Friday, and, boy, do their arms and legs look tired.
By the end of the second period, the drain of five high energy, hard-banging games (once you add the overtimes) in four games and one day off before Game 5 started to show in both teams. Pucks and bodies moved a step more slowly, passes no longer made with bacon crispness. The second period was only the second scoreless period of the series.
The first? First overtime, Game 2.
Not just no goals, but a paucity of scoring chances compared to any stretch of the first four games. A second too long before shot release, a pass just off and shots get blocked. After two periods, there were only 24 shots on goal (13-11, Panthers), but 28 blocked shots (16-12, Edmonton).
Panthers kill a pair of Oilers power plays to stay up 2-0
When second period play was five-on-five, the Panthers got their forecheck working and were extending some Oilers shifts in the period with the benches farther from the defensive zone.
Instead of continuing to wear the Oilers down, however, the Panthers took two penalties that simply didn’t need to happen. A bad defenseman-to-defenseman pass high in the Edmonton zone from Aaron Ekblad to Gustav Forsling turned into a turnover that sent Edmtonon’s Evander Kane on a rush. Ekblad tripped Kane.
Another brilliant kill by the Panthers, the ubiquitous Tomas Nosek disrupting the Oilers all over the defensive zone, was followed by Panthers winger Sam Reinhart putting a backhand cross ice breakout into the stands.
That delay of game got killed with some Sergei Bobrovsky saves and the left post. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid rang the latter from the left circle with Bobrovsky blinded by the bulky screen of Edmonton’s Corey Perry.
Once the Panthers got back to five-on-five, they forechecked a two-minute shift out of Edmonton, keeping the Oilres on the ice over twice the length of a normal shift.
Road game, goal by you know who. Panthers lead 2-0
Just 20 seconds after fantastic penalty kill on which the Panthers held Edmonton without a shot attempt — the Panthers kept Edmonton without a shot for the last 11 minutes of the period, three for the whole period — a right circle shot off the rush by Panthers right wing Matthew Tkachuk got blocked by Edmonton’s Jake Walman.
But that caromed to Panthers center and NHL record playoff road run Sam Bennett. It’s all about the release and Bennett didn’t hesitate to fire: 2-0, Panthers, at 18:06 of the first.
READ MORE: Bennett scores 15th goal of playoffs, keeps making Stanley Cup history
Bennett’s playoff-leading 15th goal extended his NHL record by being his 13th road goal in this year’s playoffs. He’s also scored in six straight road games.
READ MORE: Panthers’ Brad Marchand joins exclusive list with latest Stanley Cup Final goal
Bennett and Marchand each have five goals in this Stanley Cup Final, the first teammates to do that in a Cup Final since Montreal’s Yvan Cournoyer and Frank Mahovlich in 1973.
Marchand again, Panthers lead 1-0
Panthers center Anton Lundell beat Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl on a center ice face-off, and left wing Brad Marchand sprung forward onto the puck and past flat-footed Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm. Marchand dipped to the left, moved the puck to his forehand and fired back across. Beating Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard high glove side gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 9:12 of the first.
Lundell’s assist gives him points in four consecutive games.
That’s the third consecutive Panthers goal in Edmonton by Marchand, who scored a shorthanded goal in Game 2’s second period and the Game 2 double overtime winner. Marchand also scored on the power play in Game 1.
Marchand almost got an assist his next shift when he fed Eetu Luostarinen for a back door tap-in, but Luostarinen couldn’t put his redirect on goal. After the period, the TNT crew scolded Luostarinen for not keeping his stick on the ice.
Gadjovich heads for locker room after taking “bomb”
Panthers winger Johan Gadjovich went to the locker room after taking a Bouchard Bomb — a slapshot from Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard — off the right foot. He returned with 10:53 left in the first period.
Edmonton gets an early chance, shoots for gold
Of the 14 goals the Oilers scored in the first four games, eight were shots high to Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s glove side. That’s where Connor Brown went when he got a partial breakaway on the first shift of the game, but Bobrovsky snapped up the shot.
Bobrovsky also foiled Connor McDavid when the Edmonton center blew in on a two-on-one with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins two-on -one 2:35 into the game.
Will the trends from the games in Edmonton hold?
Games 1 and 2 followed the same pattern: Oilers have the better of it in the first period — the Panthers 2-1 lead in Game 1 was the result of a good bounce and a bad Edmonton challenge — then, the Panthers dominate the second period and the Oilers force play in the third to get the tying goal and bring on overtime.
Panthers stay the same, Oilers make changes
Florida’s lineup is remaining the same for a third consecutive game, while Edmonton again made a few changes to its gameday group.
The Panthers are as follows...
Forward lines
Carter Verhaeghe-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer-Tomas Nosek-Jonah Gadjovich
Defense pairs
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt-Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
For Edmonton, forward Viktor Arvidsson returns after sitting out Game 4 and replaces Kasperi Kapanen. Calvin Pickard stays as the starting goaltender after relieving Stuart Skinner following the first period of Game 4. The Oilers jumbled their forward lines as a result of the Arvidsson-for-Kapanen swap.
Forward lines
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin-Leon Draisaitl-Corey Perry
Jeff Skinner-Adam Henrique-Trent Frederic
Evander Kane-Mattias Janmark-Viktor Arvidsson
Defense pairs
Brett Kulak-Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse-Troy Stecher
Mattias Ekholm-Jake Walman
Goaltenders
Calvin Pickard
Stuart Skinner
Warmups have begun
Players have taken the ice for warmups.
The one notable until line rushes start in a few minutes: Panthers backup goaltender Vitek Vanecek didn’t have a chance for another stare down with Oilers goaltenders like he did in Game 4.
Series schedule
▪ Game 1 — Oilers 4, Panthers 3 (overtime): The Panthers had a two-goal lead early in the second period but couldn’t hold on as Edmonton tied the game early in the third and won it on a Leon Draisaitl power-play goal with 31 seconds left in overtime.
▪ Game 2 — Panthers 5, Oilers 4 (double overtime): The Oilers tied the game with 17.8 seconds left in regulation to force overtime for a second consecutive game. Brad Marchand scored the game-winner 8:05 into the second OT period to secure the Florida win and even the series 1-1.
▪ Game 3 — Panthers 6, Oilers 1: The Panthers dominated from start to finish, with six different players scoring and Sergei Bobrovsky stellar in net, before the game unraveled in the final 10 minutes.
▪ Game 4 — Oilers 5, Panthers 4 (overtime): The Panthers blew a 3-0 lead as Edmonton, tied the game with 19.5 seconds left in regulation and then lost when Leon Draisaitl scored on a backhanded shot 11:18 into overtime.
▪ Game 5: Tonight
▪ Game 6: 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 5? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past few days.
▪ Why Panthers vs. Oilers II already stands as a historic Stanley Cup Final
▪ Panthers’ Barkov on his Cup Final performance: ‘I could be better, for sure’
▪ What was up with the goalie stare down before Game 4? Panthers’ Vanecek, Oilers’ Pickard explain
▪ ‘We support each other:’ How Florida Panthers built a brotherhood through fatherhood
▪ Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce among celebrities at Game 4 of Stanley Cup Final
This story was originally published June 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM.
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