RECAP: Oilers 4, Panthers 3 (OT)

EDMONTON – We thought we save everything during last year’s Stanley Cup Final.

But we never saw this.

After no game went beyond 60 minutes during last year’s cinematic seven-game series, Leon Draisaitl lit the lamp in overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-3 win over the defending champion Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

“It’s going to be a long series,” forward Sam Bennett said. “I don’t think we expected this to be easy. You can learn some things from tonight, and then we’re just going to move on.”

Igniting a raucous home crowd in Edmonton, Draisaitl broke the ice for the Oilers just 1:06 into the first period when he ripped a rebound past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 1-0.

Evening the score for the Panthers, Carter Verhaeghe fired a shot that caught a piece of Bennett in the slot before sailing straight past Stuart Skinner to make it 1-1 at 10:49.

The Oilers challenged in hopes of getting a goaltender interference call to go their way, but the goal was upheld after officials deemed an Oilers skater pushed Bennett into Skinner.

In addition to Bennett being credited with his team-leading 11^th goal of the playoffs, the Panthers also suddenly earned a power play thanks to the failed challenge by the Oilers.

With momentum on their side, they made it count.

After the Oilers managed to contain Florida’s top power-play unit, the second unit ended up cashing in when Nate Schmidt found Brad Marchand with a laser of a cross-ice pass for a goal from the right side of the net to make it 2-1 at 12:30.

Both goals came within a span of just 1:41.

“That was our best period,” Bennett said of the middle frame. “I thought we were on the forecheck well that period, creating turnovers.”

From there, the rest of the first period was dominated by special teams.

At one point, the Panthers faced a 4-on-3 advantage for the Oilers for 1:36.

Despite Connor McDavid and the rest of Edmonton’s top weapons circling the zone like sharks, the Panthers managed to hold their ground and get the action back to 5-on-5.

Standing tall in the period, Bobrovsky stopped 14 of 15 shots.

“The kill has been pretty good throughout the playoffs,” said forward Eetu Luostarinen. “It’s a big, big deal. Obviously, they have a good power play, so we just have to stay out of the box and battle hard.”

Extending Florida’s lead to 3-1 just two minutes into the second period, Schmidt sent a another brilliant pass to Bennett, who beat Skinner on a breakaway for his second goal of the game.

Answering right away for Edmonton, a slap shot from Viktor Arvidsson made it 3-2 at 3:17.

Keeping it a one-goal game, Skinner made several big stops later in the period, including lunging out of his net to get his blocker on a rebound shot from Luostarinen on a quality look.

Finding the tying goal for the Oilers in the third period, Mattias Ekholm took a pass from McDavid and fired a shot into the back of the cage through traffic to make it 3-3 at 6:33.

Making a strong push, the Oilers led 14-2 in shots on goal over the final 20 minutes.

“They pushed,” Marchand said. “They’re obviously a very good team. It doesn’t take much for them to score. I’m not surprised they had the push they did. They’re a great team.”

In overtime, the action remained tight as both teams had chances.

As it had been all game, Bobrovsky and Skinner also continued to go save for save.

But after the Panthers sent a puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty late in the extra frame, the Oilers were presented with the opportunity they’d been waiting for.

Netting his second goal of the game, Draisaitl, who didn’t score at all during last year’s Cup Final, took a perfect pass from McDavid and scored at 19:29 to give the Oilers a 4-3 win.

Prior to the loss, the Panthers had been 29-0 when leading after two periods in the playoffs since 2023.

Now, they’ll look ahead to rebounding in Game 2.

“These games are tight,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “I don’t think you have domination in the third period of tight games. We were in pretty good shape at 3-1. I think we got some real good pressure, and they get it back. There were some plays we didn’t complete.”

THEY SAID IT

“I thought there were some places we could’ve controlled the puck a little bit more. Just the balance between when you can and when you can’t.” – Paul Maurice

“We had great [penalty] kills in the first and the second. There were lots of good things. We put it behind us and get ready for the next game. The next game is a big game.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

“I think it’s always a little bit of adjustment between series with how the other teams play. Even though you go through the pre-scout, the game’s are different. It takes a little time, and today it was one goal.” – Eetu Luostarinen

“It was a one-goal game, a tight game. It could’ve went either way. They had a good push in the third.” – Sam Bennett

CATS STATS

- Sergei Bobrovsky made 11 high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

- The Panthers led 41-35 in scoring chances.

- Aleksander Barkov went 16-for-25 (64%) in the faceoff circle.

- Every single Panthers skater recorded at least one hit.

- Florida controlled 75% of 5-on-5 shot attempts when Nate Schmidt was on the ice.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will try to pull even with the Oilers when the two teams reconvene for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

The official watch party will be at Amerant Bank Area.

For more information, click HERE.