Stanley Cup Final preview: Panthers vs. Oilers

The Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers begins Wednesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Today, NHL.com previews the series:

(3A) Florida Panthers vs. (3P) Edmonton Oilers

Panthers: 47-31-4, 98 points
Oilers: 48-29-5, 101 points
Season series: EDM 0-2-0; FLA: 2-0-0
Game 1: Wednesday at Edmonton (8 p.m. ET; SN, CBC, TVAS, TNT, truTV, MAX)

When Florida Panthers right wing Matthew Tkachuk and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid crossed paths in the handshake line following the Panthers' 2-1 victory in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, McDavid offered his congratulations, telling Tkachuk, "Well deserved."

Still absorbing winning the Cup for the first time, Tkachuk patted McDavid on the shoulder and replied, "Hopefully, we'll see you next year."

So, here they are, nearly a year later, ready to do it all over again in another Stanley Cup Final.

"It's going to be an incredible battle again," Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said. "They're playing, obviously, some pretty dominant hockey, so we're excited for the challenge. We've got to be ready for it."

It will be the 12th time in NHL history that teams meet in the Cup Final in consecutive seasons and first since Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins rebounded from a six-game loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 to defeat the Red Wings in seven games in 2009. McDavid and the Oilers will look to follow in the footsteps of Crosby and the Penguins and those of Wayne Gretzky's Oilers, who avenged a four-game sweep by the New York Islanders in 1983 by defeating them in five games in 1984.

"I think we were better for going through last year," McDavid said. "It was a great learning experience and it's really driven us all year. I think this run has felt different than last year. It's felt very normal. It's felt very, I don't want to say boring because it's not boring at all, but it hasn't been as emotional. We haven't had the highs, and we haven't had the lows. It's just kind of been steady and I think that's put us in a good position."

The Panthers will try to become the first team to defeat the same opponent in the Cup Final in consecutive seasons since the Montreal Canadiens swept the Boston Bruins in four games in 1977 and defeated them in six in 1978. Florida knows it won't be easy to knock off Edmonton again because it wasn't last season either.

The Panthers let a 3-0 series lead slip away before recovering to win Game 7 at home. This time, Edmonton will have home-ice advantage.

"They're a really good team," Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. "They've been to the Final. They're definitely a hungry team. It's not easy to go to the Final two times in a row, so they want it bad. So, it's for us to kind of play our game and we're going to be ready, too."

This is the Panthers' third straight Cup Final appearance. They lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in 2023 before winning their first championship last season. The Oilers will try again to win the Cup for the first time since 1990.

The teams followed similar paths in the playoffs to get back here, each overcoming early adversity and winning three straight series without having home-ice advantage.

Florida defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the first round before losing the first two games to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round. The Panthers overcame a 3-1 second-period deficit to win 5-4 in overtime in Game 3 and went on to win that series in seven games before defeating the Carolina Hurricanes in five games in the Eastern Conference Final.

Edmonton lost the first two games to the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and overcame third-period deficits in Games 3 and 4 on its way to winning that series in six. The Oilers rolled from there, defeating Vegas in five games in the second round and the Dallas Stars in five games in the Western Conference Final to earn another shot at the Panthers in the Cup Final.

"We know what they're about," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. "We played them seven times and they're a good team. We're a really good team as well. It's nice to get a shot at getting some revenge, but we're a long ways from that."

Game breakers

Panthers: Aleksander Barkov is known more for his two-way play as a two-time winner of the Selke Trophy given to the NHL's top defensive forward (and a finalist again this season). But the 29-year-old center reminded everyone in Florida's series-clinching 5-3 victory against in Game 5 that he also has game-breaking offensive skill with his spectacular individual play to shed two defenders before setting up Verhaeghe's winning goal. Barkov leads the Panthers with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 17 playoff games, including seven (three goals, four assists) in the conference final, after he had 71 points (20 goals, 51 assists) in 67 regular-season games. A complete player with size (6-foot-3, 214 pounds) and speed, Barkov will be a force at both ends and likely play against McDavid when the Panthers can get that matchup. Florida has impressive depth that includes Tkachuk (16 points) and Sam Bennett (16 points, playoff-high 10 goals) among a group of 10 players with at least 11 postseason points, but everything starts with Barkov.

Oilers: McDavid seems to make game-breaking plays every night with his ability to do everything at a high speed and had another standout moment with his breakaway goal that slowed the Stars' comeback attempt in a series-clinching 6-3 win in Game 5 of the conference final. The 28-year-old center leads the playoffs with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in 16 games, including nine (three goals, six assists) in the conference final, after he finished sixth in the League with 100 points (26 goals, 74 assists) in 67 regular-season games. Edmonton also has Draisaitl (25 points) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (18 points) among seven players with at least 10 playoff points and nine who've scored at least four goals, but everything starts with McDavid. Last season, he was the sixth player from a losing team to win the Conn Smythe Trophy voted as most valuable player in the playoffs, and he's been on a mission to get back to the Cup Final and win this season.

