Panthers vs. Oilers | 2025 Stanley Cup Final Playoff Notes

Matchup Notes

  • The Panthers are set to appear in their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final, and fourth overall (1996 vs. COL, 2023 vs. VGK, 2024 vs. EDM, 2025 vs. EDM).
    • This matchup marks the 11th Stanley Cup Final rematch in NHL history, and second in the past 40 years.
    • The reigning champions are 7-4 (including Detroit winning and losing during the three-year stretch from 1954 to 1956) in the previous Stanley Cup Final rematches.
    • Florida is the ninth team in NHL history to make three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances and the 5th team since the NHL expansion era began (1967).
  • The Panthers and Oilers have squared off 44 times in the regular season, with the Panthers owning an 18-15-3-8 record.
  • Panthers making trip to Stanley Cup Final for the first time: Jesper Boqvist, A.J. Greer, Mackie Samoskevich, Seth Jones, Jaycob Megna, Vitek Vanecek

2024-25 Season Series

  • In the 2024-25 regular season, the Cats downed the Oilers in both of their matchups (2-0-0), outscoring the Oilers 10-8. Since the 2020-21 season, Florida owns a 5-2-1 regular season record vs. Edmonton, earning wins in each of their last four games. Anton Lundell led all Panthers skaters with five points (1-4-5 in 2GP) this season against the Oilers. Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winning goal in the final seven minutes of both games.

Last Time Out

  • The Panthers and Oilers will face off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time, following Florida’s 4-3 series win in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final – where the Cats captured their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.
  • Evan Rodrigues (4-3-7) led Florida with seven points, while 15 different Panthers recorded at least one point in the series.
  • Sam Reinhart buried the Stanley Cup clinching game-winning goal in the second frame of Game 7.
  • Sergei Bobrovsky owned a 3-1 record at home, posting a .939 save percentage and 1.51 goals against average allowing just six total goals against at home in the series.

FLA-EDM Connections

  • This series will feature four 4 Nations Face-Off champions in Florida’s Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who all represented Canada.
    • Additionally, Gustav Forsling (FLA), Mattias Ekholm (EDM) and Viktor Arvidsson (EDM) represented Sweden together at the tournament.
    • 12 total players on the two clubs participated in the 4 Nations Face-Off, nine from Florida and five from Edmonton.
  • The rematch will feature the top four draft picks from the 2014 NHL Entry Draft -- Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, Leon Draisaitl, and Sam Bennett.
  • Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov skated in ten games with the Oilers in 2020-21.
  • Panthers forward Sam Reinhart and Oilers forward Connor McDavid were teammates on the gold medal winning Team Canada in the IIHF World Championship in 2016.
  • Cats forward Matthew Tkachuk and Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard were teammates on the 2015-16 Memorial Cup Champion London Knights. Tkachuk’s 20 goals led all OHL skaters in the playoffs and he scored the Memorial Cup-winning goal in overtime against Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
  • Jonah Gadjovich’s uncle Blair MacDonald played for the Oilers from 1973-74 to 1975-76 and again from 1977-78 to 1980-81, serving as captain in his final season.

Panthers vs. Hurricanes | 2025 Eastern Conference Final Playoff Notes

Matchup Notes

  • The Panthers will face off in their third consecutive Eastern Conference Final, and fourth overall (1996 vs. PIT, 2023 vs. CAR, 2024 vs. NYR, 2025 vs. CAR). The Cats are the sixth reigning champion to reach the final four since 2010.
  • Carolina and Florida are set for their second-ever postseason matchup, marking the fifth time that two teams in the U.S. Sunbelt have met in the Round before the Final (also LAK-PHX in 2012, ANA-NSH in 2017, DAL-VGK in 2020 & FLA-CAR in 2023)
  • This matchup marks the 3rd time in the past 25 years that the first two or more playoff meetings between teams came in the round before the finals (DAL-VGK in 2023 & 2020 and TBL-NYR in 2022 & 2015).
  • The Panthers and Canes/Whalers have squared off 144 times in the regular season history, with Florida posting a 59-59-11-15 record, including a 36-17-8-11 record at home.

Last Time Out

  • The Panthers and Canes will face off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time, following Florida’s 4-0 series win in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final — where all four games were decided by one goal.
  • Matthew Tkachuk (4-1-5) and Aleksander Barkov (2-3-5) led Florida with five points, with 12 different Panthers recording at least one point in the series. Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe led all skaters with a plus-four rating.
  • In that 2023 ECF, Sergei Bobrovsky posted a 4-0 record where he posted a .966 save percentage and 1.12 goals against average allowing just six total goals against over the four games.
  • Matthew Tkachuk (4-1-5) led the team with four goals, three of which came on the powerplay and stood as game winners. His game-winning goal in the fourth overtime period in Game 1 marked the end to the sixth-longest game in NHL playoff history.

