The rematch could get off to a good start for the Edmonton Oilers.
The Edmonton Oilers will win Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on home soil in their quest to avenge last year’s defeat to the Florida Panthers.
According to NHL 25, the Oilers will score a 4-2 win over the Panthers, the reigning Stanley Cup champions. The matchup is a rematch of last year’s championship series.
Edmonton scored three of their four goals on the power play. Viktor Arvidsson notched three points for the Oilers, including two goals. Kasperi Kapanen had a goal and an assist, and Evander Kane also scored. Stuart Skinner made 30 saves, although he didn’t face a ton of pressure until the third period.
Carter Verhaeghe and Dmitry Kulikov each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 38 saves in a solid effort.
First Period
Florida fired the first shot of the game, and Evan Rodrigues was denied when Skinner gloved his wrist shot out of the air. Just over five minutes into the game, Kapanen scored on the power play after Adam Henrique’s shot bounced off a defender in front of the net. Kapanen was in perfect position by the backdoor, and when Bobrovsky dove to try and cover the puck, this allowed Kapanen a free shot at a wide-open net, and he didn’t miss.
At the end of the first, the Oilers held a 1-0 lead and held a 16-9 advantage in shots on net.
Second Period
Just over two minutes into the third period, Kane made it a 2-0 game when he snapped a shot from the slot off a feed from Leon Draisaitl that bounced off Bobrovsky’s blocker and in.
Arvidsson scored on the power play to put Edmonton up by three goals when he carried the puck through the neutral zone and fired on Bobrovsky, recovered his own rebound, and scored without much resistance.
The Oilers scored late in the second period when Arvidsson scored his second of the game. After Kapanen beat a defender to the puck, he dished a pass to Evan Bouchard, who found Arvidsson unguarded by the backdoor, and he swatted it off the post and in.
Third Period
The Panthers finally got on the board early in the third when Verhaeghe scored while shorthanded. Jesper Boqvist carried the puck through the neutral zone and found Verhaeghe, who caught the defense napping and fired one by Skinner to make it a 4-1 game.
Nearly four minutes into the frame, Aleksander Barkov broke free and faked a forehand before going to the backhand, but Skinner robbed him on a beautiful glove save.
Kane dropped Aaron Ekblad to the ice with a check from behind as they approached six minutes to go in regulation, but no call was made by the officials.
With less than a minute left in the game, Corey Perry was whistled for holding Seth Jones against the boards. This put Florida on the man advantage with 30.8 seconds to go. After winning the draw, Kulikov got a hold of the puck and snapped a shot through traffic that went through the legs of a defender and by Skinner to notch their second goal of the game. But with time nearly expired, the game was all but over.
Takeaways
This should be a great series. We should expect every game to be very competitive. Who do you think will win Game 1 Wednesday night? Puck drop is at 6 p.m. local time.