GAME RECAP: Oilers 6, Panthers 3

SUNRISE, FL – Sunset on this seven-game road trip with a victory in Sunrise.

Defencemen Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard each recorded three points, forward Jack Roslovic scored a pair of goals, and goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped 35 of 38 shots for the Edmonton Oilers, who ended their lengthy seven-game road trip on Saturday night with a 6-3 win over the Florida Panthers.

"It was massive," Skinner said. "That took a lot of guts from our team. It was a really long road trip with some tough travel and some really tough teams to play against, so the fact that we were able to come out and get a win is really important. This win was huge for us.".

Making their first trip back to Amerant Bank Arena since the clinching Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, Roslovic scored just 25 seconds into regulation before notching his second of the night and ninth of the season just 36 seconds after Florida responded 6:30 into the opening frame through Anton Lundell.

Mattias Ekholm added another before the intermission, and Vasily Podkolzin extended the lead less than seven minutes into the middle stanza to put an end to netminder Sergi Bobrovsky's night before Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Reinhart scored 2:27 apart to make it 4-3 for the Oilers through 40 minutes.

The Panthers pressed on in the third, but couldn't beat Skinner or capitalize on their only power play of the period before Connor McDavid and Matt Savoie added empty-netters 27 seconds apart in the final three minutes to cap off the 6-3 victory and finish Edmonton's seven-game road trip with a 3-3-1 record.

Ekholm posted a goal and two assists to reach 100 career points with the Oilers, while Bouchard contributed three helpers in the victory to become the fifth defenceman in franchise history to reach 200 assists while wearing Blue & Orange, recording 20 points (3G, 17A) over his last 18 games.

"I think tonight with both of them, they were plus-10. That's hard to do," Skinner said. "It's pretty incredible seeing those guys get to work. Very hard workers and talented players. Just the way that they grind at all ends of the ice. That's a huge factor and a huge help to help us winning games."

Forward Leon Draisaitl posted a solitary helper to extend his point streak to six games (4G, 6A).

After their lengthy road trip and a long flight home back to Edmonton, the Oilers will have a light schedule next week with a one-off game at Rogers Place on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars before a weekend tilt on the West Coast against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday.

"Every game there's something to build off of, whether it's learning or keeping momentum," Roslovic said. "This game is a good momentum builder."

OILERS READY TO RENEW RIVALRY

Back in the building where they experienced the ultimate heartbreak against the Panthers two years in a row – and for the first time since their 2025 defeat in the Stanley Cup Final over five months ago – the Oilers were ready to respond in this one.

Their first act happened so fast, and unexpectedly, when winger Jack Roslovic scored his first goal of the night only 25 seconds into regulation to open the scoring at Amerant Bank Arena on a squeaky goal from netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, who was under seige in the opening 20 minutes and looking leaky by allowing a goal on the first shot and three goals on the first 13 faced from the Oilers.

Roslovic's early tally was one that the Russian shot-stopper would definitely want back, after the Oilers' forward took a routine pass from Evan Bouchard inside the right circle before attempting to put the puck on net, but instead had the fortune of seeing the puck squeak under Bobrovsky and over the line.

"First of all, he's a heck of a teammate," Skinner said. "Right when he came in, it just felt like he was part of the family right away. He's just a really kind-hearted man, a very hard worker and very talented. What I see from him is just a lot of poise. He's got a lot of poise when he's got the puck. When he doesn't have the puck, he makes smart plays, and he's just got really good vision out there. So what else can I say?"

The Panthers equalized at 13:55 of the period when Anton Lundell jammed the puck under Stuart Skinner inside the crease off a wrap-around from Mackie Samoskevich, but it was tied for only 36 seconds before Roslovic finished nicely off a fake shot from Bouchard for his second tally and ninth of the season.

A hard forecheck from Darnell Nurse led to Roslovic receiving the puck as the third forward coming in, and he moved it quickly up top for Bouchard to take a look towards goal before pump-faking a shot and sliding it right back to Roslovic as he jumped into the air in anticipation of a shot from the blueliner.

Roslovic had it fall right onto his tape as his skates landed back on the ice, thanks to a perfect follow-up pass from Bouchard, leading to the 28-year-old putting it away into the top shelf on Bobrovsky to give both Oilers skaters their second points of the night in only 7:06 of the opening period in Sunrise.

Roslovic now has six goals and three assists in his last eight games, while Bouchard would later add a third assist to give himself 20 points (3G, 17A) over his last 18 games since starting the season pointless through the opening six contests of the season.

The Oilers weren't done there, continuing their stellar start in Sunrise with a milestone goal for Mattias Ekholm by recording his 100th point as an Oiler to make it 3-1 for the visitors with 6:02 left in the first period.

A shot from Nurse was blocked on its way through by his own teammate in Adam Henrique, but the veteran forward left it right in between the hashmarks, where Ekholm was drifting toward before he picked it up and ripped it past Bobrovsky as he sat pushed backwards in his own crease.

Ekholm recorded his 100th career point as an Oiler (26G, 74A) in his 189th game with the team, scoring his second goal of the season and Edmonton's 14th goal from defencemen this campaign, which ties Washington for the second-most in the NHL behind Columbus (16).

The Oilers had a 3-1 advantage through 20 minutes as they looked to continue that into the second period and try to win their first regular-season game at Amerant Bank Arena, datign back to Nov. 12, 2022, and first in all competitions going back to a 5-4 overtime victory in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.