2024-25 Season Series + Matchup Notes

  • Florida posted a 2-1-0 record against Carolina in the 2024-25 regular season, outscoring the Canes 13-6. The Cats killed nine powerplays on 10 opportunities (90%).
  • 15 different Panthers recorded at least one point across the three matchups. Anton Lundell (2-2-4) led Florida with four points.
  • Bobrovsky faced the Hurricanes in two of their three meetings, earning a 1-1-0 record, .929 save percentage and 2.55 goals against average.
  • Brad Marchand has amassed 23 points (9-14-23) in 16 career playoff games against the Hurricanes.
  • Since the start of the 2020-21 season, Aleksander Barkov has produced a team-high 19 points (10-9-19) in 19 games against Carolina, including two game-winning goals.

FLA-CAR Connections

  • Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice previously served as Head Coach of the Carolina Hurricanes for 13 seasons, including their inaugural season (1995-96 to 2003-04, and 2008-09 to 2011-12). Maurice coached the Hartford Whalers from 1995-96 to 1996-97 before the Whalers were moved to Raleigh.
  • The Hurricanes reached the Eastern Conference Final under Maurice in 2001-02 and 2008-09, advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in 2002.
  • This series will feature three 4 Nations Face-Off champions in Florida’s Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett and Carolina’s Seth Jarvis.
    • Additionally, Matthew Tkachuk and Jacob Slavin (USA), Aleksander Barkov, Niko Mikkola, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Sebastian Aho (Finland) represented their countries together at the tournament.
  • Prior to the start of the 2020-21 season, Florida picked up defenseman Gustav Forsling off waivers from Carolina. Since joining the Panthers, Forsling has amassed 165 points (49-116-165) in his 355 regular season appearances for the club and 30 points (7-21-30) in 73 postseason games over the last five campaigns.
  • Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen was drafted in the 2nd round (42nd overall) by the Canes where he appeared in eight games during the 20219-20 season.
  • CAR D Riley Stillman was drafted by the Panthers in 2016 in the 4th round (114th overall).
  • CAR D Shayne Gostisbehere is a native of Pembroke Pines and attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for two years.

Noteworthy

  • Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 37 of 39 shots he faced (.948 SV%) during their matchup on January 2nd, appearing in his 269th game with Florida to surpass John Vanbiesbrouck for the second most in franchise history by a goaltender.
  • The 2025 Stanely Cup Playoffs mark the sixth consecutive post-season with a Florida-based team reaching the Conference finals, dating back to 2020. Since the 16-team playoff format was introduced back in 1980, Alberta (10 from 1982 to 1992) and California (8 from 2010 to 2017) are the only other U.S. states or Canadian provinces that have posted runs of the length.
  • Panthers Bench Boss Paul Maurice is set to make his sixth final four final appearance of his head coaching career. He joins Scotty Bowman (16), Al Arbour (11), Peter DeBoer (8), Fred Shero (7), Jon Cooper (6), Joel Quenneville (6), Mike Keenan (6) and Billy Reay (6) as the only Head Coaches with six or more appearances in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68).

Panthers vs. Maple Leafs | Round Two Playoff Notes

Matchup History – Cats and Leafs

  • Florida and Toronto meet for the second time in three years in the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Panthers own a 1-0 series record against the Maple Leafs in the postseason, winning their Second Round series 4-1 in 2023.
  • The Panthers and Maple Leafs have squared off 106 times in regular season history, with Florida posting a 48-42-7-9 record, including a 29-17-5-4 record at home.
  • In the Bill Zito era (since the start of 2020-21), the Panthers own an 8-4-3 regular season record against Toronto – including 6-1-1 at Amerant Bank Arena. Paul Maurice owns a 6-3-3 record as the Cats bench boss since taking the helm prior to 2022-23.

