Draisaitl scores in OT, Oilers beat
the Panthers in overtime in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final
[June 05, 2025]
By STEPHEN WHYNO
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — When the Stanley Cup was brought out onto
the ice prior to Game 1 of the final, just as it was last year,
everything the Edmonton Oilers expressed about this time being
different came into focus.
“Last year, I was kind of looking at it with googly eyes,”
goaltender Stuart Skinner said. “ This year seeing it, it’s: ‘I was
here last year, I saw it. It’s time to get back to work and do my
thing.' It definitely felt completely different."
The Oilers made the start of the series completely different,
erasing a multigoal deficit to beat the defending Florida Panthers
4-3 on Wednesday night on Leon Draisaitl's power play goal in
overtime. A year since falling behind three games to none, Edmonton
has a lead in the rematch and is one step closer to flipping the
script.
“It's huge,” said Skinner, who made some big stops among his 29
saves. “The way that we showed up right from the get go and the way
that we continued to keep on going, even though we were down by two,
that shows a lot of character by us.”
Draisaitl provided the heroics, scoring on the power play with 31
seconds left in the OT period after Tomas Nosek’s penalty for
putting the puck over the glass. The goal was his third in overtime
this year in the playoffs, tying the record for a single postseason,
after Draisaitl had six during the regular season.
“He’s invaluable,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who set up
the tying and winning goals. “He does so many good things: clutch,
faceoffs. You name it, he does it.”
For a while, it appeared the Oilers would lose Game 1 this year as
well. Draisaitl's goal 1:06 in was followed later in the first
period by Sam Bennett deflecting a shot past Skinner after falling
into him.
Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch unsuccessfully challenged for
goaltender interference, with the NHL's situation room ruling that
the Oilers' Jake Walman tripped Bennett into Skinner. The resulting
penalty paved the way for Florida's Brad Marchand to score the
go-ahead goal on a power play.
Bennett scored his second of the night early in the second period to
put the Panthers up 3-1. They entered 31-0 over the past three
playoffs since coach Paul Maurice took over when leading at the
first or second intermission.
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Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl, from left to right, Evan Bouchard,
Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins celebrate Draisaitl's winning goal
during the first overtime period in Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup
Final against the Florida Panthers, in Edmonton, Alberta, on
Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Darryl Dyck//The Canadian Press via AP)
“I mean, they pushed,” Marchand said. "They
obviously are a very good team, and doesn’t take much for them to
score. So, not surprising, the push they did. They’re a great team.
We've just got to keep going.”
Fourth-liner Viktor Arvidsson brought the crowd back to life early
in the second, and fellow Swede Mattias Ekholm — playing in just his
second game back from an extended injury absence — tied it with
13:27 remaining in regulation off a perfect pass from McDavid.
Florida counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky's made some incredible saves,
including one to rob Trent Frederic earlier in overtime. In between,
he was greeted with derisive chants of “Ser-gei! Ser-gei!” that
followed goals he allowed.
At the other end, Skinner made a handful of saves that were vital to
keeping the Panthers from extending their lead or going back ahead
late in the third, getting friendlier chants of “Stuuuu! Stuuuu!"
every time he turned aside a difficult shot.
“He was great again,” McDavid said. “He gave us a chance.”
Up next
Game 2 is Friday night in Edmonton before the series shifts to
Florida for Games 3 and 4.
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