Goaltending

Panthers: Sergei Bobrovsky has added to his reputation as a big-game goalie this postseason by going 12-5 with a 2.11 GAA, .912 save percentage and three shutouts in starting all 17 games. Since allowing 13 goals on 81 shots (4.10 GAA, .840 save percentage) in the first three games of the second round, he is 7-2 with a 1.34 GAA, .944 save percentage and two shutouts. The 36-year-old is 40-19 with a 2.41 GAA, .911 save percentage and six shutouts in 60 postseason games (59 starts) since the start of the 2023 playoffs. Bobrovsky had a 1.25 GAA, .955 save percentage and one shutout in four wins in the Cup Final last season and 5.06 GAA and .793 save percentage in three losses.

Oilers: Stuart Skinner has been a different goalie since taking back the net when Calvin Pickard was sidelined with a lower-body injury after Game 2 of the second round. Skinner gave up 15 goals on 82 shots for a 5.36 GAA and .817 save percentage in losing his first three postseason starts, including the first two games of first round and Game 3 of the second round. In seven starts since, the 26-year-old is 6-1 with a 1.41 GAA, .944 save percentage and three shutouts. Skinner had a 1.67 GAA and .942 save percentage in his three Cup Final wins last season and a 2.85 GAA and .876 save percentage in his four losses. Pickard, now healthy, was 6-0 with a 2.84 GAA and .888 save percentage in six playoff starts before he was injured.

Numbers to know

Panthers: They lead the playoffs with 39 goals off high-danger shots, six more than Edmonton (33, second), per NHL EDGE, and their 31.7 shooting percentage on high-danger shots also leads the League. They are third in goals per game (3.88), first in goals-against per game (2.29), ninth in shots per game (27.1 percent) and third in shots against per game (24.2 percent). Florida is sixth on the power play (23.2 percent) and first on the penalty kill (87.9 percent). Its 812 hits are 166 more than Edmonton's 646 for most in the playoffs. The Panthers are 7-0 when leading after the first period and 10-0 when leading after the second.

Oilers: Edmonton leads the playoffs with 146 high-danger shots on goal, 23 more than second-place Florida (123), according to NHL EDGE stats. The Oilers are first in goals per game (4.06), fourth in goals-against per game (2.81), second in shots per game (30.8) and seventh in shots against per game (27.0). They're fourth on the power play (30.0 percent), including 37.5 percent in the conference final (6-for-16), but 14th on the penalty kill (66.0 percent). They're 7-0 when leading after the first period and 7-1 when leading after the second in the postseason.

They said it

"I think both teams are still pretty consistent with their identity and their style of play. They're a year further into their program now and so are we. They've had three great years. They just didn't get to the Final three years ago, but they've had long playoff runs. I think they're better at what they do now, and we are well." -- Panthers coach Paul Maurice

"I think we spent seven months getting ready for this playoff run. I think it was on our minds since we lost that last game. It a long, tough summer and training camp, regular season. It was just kind of punching our card, showing up, wanting in the playoffs just to have another opportunity." -- Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch

Will win if …

Panthers: They can force the Oilers to defend for long stretches and wear them down with their forecheck and physicality, continue to get scoring from throughout their lineup and Bobrovsky maintains his level of play from the conference final (eight total goals against in five games). The Panthers won't have the same advantage in experience that helped them win the first three games of the Final last season, so their margin for error will be smaller. But Florida might be deeper than last season with the additions of forward Brad Marchand (14 playoff points; four goals, 10 assists) and defenseman Seth Jones (seven points; three goals, four assists), who's plus-9 and leads the team in averaging 24:59 of ice time.

Oilers: They continue their commitment to team defense, Skinner maintains his level of play from the past two rounds, and their depth holds up without forward Zach Hyman, who is not expected to play after having a surgery for an upper-body injury. McDavid and Draisaitl can sometimes win games on their own, but Edmonton has gotten this far again with contributions from up and down its lineup. Having a healthy Evander Kane (11 points; five goals, six assists in 15 playoff games) could make a big difference after a sport hernia and knee injury limited the forward to two games in the Cup Final last season. Having learned from its experience in the Cup Final last season, Edmonton should be better prepared to take the next step.

How they look

Panthers projected lineup

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

Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola -- Seth Jones

Nate Schmidt -- Dmitry Kulikov

Sergei Bobrovsky

Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Jesper Boqvist, Uvis Balinskis, Nico Sturm, Mackie Samoskevich, Jaycob Megna, Evan Cormier

Injured: None

Oilers projected lineup

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

Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard

Darnell Nurse -- Brett Kulak

Jake Walman -- John Klingberg

Stuart Skinner

Calvin Pickard

Scratched: Jeff Skinner, Joshua Brown, Cam Dineen, Ty Emberson, Max Jones, Derek Ryan, Troy Stecher

Injured: Zach Hyman (upper body)