Last Time Out

  • The Panthers and Leafs will face off for the second time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, following Florida’s 4-1 defeat of Toronto in Round 2 in 2023.
  • In that series, Sergei Bobrovsky posted a .943 save percentage, 89 goals against average and 4-1 record allowing just 10 total goals against over the five games.
  • Sam Reinhart scored his first career playoff overtime goal in Game 3 of that series. Games 3 and 5 were both decided in OT, with Nick Cousins tallying the series clincher in
  • Aaron Ekblad (1-4-5) and Matthew Tkachuk (0-5-5) each led Florida with five points in the series. Tkachuk led all Cats skaters with a plus-five rating.
  • Carter Verhaeghe (3-1-4) led the team with three 10 different Cats skaters scored at least one goal in the series.

2024-25 Season Series + Matchup Notes

  • Florida posted a 3-1-0 record against Toronto in the 2024-25 regular season, outscoring the Leafs 13-7. They scored five power-play goals on 11 opportunities (45.5%) and allowed just one power-play goal against on nine Toronto power plays. The Cats scored one shorthanded goal in the season series (Sam Reinhart on 27 at home) for a net- zero shorthanded goal differential.
  • Reinhart (3-2-5 in 5GP) and Sam Bennett (2-3-5 in 3GP) led Florida with five points each against Toronto in 2024-25, with Reinhart’s three tallies leading all Cats skaters. Carter Verhaeghe (2-2-4 in 4GP), Mackie Samoskevich (1-3-4 in 4GP) and Aleksander Barkov (1-2-3 in 3GP) also produced at a point-per-game rate against the Leafs this season. Gustav Forsling led all Panthers with a plus-five rating in the season series.
  • 15 different Panthers recorded at least one point against Toronto in 2024-
  • Sergei Bobrovsky started all four games against the Leafs this season, posting a 3-1-0 record, .925 save percentage and 77 goals against average, stopping 86 of the 93 total shots he faced.
  • The Leafs highest goal total against Florida this season came in their lone victory (3-2 on April 2 in Toronto). Florida held Toronto to one goal in both games at Amerant Bank Arena and surrendered just two in their only other game at Scotiabank Arena on March 13.
  • The Panthers tallied at least three goals in three of the four meetings. The Cats out- shot the Leafs in two of the meetings, matching them in shot output in the other two contests.
  • Florida owns a 4-1-0 record in their last five regular season meetings with Toronto, and have earned the victory in each of their last four games against the Maple Leafs at Amerant Bank Arena.
  • In their last 10 regular season meetings since March 29, 2023, the Panthers have surrendered just three power-play goals on 33 opportunities (90.9%) against the Maple Leafs while scoring two shorthanded goals for a net shorthanded goal differential of -1. In that span, the Leafs have averaged a total of just 2.10 goals per game.

FLA-TOR Connections

  • This series will feature four 4 Nations Face-Off champions in Florida’s Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett and Toronto’s Mitch Marner.
    • Additionally, Matthew Tkachuk and Auston Matthews (USA), Gustav Forsling and William Nylander (Sweden), and Aleksander Barkov, Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, Niko Mikkola and Jani Hakanpaa (Finland) represented their countries together at the tournament.
  • Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe was selected in the third round (82nd overall) by Toronto in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
  • Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice served as bench boss for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2006-07 to 2007-08.
  • Florida Panthers Director of Player Personnel Bryan McCabe skated in seven seasons with Toronto (2000-01 to 2007-08), serving as alternate captain for six seasons and registering 297 points (83-214-297).
  • Anthony Stolarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Steven Lorentz were all a part of Florida’s 2024 Stanley Cup championship team.
  • Florida’s Mackie Samoskevich and Toronto’s Matthew Knies were teammates for USA at the 2022 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship.
  • FLA F Matthew Tkachuk and TOR F Auston Matthews were teammates for USA at the 2016 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship, earning the bronze medal.
  • Florida Panthers Forward Matthew Tkachuk and Maple Leafs Forward Mitch Marner were teammates on the 2016 Memorial Cup winning London Knights team.

Noteworthy

  • Brad Marchand’s 29 playoff points (10-19-29) TOR is the most among active skaters vs. the Maple Leafs.
  • Aleksander Barkov has amassed 35 points (12-23-35) in 29 career regular season games against Toronto.
  • Sergei Bobrovsky appeared in his 750th NHL Game on April 2 at TOR.
  • Bobrovsky earned his 424th career win, surpassing Tony Esposito (423) for 10th most all- time by an NHL goaltender on March 13 at TOR.

Panthers vs. Lightning | Round One Playoff Notes

Matchup History – The Battle of Florida

  • The Panthers or Lightning have represented the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past five seasons, with a Florida team winning the Stanley Cup in three of those Final series (TBL – 2020 and 2021, FLA – 2024).

