Defending champion Panthers are
unfazed after losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Oilers
[June 06, 2025]
By STEPHEN WHYNO
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Going into this Stanley Cup Final rematch,
confidence oozed from the Florida Panthers just like last year when
they won — and also this time from the Edmonton Oilers because they
felt prepared for the moment.
After losing Game 1 in overtime after a puck over the glass penalty
put Edmonton on the power play, the Panthers have not lost any of
the belief they carried into the series. In a third consecutive
final, the defending champions are unfazed by their deficit and
appear well equipped to bounce back in Game 2 on Friday night.
“We’ve got a lot of battle scars on us from the last few years, and
we’ve been through way worse,” winger Matthew Tkachuk said Thursday.
"We can be better, we can adjust a few things and come out tomorrow
and try to get a win here and get some momentum going back home.”
A win would even things up and put the pressure right back on
reigning playoff MVP Connor McDavid, Game 1-winning goal-scorer Leon
Draisaitl and the Oilers with play shifting to Sunrise next week.
Even a loss would not put the Panthers into desperate straits.
They dropped the first two in the second round against Toronto and
trailed 2-0 and 3-1 in Game 3 before rallying to win that night and
beat the Maple Leafs in seven. Even for Florida's newcomers, it was
evidence that this team doesn't go down easy.
“You’re going to have moments in the game and moments in a series
that you’re going to be riding a roller coaster,” defenseman Nate
Schmidt said. “This team, I think, has an incredible ability to be
able to not only learn from what they’ve done and apply their
experience into situations like this.”
Coach Paul Maurice downplayed it as “just experience," as though
every team in the NHL or any sport knows what it is like to make
this many deep playoff runs in a row and look borderline
unstoppable. Because of that success, the Panthers are who they are,
and not a lot of major adjustments are expected.
“It’s almost always an adjustment back to form: We were a little off
here, we can be a little bit better,” Maurice said. "Nobody’s
changing a major system. It takes months and years to do that.
You’re (talking about) adjustments back to form, but I think they
have a pretty strong understanding of their foundation.”
Panthers players seem to have a pretty strong understanding of how
playoff hockey works. They've won 10 of 11 playoff series since
Maurice became coach and Tkachuk arrived in a trade from Calgary in
the summer of 2022.
[to top of second column] |
Florida Panthers' Gustav Forsling (42) battles for the puck with
Edmonton Oilers' Connor Brown (28) during the second period in Game
1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup final series in Edmonton, Alberta,
Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
The only time they've been on the wrong side of a
handshake line during this stretch was the 2023 final against Vegas,
when Tkachuk was sidelined by a broken sternum and several others
were playing with significant injuries. The memories of that and
falling behind in series along the way stick with them.
“We learn more from adversity than we do from winning,” forward
Carter Verhaeghe said. “Every time you lose games or go through
series where you’re down 2-0 or losing in the Cup final a couple of
years ago, you learn a lot. It’s just sticking with it and being
mentally strong.”
Tkachuk said he and his teammates are plenty strong mentally, so the
tweaks will be more tactical. They won't look too different but have
some areas to clean up.
“Maybe a little bit more offensive zone time, some things we look
at, but they played a good game,” defenseman Seth Jones said. "They
were solid defensively. They blocked a lot of shots. And we kind of
knew that coming in there’s not a lot of space out there, not a lot
of plays to be made, really. So, when we do get those opportunities,
try to hold on to the puck and capitalize.”
The Oilers turned the puck over several times in Game 1, with
goaltender Stuart Skinner saving them a few times from the score
getting more lopsided than the 3-1 deficit they overcame. They
figure to be much improved in those areas.
Coach Kris Knoblauch knows his team has to raise its level “because
we know how good Florida is.” The blueprint has been out there for
several years, and it's an imposing one.
“They’re pretty confident with their identity, and they play to that
identity very well,” Knoblauch said. “They have a lot of confidence
that they’ll play their game and they should come out on top. For
us, we need to just be ready for it — that they are going to be
better.”
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