THE CATS SHOW THEIR CLAWS

There was always going to be a Panthers pushback.

Florida found their teeth coming out of the first intermission, outshooting the Oilers 20-11 in the middle frame and scoring back-to-back goals in a three-and-a-half-minute stretch after Vasily Podkolzin stretched the lead to 4-1 with a deadly short-angle snipe to end his countryman's night between the pipes.

After NHL newcomer Connor Clattenburg shot wide on a two-on-one in his NHL debut, the Oilers later regrouped through Bouchard when he moved it up the wall to Draisaitl to make a chip pass to Podkolzin as they crossed over the Florida blueline.

The Russian tried his luck from a tight angle and put his shot off Bobrovsky's mask and in for his fourth goal of the season, leading to the Florida netminder being pulled for Daniil Tarasov after allowing four goals on 17 shots.

"That's rare to do," Roslovic said of chasing Bobrovsky. "It might just not have been his night tonight, but we just need to keep trying to pound goalies."

Podkolzin's tally was his second in his last six games and the 30th of his career, while Draisaitl picked up the secondary assist to extend his point streak to six games (4G, 6A) – already his second streak of at least six games this season after recording a point in eight straight from Oct. 19 - Nov. 1.

"Pods has been really good almost every single game, every single shift, and that's what we like about him is just how consistent he is," Knoblauch said. "Not only consistent, but just good. The things that he did and that goal, it looks like it's a bad angle, but that's a good play. It wasn't a lucky shot. He knew where he was putting that. Pods is a very valuable player to our team, and I think he'll continue to gain more confidence with the puck and contribute a little more offensively."

Bouchard picked up his third assist of the game with the secondary helper, reaching 200 career assists to become the fifth defenceman in franchise history to accomplish the feat in an Oilers uniform alongside Paul Coffey (460), Kevin Lowe (309), Charlie Huddy (287) and Darnell Nurse (224).

Despite conceding another goal to Podkolzin, the Panthers started the second period strongly and continued to push after falling behind 4-1.

David Tomasek was called for interference midway through the frame, and the Oilers' penalty kill did a stand-up job killing off the two minutes. But in the seconds that followed the Czech forward's return to the ice, Samoskevich was able to tee up a one-timer in the left circle that beat Stuart Skinner.

Less than four minutes later, the Oilers were back on the kill when Brett Kulak hooked Reinhart in the defensive zone, and it was the Florida centre who drew the call and finished it off by banging home the rebound off Lundell's shot to make it 4-3 going into the third period.

SUNSET VICTORY IN SUNRISE

The Oilers weren't going to leave empty-handed this time in Sunrise.

With the help of two empty-netters late in regulation from Connor McDavid and Matt Savoie in 27 seconds apart, a crucial penalty kill and 10 more saves from Skinner, Edmonton recorded its first regulation win dating back to Oct. 28 in a 6-3 win over the Utah Mammoth against one of their biggest rivals.

"A couple tough breaks in the second period to make it a tight game," Skinner said. "So going into the third period, our job was to push back. It's how momentum happens in a game. They had the momentum going into the third, we had momentum going into the second. That's kind of how hockey works."

After Trent Frederic was hip-checked by defenceman Uvic Balinskis in the neutral zone to send him into a flip, the Oilers needed a big penalty kill later in the frame when Zach Hyman hooked Brad Marchand to prevent the 37-year-old from having a good look from the slot off the rush with 8:11 left to play.

"It was a little bit of a roller coaster at times, and we were able to handle it," Skinner added. "That's my job. That's everyone's job. We also have to talk about the PK in the third period, being able to shut them down. Those are huge kills to keep the game where it's at, and then we get an empty-net goal and take it from there."

Edmonton's penalty kill came up huge for their team before Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice went for it with two-and-a-half minutes remaining by pulling Tarasov for the extra attacker, trying to position his team for the chance to equalize at six-on-five with plenty of time left for them to get it even.

McDavid was critical earlier in the period to keeping it tied when he made a vital intervention on Jesper Boqvist to clear a loose puck that fell to him on the rebound from a rush chance for Niko Mikkola before slamming into the boards with him, but the Oilers captain made quick work of the empty net.

Just as Tarasov got to the bench and the extra man jumped on, Ekholm threw the puck up the boards before the reverse attempt from Seth Jones at the blueline fell right into the hands of McDavid, who took off up ice with speed and beat all three of Reinhart, Bennett and Marchand to slide away the winner.

Less than half a minute later, Savoie added another into the empty net, securing the win before the Panthers tried to take a piece of the Oilers with some rough stuff after a late whistle – prompting Clattenburg to take a roughing minor with A.J. Greer and a trio of unsportmanlike infractions for Janmark, Mikkola and Greer.

But the job was done for the Oilers, who exacted some sense of revenge for their 2024 & 2025 Stanley Cup Final defeats to close out their lengthy seven-game road trip with a 3-3-1 record as they return home to host the Dallas Stars at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

The victory was an important one after their mental resolve was tested during a challenging road trip that featured some tough results, but the players feel that the way they were pushed by both the opposition and one another will only benefit them moving forward.

"We had some really good discussions as a group," Skinner said. "We were able to come together, especially after a couple of tough losses, and just kind of find our rhythm and start finding our play. I think that's starting to happen, and it's going to continue. It's our job as a group to keep that going home here, but we've got two days before our next game, so get a little rest here, get some recovery and get right back at it."