  • The Panthers (2023 and 2024) and Lightning (2020, 2021 and 2022) are the two most recent NHL teams to make Stanley Cup Final appearances in consecutive seasons.

  • Florida and Tampa Bay have faced off against each other in three previous postseasons (First Round: 2020-21 and 2023-24; Second Round: 2021-22), with the Panthers earning the most recent series win in the First Round of the 2024 playoffs, 4-1.

  • The Panthers and Lightning have squared off 161 times in regular season history, with Florida posting a 79-55-10-19 record (Home: 45-19-4-11, Away: 34-34-6-8).

  • In the Bill Zito era (since the start of 2020-21), the Panthers own an 13-7-3 regular season record against Tampa Bay -- including 7-3-2 at Amalie Arena -- outscoring the Bolts 86-69. Paul Maurice owns a 6-4-1 record a Cats bench boss since taking the helm prior to 2022-23.

Last Time Out

  • Carter Verhaeghe (5-4-9) and Matthew Tkachuk (3-6-9) led FLA in points in the 2024 postseason series vs. TBL, with each player recording at least one point in all five games of the series. Tkachuk produced multiple points in four of the five contests. Verhaeghe led all skaters in the series with a plus-7 rating, and 15 different Panthers logged multiple points.

  • Verhaeghe scored the OT goal in Game 2 against Tampa Bay last season, marking his franchise-leading fifth career postseason OT winner, becoming the sixth skater in NHL history to score at least five playoff overtime goals, joining Patrick Kane, Corey Perry and Glenn Anderson (5 each), Maurice Richard (6) and Joe Sakic (8). Among that group of six skaters, Verhaeghe (81GP entering the 2025 postseason) is the only one who has skated in fewer than 100 postseason games.

  • Sergei Bobrovsky posted a 4-1 record vs. TBL in Round 1 last season, including a 3-0 record, .932 save percentage and 1.65 goals against average over Florida’s three home games where he surrendered just three total even-strength goals against.

2024-25 Season Series

  • The Cats downed the Bolts in two of their four regular season matchups (2-2-0) in 2024-25. Aleksander Barkov led Florida with three points (2-1-3) in three games played against Tampa Bay this season.

  • In the regular season series, Florida killed off 16 of 18 TBL power-plays (88.9%) while scoring two shorthanded goals for a net-even shorthanded score.

  • Both of those shorthanded goals were scored by A.J. Greer and Eetu Luostarinen on the same penalty kill when the Cats visited the Bolts on Dec. 22, the third time in club history the Panthers scored twice on the same PK (also: Feb. 9, 2023 vs. SJS and Dec. 30, 1998 at PIT).

FLA-TBL Connections

  • This series will feature five 4 Nations Face-Off champions in Florida’s Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett and Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel.

  • Additionally, Matthew Tkachuk and Jake Guentzel (USA), Gustav Forsling and Victor Hedman (Sweden) represented their countries together at the tournament.

  • Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe appeared in 52 regular games with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20, amassing 13 points (9-4-13), and posted two assists over eight playoff games en route to capturing his first Stanley Cup with the Lightning, and is the only player to win a Stanley Cup with both Florida NHL franchises.

  • Panthers Senior Advisor to the General Manager Rick Dudley served as General Manager of the Lightning from 1999-00 to 2001-02.

  • TBL D Darren Raddysh played with Panthers forward Sam Bennett (GTHL U16) and Gustav Forsling (Rockford IceHogs)

  • TBL F Zemgus Girgensons played with Dmitry Kulikov, Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues on the Buffalo Sabres.

  • TBL F Cam Atkinson played with Sergei Bobrovsky and Seth Jones on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Noteworthy

  • Aleksander Barkov has amassed 40 points (9-31-40) in 47 career regular season contests against the Lightning.

  • Among active NHL players, Brad Marchand’s six regular season game-winning goals vs. Tampa Bay rank second behind only Alex Ovechkin (7).

  • Aaron Ekblad (0-1-1) notched his 250th career assist on Dec. 22, 2024 vs. TBL, surpassing Stephen Weiss for third most assists all-time in franchise history.

  • A.J. Greer (1-0-1) buried his first career shorthanded goal in the Panthers 4-2 victory on Dec. 22, 2024.

  • Evan Rodrigues skated in his 500th career NHL game on Dec. 22, 2024 vs. TBL.

  • Brad Marchand (1-0-1) tallied a goal in his 1,100th career NHL game on April 15, 2025 at TBL.